Legal Internship

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Taught on campus and through a practical placement at an internship host organisation.

Applicants are selected through a competitive application process. Please refer to the Melbourne Law JD website for further information.

180 hours (including 20 days internship placement, preparation for and completion of all assessment tasks).

Only approved applicants can enrol into this subject. Please see above for information on how to apply for this subject, application due dates, etc.

Some internship host organisations may have specific requirements regarding prerequisite subjects.

At a minimum, students will need to have completed the following subjects to be eligible for enrolment in the Legal Internship subject:

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:

• The ability to attend classes and actively engage in the analysis of complex materials and debate;
• The ability to read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal materials and complex interdisciplinary materials;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
• The ability to work independently and as a part of a group;
• 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 inhibit them from meeting these inherent academic requirements are encouraged to contact Student Equity and Disability Support.

The aim of this subject is to provide students with the opportunity to gain practical legal experience and a public interest / community-focused legal workplace experience that complements and deepens their coursework learning in the Melbourne JD.

Internships can be hosted by any public interest organisation that will facilitate the student undertaking legally-oriented work, including government departments, regulatory and statutory bodies, courts and tribunals, legal assistance sector organisations such as legal aid or community legal centres, and non-government or not-for-profit organisations. Host organisations can be locally based, national / interstate or international. The proposed internship must be approved by the Subject Coordinator – the internship experience should build on the students’ studies to date in the Melbourne JD and be of an appropriately demanding standard to model professional legal work or practice.

Students must complete Orientation, at least 20 days of unpaid practical legal experience at the host organisation and all of the assessment tasks which include a Reflective Journal and a Legal Writing Portfolio.

Student who successfully completes this subject will have:

• An enhanced understanding of professional legal practice through engaging directly in legal work
• An enhanced practice-based understanding of a particular legal area relevant to the internship.
• An advanced understanding of, and increased capacity to engage with, law and policy in the area of
• the internship
• Critical insight into some of the challenges facing public interest lawyers and/or organisations and the social and legal framework within which they operate.
• An enhanced understanding and appreciation of the role and value of public interest lawyering

• Attendance at a pre-internship orientation session or online equivalent (hurdle requirement);
• Reflective journal (1,500 words) due 2 weeks after completion of internship placement (30%);
• Legal internships activity log, due 2 weeks after completion of the internship placement (hurdle requirement);
• Legal writing portfolio (4,000 words) due 2 months after completion of internship placement (70%).

The assessed research work may take a variety of forms, including substantial research memoranda or advice, briefs or written submissions, legal policy advocacy, or a research essay. It may include work carried out during the internship (subject to agreement with the host organisation) or after the internship but directly connected with the internship.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Upon successful completion of the subject, students will have developed and demonstrated the following skills:

• Thinking skills, including the ability to gather information, understand context, apply knowledge and convey law or law related concepts in a way that is useful and effective to a variety of audiences;
• The ability to identify, research, evaluate and synthesise relevant factual, legal and policy issues in a practical context;
• Personal and professional skills, including learning autonomously, being accountable for work, self-reflection on performance;
• Skills required for effective workplace performance, such as communication, time management, co-worker collaboration and office organisation;
• An increased capacity to reflect on their own professional competencies, including an awareness of current aptitudes and identification of areas where skills need to be consolidated;
• The ability to engage with colleagues and develop professional networks.