Legal Internship

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

LAWS50023 Legal Method and Reasoning; LAWS50024 Principles of Public Law; LAWS50025 Torts; LAWS50026 Obligations; LAWS50027 Dispute Resolution.

Some Legal Internships may have additional prerequisites. These will be noted on the internships database.

The Melbourne Law School welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is University and Law School policy to take all reasonable steps to enable the participation of students with disabilities, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the School’s programs.

The inherent academic requirements for the study in the Melbourne Law School are:

1. The ability to attend classes and actively engage in the analysis of complex materials and debate;
2. The ability to read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal materials and complex interdisciplinary materials;
3. The ability to clearly and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
4. The ability to clearly and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
5. The ability to work independently and as a part of a group;
6. The ability to present orally and in writing legal analysis to a professional standard.

Students must possess behavioural and social attributes that enable them to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students.

Students who feel their disability will prevent them from participating in tasks involving these inherent academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/.

The aim of this subject is to provide practical legal experience in a workplace setting to complement and deepen students’ coursework in the Melbourne JD. Students must complete the equivalent of a 6-week or longer unsalaried internship. Students are encouraged to attend an optional post internship debriefing session that provides a structure for reflection on, and learning from, the internship experience itself.

Internships can be hosted in an organisation in any sector, whether government, private or not-for-profit. The can be locally based, national or international.

During internships, students carry out legally-oriented work that is valuable to the host organisation. Students’ work plan for their internships must be negotiated with the host organisation and approved by the subject coordinator before the internship begins. The proposed work should build on the students’ studies to date in the Melbourne JD, involve some written legal research work and be of an appropriately demanding standard.

A student who completes this subject should have:

• Strengthened their ability in legal work, derived from doing challenging legal work in a practical setting;
• An enhanced knowledge of a particular legal area relevant to the internship;
• An enhanced capacity to identify, develop and employ appropriate legal skills for the workplace;
• Increased capacity to participate in constructive public discussion about law and policy;
• Experienced a range of new opportunities and contacts through doing an internship in a field in which they are interested;
• In many cases, have contributed to the University of Melbourne’s commitment to knowledge transfer.
  

• Pre Internship ‘Getting Ready for Work (Internship)session - 1 day session (hurdle)
• 6,000 words of legal research; max of 2 pieces of assessment; weighting to be determined by the supervisor in consultation with the student; due 2 months after the completion of the internship (100%)
• Post internship report, approx 500 words, due 2 weeks after completion of internship – to be submitted to Student Centre (hurdle)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

A student who completes this subject should have developed a capacity to:

• Research, select and organise an appropriate internship for credit;
• Establish and maintain professional working relationships throughout the duration of the internship;
• Contribute constructively and productively to the projects underway at the organisation hosting the internship;
• Formulate or refine their own research question related to or arising from either the nature of the organisation hosting the intern or an issue with which the organisation has to deal;
• Refresh, reinforce and develop research and writing skills that students have acquired during their undergraduate degree and law studies.