LAWS 7066 Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics

This is an archived copy of the 2022-2023 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit https://hbook.westernsydney.edu.au.

Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 201049

Coordinator Michael Brogan Opens in new window

Description This subject provides students with the opportunity to critically reflect on the legal, statutory and ethical principles and standards that underpin the professional obligations of legal practitioners. Students will also analyse ethical issues that commonly occur in professional legal practice in contemporary multicultural Australia, particularly with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It deals with the professional, legal and ethical responsibilities legal practitioners owe to the law, the courts, their clients and to fellow practitioners, as well as the state and society at large. Students will be able to explain and evaluate the law and practice of legal practitioners, by reference to key topics, such as: professionalism; legal ethics; the history, structure and regulation of the legal profession; and the interpersonal, psychological and cultural factors affecting lawyering. Guided by an ethical decision-making model, students will demonstrate their ability to use primary legal materials to answer legal ethical problems, and explore the relationship between personal and professional attitudes and values by reflecting on their own views and observations.

School Law

Discipline Legal Practice

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 4 10cp

Level Postgraduate Coursework Level 7 subject

Co-requisite(s) LAWS 7056 Fundamentals of Australian Law

Incompatible Subjects LAWS 2015 Professional Responsibility and Legal Ethics

Restrictions

Students must be enrolled in a postgraduate program.

Assessment

The following table summarises the standard assessment tasks for this subject. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated, where there is a difference your Learning Guide takes precedence.

Type Length Percent Threshold Individual/Group Task
Reflection 750 words U/S N Individual
Professional Task 500 words 10 N Group
Professional Task 15 minutes 45 N Individual
Final Exam 24 hours 45 N Individual

Prescribed Texts

  • Dal Pont, Lawyers’ Professional Responsibility (Thomson Reuters, 7th Edition, 2020)

Teaching Periods