LPP119 Career Skills

Unit Outline: Flexible Period - 11A 2024, Gardens Point, Online (Start Date: 04 Nov 2024)

Overview

LPP119 Career Skills will enable us to introduce new content into the course in these areas:

• The business of practising law
• Legal Tech
• Creating a professional identity
• Advanced legal communication

These areas are touched upon in some other course units but are not given the depth of treatment that they require if we are to prepare our students for the modern professional workplace.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Apply an understanding of workplace productivity expectations and how to achieve them in a specified context (Course Learning Outcomes 2.3, 3.1, 4.2, 4.3,4.4)
2. Demonstrate awareness of how current and future technologies can facilitate the practice of law (Course Learning Outcomes 3.5, 4.1)
3. Apply an understanding of professional identity in creating an effective professional profile (Course Learning Outcomes 4.1,4.3)
4. Demonstrate legal communication skills in difficult communications with colleagues and clients (Course Learning Outcomes 2.3, ,3.1, 3.2, 3.4)

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit engages you in your learning through a problem-based learning approach. This is to say that it utilises an instructional method of hands-on, active learning centred on the investigation and resolution of 'messy', real-world problems. This makes for self-directed learning where you, the student, are the problem solver and your teacher is the facilitator.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:

• You will find guidance for completing problems in the 'hints' for the task.
• Some hints provide formative feedback in that they anticipate questions and responses that you may have or make in completing the problem.
• You can seek advice and assistance from staff line.
• You will receive feedback on work as it is submitted.
• You may receive some generic comments back to the cohort via QUT Canvas.

Assessment

Overview

The assessment items in this unit are designed to provide evidence that you can meet unit and course outcomes. All assessment items are in the form of a practical task that a lawyer is likely to encounter in practice. All assessment items will require you to synthesise and apply a range of knowledge, lawyering skills, values and thinking skills.

Some assessment items are assessed on a 'satisfactory/not satisfactory 'scale.

Assessment items that are not assessed on a 'satisfactory/not satisfactory' scale have marks awarded to them according to the relevant CRA sheet. The marks you receive for the graded assessment items will determine your final overall grade for the unit.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Problem solving task

You will be provided with a scenario for a complex legal problem. Your task will be to create a project plan for addressing the problem in a cost effective manner.

Assessment: Resume, application, interview and reflection

In this task you have the option of creating a resume for your self or a fictitious person. You will use this resume to write an application for a position in a law fi rm. You will attend a simulated interview for the position and then provide a reflection on the whole process.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no unusual risks associated with this unit.

Course Learning Outcomes

LP41 Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice

1. Use critical and creative thinking to identify and evaluate possible solutions to practical legal problems
   Relates to: ULO2, Problem solving task
2. Communicate complex legal concepts to clients and fellow practitioners in written and oral modes
   Relates to: ULO1, ULO4, Problem solving task
3. Assist clients to understand their options in complex legal matters in written and oral communications
   Relates to: Problem solving task
4. Apply intercultural competencies to support clients in legal and professional contexts
   Relates to: Problem solving task
5. Collaborate with other professionals and take responsibility for team functions and outputs
   Relates to: ULO2, Problem solving task
6. Use reflective practice to develop professional identity and resilience
   Relates to: ULO2, ULO3, Problem solving task, Resume, application, interview and reflection
7. Exercise independent judgement in making decisions within an ethical framework
   Relates to: Problem solving task
8. Demonstrate ethical practice, professional responsibility and identify opportunities for pro bono service
   Relates to: ULO3, Problem solving task, Resume, application, interview and reflection
9. Manage client work in a professional manner including risk management
   Relates to: Problem solving task