Practice-Centric Legal Teaching

Clinical Legal Education (LAW344 and LAW345) offers students the opportunity to gain real-world legal experience during their undergraduate degree, as well as the chance to improve the lives of others by supporting individuals and community groups to access justice. This experience is available to penultimate and final year law students with good academic results who want to make a positive impact.

Students will enrol in the 12.5% unit LAW344 Legal Practice and Lawyering. This unit provides students with the necessary educational foundation to effectively engage in clinical legal practice within the Law degree (including training in legal professional conduct, legal ethics, correspondence and communication, client relations, legal collaboration, and case and firm management).

While enrolled in LAW344 you will have the opportunity to assist clinical lawyers within the Student Legal Service, and thus help your fellow UTAS students through the provision of free legal advice in most areas of law, including migration, tenancy, employment, and family violence (under the supervision of a practising lawyer).

The Student Legal Service is a free and confidential legal service for all University of Tasmania students, and is supported by the Tasmanian University Student Association (TUSA), Youth Law Australia (YHA), and the Faculty of Law.

You may then enrol in LAW345 Professional Legal Experience (of which LAW344 is a prerequisite) where you can put your skills into practice as part of a major practical legal project, inquiry, or intensive placement in a legal organisation. In this unit you will have the opportunity to make a genuine and substantial contribution to social justice and the Law.

In past years we have worked with Legal Aid (Tas), the Environment Defenders Office, Launceston Community Legal Centre, Prison Legal Service (Tas) and many others.

These practise-centric units also prepare students for the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the Centre for Legal Studies where an advanced model is used to train students for admission to legal practice.

There are limited places available in both LAW344 and LAW345. Applications for LAW344 for Semester 1, 2023 are now open. Interested students should complete this form and send it to the Coordinator, Dr Yvette Maker, by 5pm on Friday 7 October 2022.