Articles
Taking skills seriously: Reforming Australian legal education
by David Weisbrot
There is a powerful disconnection between the traditional, doctrinally focused
curriculum of many Australian law schools, and the intellectual and professional
skills and approaches lawyers now require to succeed in the increasingly dynamic
work environment in which they find themselves. Comparing the relatively static
situation of Australian legal education with significant changes in the Australian
legal profession gives some insight into this disconnection.
The complete law school: Avoiding the production of 'half-lawyers'
by Paul O'Shea
Australian legal academics are already working hard at better integration
of theory, ethics, values and context into the teaching of all law subjects.
This article aims to suggest some small ways to facilitate this work. It will
also argue that practical legal training courses should be taught in Law Schools
and not in stand-alone institutions. Both, teaching more theory and teaching
more practice, are necessary steps to avoid producing legal mechanics or,
as Professor Peter Birks called them, 'half-lawyers'.
Law schools in the 21st century: Not just training legal
practitioners
by Rob Guthrie and Joseph Fernandez
This article examines the change in the delivery of law degrees in the last
three decades. It notes how legal education has moved away from traditional
methods of teaching with a heavy emphasis on substantive law, but includes
the study and practice of a range of skills and practices designed to provide
a broad legal education. The article considers the apparent over-supply of
law graduates and concludes that changes to the legal profession in the last
20 years, which include a reduced availability of clerkships, require a re-thinking
of the delivery of law degrees. Finally it argues that the law degree of the
21st century should focus on a student-centred approach which integrates increased
skills components in order to enhance the employability of the graduates for
the legal profession and a range of other professions.
Student pro bono: Developing a public service ethos in
the contemporary Australian law school
by Tracey Booth
Contemporary legal education needs to be reconfigured in ways that seek to
foster the ethic of public service and the promotion of a strong pro bono
culture in Australia. The director of a pilot student pro bono program at
the University of Western Sydney introduces Pro Bono Students Australia (PBSA).
Buttercup goes to law school: Student wellbeing in stressed
law schools
by Judy Allen and Paula Baron
This article is concerned with issues of the health and wellbeing of Australian
law students. Overseas studies show a decline in the values and motivation
of students who undertake law leading to a significant risk to mental health.
The authors are currently engaged in research that seeks to determine whether
Australian law students experience a similar decline. The hypothesis of this
study is that law students experience a decline in life satisfaction and wellbeing
that correlates with a decline in intrinsic motivation and values. To date,
their preliminary demographic survey of the 2004 first year cohort at the
University of Western Australia (UWA) has yielded a picture of the first year
law student that raises questions about her future wellbeing. This article
reports on this preliminary demographic and reflects on the implications of
our hypothesis in the current tertiary climate. The conclusion is pessimistic:
the authors are of the view that the likely increase in student numbers in
law, and the consequent pressures brought to bear on Australian law schools,
are likely to have a deleterious effect on Buttercup, the quintessential first
year student, in both the short and the long term.
Beneath the sea: Determining a maritime boundary between
Australia and East Timor
by Natalie Bugalski
Negotiations between the Australia and East Timor over the determination
of a permanent maritime boundary in the oil-rich Timor Sea have failed. Australia
argues that the natural prolongation of its continental shelf covering most
of the Timor Sea should determine the border, while East Timor argues that
the border should follow the median line between the two landmasses instead.
Billions of dollars in oil revenue are at stake and, as Natalie Bugulski argues,
recent developments in international law favour East Timor.
Banks behaving badly
by Therese Wilson
The failure of mainstream financial institutions to serve low-income earners
has resulted in a significant social and economic problem. This article argues
that this problem requires an effective regulatory response from government.
The author argues, Australian governments have to date focused on 'band-aid'
approaches, but that the time has come to seriously address this problem by
requiring mainstream financial institutions to adequately serve low-income
earners.
Briefs
Legal education: Changes to higher education
by Jodie Jansen
This brief discusses recent and proposed changes to higher education and
their effects on legal education. It argues that they will have far-reaching
effects which legal educators and the profession will need address.
East Timor: Viva Timor Lorosae
by Catie Parsons
This brief describes the East Timor immersion program run through the Edmund
Rice Centre at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle. The author, a recent
arts/law graduate, participated in both the first and second trips and was
able to use them as credit towards her degree. She discusses the experience
of visiting the world's newest nation in its formative stage, the structure
of the program and its value in terms of legal education.
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