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Legal Aid Clinic (LAC) Legal Aid Clinic (LAC) Information for Second Semester, 2018 Updated: 3 July 2018 ANU School of Legal Practice T: +61 2 6125 4463 E: [email protected] ACTON ACT 2601 Contents Foreword ................................................................................................... 3 Introduction .............................................................................................. 4 Information sessions ............................................................................... 4 Convenor and teaching staff ................................................................... 4 LAC placement eligibility ......................................................................... 5 Course credit .......................................................................................... 5 Applying to participate in LAC ................................................................. 5 Conflict of interest ................................................................................... 6 LAC Overview ........................................................................................... 6 Aims........................................................................................................ 6 LAC placement requirements ................................................................. 7 LAC orientation workshop ....................................................................... 7 LAC on-site component .......................................................................... 8 Feedback ................................................................................................ 8 Assessment and grading ........................................................................ 8 LAC Timetable 2018 ................................................................................. 9 LAC Timetable Semester 2 / 2018 ....................................................... 9 Appendix 1: LAC - Office Daily Routine ................................................... Activity Streams Explained ....................................................................... LAC Student Agreement ............................................................................ 2 │Legal Aid Clinic Semester Two 2018 Foreword Welcome to the Legal Aid Clinic placement (‘LAC’). LAC enables you to experience and build your legal practice awareness and skills in a legal aid practice environment. You will interview clients and provide assistance under supervision, observe, report and receive mentoring from experienced legal practitioners. LAC Instructors, Legal Aid ACT staff and students work together in LAC. The placement encourages a reflective and self-critical approach, stresses client care, practice efficiency, and solution based legal practice techniques. Students who undertake LAC include those who have not been in a legal office before, have no experience with clients, and have not been to a court or a tribunal. Other students have considerable prior work experience in a variety of professional disciplines. Student work is closely supervised and legal subject knowledge is not a pre-requisite. Feedback from completing students and from graduates now in legal practice indicates that this program generally plays an important part in building student awareness and confidence in preparing for legal practice. We look forward to working with you in the LAC placement. Peter Sutherland Convenor 2018 Legal Aid Clinic 3 │Legal Aid Clinic Semester Two 2018 Introduction The Legal Aid Clinic (LAC) placement is a clinical (ie. live client) program which is available in Canberra to students undertaking the ANU School of Legal Practice GDLP Program. Completion of the LAC placement can count towards GDLP Legal Practice Experience (LPE) requirements as detailed below. The LAC placement is provided by the ANU School of Legal Practice in conjunction with Legal Aid ACT, the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT). The Legal Aid Clinic, which was previously called the Supervised Internship Program (SIP), began in 1997 and previously ran six times a year in six week sessions. In Semester Two 2018, LAC will operate in two modes: three weeks full-time for 15 days LPE; and five weeks part-time on Mondays and Fridays for 10 days LPE. Both modes commence on Monday 16 July 2018 and continue until Monday 29 October 2018. LAC provides an intensive clinical experience and directly assists about 300 clients a year, with student exposure to about 1,000 clients a year. LAC consists of a two hour Orientation Workshop, followed by a supervised placement, primarily on-site at the office of Legal Aid ACT. The full-time mode also includes nine days placement at ACAT or the AAT. LAC is only available in Canberra and only on the dates indicated in the LAC Timetable. Information sessions A short information session about LAC is presented during each Becoming a Practitioner (BAP) course in Canberra. The time and location of the information session is notified on the BAP timetable. Completion of BAP is a prerequisite for LAC. It is possible to commence LAC on the first Monday after completion of a BAP course, if there are vacancies. Early enrolment is advised and a waiting list is maintained for the Session of your choice. Convenor and teaching staff The LAC Convenor is: Peter Sutherland: ph: 0428 264 342 email: [email protected] Student inquiries about participating in, or enrolling in, LAC should be directed to the LAC Convenor: [email protected]. In Semester Two, 2018 the following LAC Instructors will work on a roster basis: Peter Christensen Michael Eburn Tony Foley Peter Sutherland Helen Rodriguez Legal Aid ACT staff in the Criminal Law and General Law Sections also guide you in the LAC placement, together with legal staff at the AAT and ACAT. Administrative staff The GDLP/MLP Student Administration team can give you general information on the LAC placement. T: 02 6125 4463 E: [email protected] 4 │Legal Aid Clinic Semester Two 2018 LAC placement eligibility You are eligible to undertake the LAC placement if you are enrolled in the ANU GDLP or MLP and have completed the Becoming a Practitioner intensive course. For information about the ANU GDLP: legalpractice.anu.edu.au/gdlp For course dates and locations in relation to the Becoming a Practitioner intensive course: legalpractice.law.anu.edu.au/gdlp/becoming-practitioner-choose-date- and-city Course credit Legal Practice Experience (LPE) requirements consist of placement for 80, 50 or 20 days. A minimum of 15 days must be completed within the new National concurrency and frequency rules (placement during the GDLP coursework period for at least 2 days a week). The LPE Guidelines are available on the GDLP website. The LAC Full-Time placement provides 15 days LPE and comprises: • a two hour workshop; • three weeks full-time, comprising 6 days at LAC at the Legal Aid Office, and 9 days placement at either the AAT or ACAT • wrap-up sessions at the end of each Monday and Friday LAC day. The LAC Part-Time placement provides 10 days LPE and comprises: • a two hour workshop (4 – 6pm on a Friday); • 10 days at LAC at the Legal Aid Office on Mondays and Fridays for 5 weeks; • wrap-up sessions at the end of each Monday and Friday LAC day. Students undertaking the LAC placement may be able to negotiate additional LPE days at ACAT or the AAT directly with those tribunals. Applying to participate in LAC The LAC placement does not have a course code, unit value, or class number and you do not enrol in it on ISIS. To apply to participate in LAC: • Look at the LAC Timetable, which identifies five Full-Time Sessions and three Part- Time sessions in Second Semester 2018, and find the Session(s) on the timetable which suit you (and are after you have completed the Becoming a Practitioner course). • Email the LAC Convenor expressing your interest in LAC and which mode and session time(s) are suitable. Your Orientation Workshop date will be the date for the workshop which most closely precedes commencement of your session. Convenor: [email protected] The Convenor will ask you to indicate your areas on interest and to submit a short CV. Enrolments will be confirmed by email. If you are enrolled in LAC, but are unable to undertake the placement, you must immediately advise the LAC Convenor so that your place can be reallocated. 5 │Legal Aid Clinic Semester Two 2018 Conflict of interest As a general rule legal practitioners cannot act for, or advise a person where they, or their firm, has a conflict of interest. This includes work done by lawyers employed by Legal Aid Commissions, Community Legal Centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and legal work done without charge (pro bono). This is based on the duties lawyers have towards their clients i.e.: The duty to act in the best interests of each client. This includes dealing with the client free of the influence of any interest which may conflict with a client's best interests. See Rule 4 “Other Fundamental Ethical Duties” in the ACT Legal Profession (Solicitors) Conduct Rules 2016. The duty of confidentiality – in general terms, unless the client consents the practitioner may not disclose client in confidence information to anyone other than partners or employees of their firm. This duty continues indefinitely i.e. after the practitioner ceases to act for the client and if the client dies. The duty not to accept a retainer to act for another person
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