LAW5216: Professional Practice 512

- 60% legal service work (interviewing, paperwork, court appearances if applicable)
- 20% "community engagement" - you will get a choice of activities. In my intake, this included working with troubled youth and updating the Lawyers Practice Manual.
- 20% "written assignment" - every fortnight you are required to write a reflective journal, which is pretty much a diary where you talk about how the subject makes you feel and then your supervisor reads it and discusses your feelings with you (seriously)

What this subject actually entails:
You are assigned to either the Monash-Oakleigh Legal Service (MOLS) or the Springvale-Monash Legal Service (SMLS).

The services have either opening hours where clients can drop in for legal advice (Springvale) or make an appointment for legal advice (Oakleigh). You are assigned to one of those sessions (at Springvale they were 9:30-12:30 every morning except Friday) along with about 4-5 other students and a supervising solicitor. From here I will only be speaking for SMLS since I have no experience of MOLS.

During the sessions, clients will come in. You will first do a conflict check using the CLSIS system, which basically involves you taking their name and the names of any other person involved in their matter, entering it into the system, and checking to see if the service has advised any other parties to the matter. If it has, this creates a conflict of interest and the service is NOT allowed to assist them. You will have to tell them to seek advice elsewhere.

If there is no conflict, then you will interview them to find out what their legal issue is. This can be frustrating because clients generally do not know how to only give you the salient legal details - you will need to know what questions to ask and how to stop them from going off on tangents, or you'll end up there for 3 hours listening to their life story. For some clients, this will also require you to use the services of a telephone interpreter. Many clients who come to the service speak very little English.

Then, you will speak to your supervising solicitor, telling them what the issue is (hopefully in a succinct and clear manner). Your supervisor will then tell you what legal advice to give the client. If it's just a minor issue they can sort out themselves then you will tell them what to do. If it's a more complicated matter (but not so complicated that the client will need to engage a private lawyer), the service may agree to take the client.

If a client's matter is taken on by the service, the file is assigned to one of the students. If you are assigned a file, from that point you are pretty much responsible for handling that case (though obviously you can always approach your supervisor for help). Handling files may involve paperwork like completing divorce applications or wills, as well as things like speaking to police, contacting government departments/agencies, and speaking to the other parties in the matter (e.g. one of my friends spent weeks trying to get in touch with the uncooperative spouse who just refused to accept that her husband wanted a divorce).

Generally, the supervisors will try to assign files so that you get a range of matters to deal with. Some of the stuff I handled included a will, power of attorney for a dying client, motor vehicle accident, theft (which I appeared in court for), body corporate disputes in VCAT, divorces, a debt matter, and a restraining order application.

If you are lucky enough to get a client who has to show up to court for a relatively minor offence (e.g. minor theft, divorce hearing, drink driving), you may be able to present a plea-in-mitigation for them in court as a barrister would. This will always be at the Magistrates' Court (no student would be allowed to present at a higher court). A supervising barrister will be present and ready to step in if you make a major screw up, but otherwise he/she is out of the picture and you are expected handle everything yourself in court.

This is an AMAZING experience - JUMP at it if you get the chance! I got some first-hand experience of court processes and received some fantastic advice from my supervising barristers (you generally only have one, I had two because the matter got adjourned and the first barrister couldn't make it to the second hearing) and the magistrate as well. It is not as scary as it sounds - apparently my magistrate had a reputation for being a hardass in court, but as soon as I sought leave to appear as a student I could see her demeanour change and everyone - the judge, the prosecution policemen, the court staff - was immensely supportive and encouraging.

I loved this subject and so did most people. I learned so much about running a client file - stuff you'll never learn in law school. And you also grow as a person, I think. Personally I learned to be more assertive - after dealing with abusive clients and incompetent police/govt departments, you kind of have to be or your matter will never be taken seriously! Not to mention, of course, that if you get to do a plea you'll have the chance to work with a barrister and pick their brain. I got a lot of "inside" knowledge about what to expect if you want to be a barrister this way.

If you are considering becoming a lawyer and want a taste of what it may entail, this is the subject for you.
It's worth 12 credit points, not 6, but this is for a reason - it is quite a heavy workload and I would not advise doing more than 2 law subjects alongside it. The supervisors will not take kindly to you leaving your work undone because you had an unrecorded lecture to go to! You WILL be expected to prioritise your prof prac work over everything else.

No lecturers, you'll be assigned a supervisor who will be one of the solicitors at the legal service (either Monash Oakleigh or Springvale)

No exams.

5 billion out of 5

No lectures, the seminars aren't recorded.

No textbooks unless you feel like forking out $2000 to buy a Lawyers Practice Manual (I'm being facetious, please don't do this you don't need it)

This unit is run in 17-week blocks:
- Compulsory half-day (9am to 12:30pm) legal service session every week (this is where clients come into the service. You will be required to interview them and provide legal advice if necessary).
- Compulsory seminar (approx 2 hours) every week for the first 10 weeks. The service invites guest "lecturers" (including lawyers from other community legal centres, social workers and other professionals). You will learn about dealing with the most commonly encountered client matters, such as motor vehicle accidents, divorces/domestic issues, and basic criminal procedure.

The remainder of the time is spent on working at the legal service. Your time commitment will really depend on your caseload. The supervisors generally expect you to be at the service at least one other full day in addition to your legal service session, but I've had weeks where I've only needed to come in 2 days and other weeks where I was there 9am-6pm the entire week because I had so much to do.

You are expected to prioritise your prof prac work over any other academic commitments, such as lectures/tutes etc.

2012-13 summer semester