School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
  • Unit Code

    LAW4704
  • Year

    2024
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    4
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Nachshon GOLTZ

Description

This unit examines the regulation of the legal profession in Western Australia and lawyers' professional obligations. The unit covers the regulation of admission to the profession, and the ongoing requirements to remain admitted, and the lawyers' conduct in practice. The unit considers both the legally binding obligations of certified practitioners, and the ethical concerns of the legal profession.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 1 units from LAW4604

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Evaluate and discuss both the binding rules and the ethical values of practice.
  2. Reflect critically on the practical difficulties and ethical tensions that a practising lawyer may experience in discharging their professional obligations.
  3. Demonstrate understanding of the: a) Regulation of the legal profession in Western Australia; b) Content and objective of the ethics and standards of the legal profession including statutory duties in legal practice, and c) Duties arising within the adversarial system, and the relationships between them.
  4. Generate action plans for professional conduct that demonstrate a capacity to: a) Identify appropriate professional and personal conduct in respect of a practitioner's duty: i.to the law; ii.to the Courts; iii.to clients, including a basic knowledge of the principles relating to the holding of money on trust; and iv.to fellow practitioners. b) undertake responsible ethical problem solving in professional practice, including the effective management of any conflicts that may occur between practitioners various ethical obligations.
  5. Argue, critique and/or justify a position on a current ethical issue or concern in legal practice.

Unit Content

  1. Introduction to the rules of ethical and professional responsibility and the values that inform those rules.
  2. Practitioners' obligations with respect to costs agreements, fees and trust funds.
  3. Lawyers' obligations to the public.
  4. The practitioner's obligations to the courts.
  5. The practitioner's obligations to clients.
  6. Regulation of the legal profession in Western Australia, including the requirements of Admission and Disciplinary Processes.
  7. Introduction to ethics and professional responsibility.

Additional Learning Experience Information

This unit will be offered in the on-campus and off-campus modes. Off-campus students will access the unit via LMS. Regular online access is required. The tutorial series consists of hypothetical scenarios and involve student-led analysis of the values, rules of ethics, and how those values and rules might apply to the issues raised in the scenario. Students will be frequently invited to consider not just the requirements of ethical practice, but also the values that inform those requirements.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
PresentationPresentation20%
Case StudyCase Study30%
ExaminationFINAL EXAMINATION50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
PresentationPresentation20%
Case StudyCase Study30%
ExaminationFINAL EXAMINATION50%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

LAW4704|4|1

School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
  • Unit Code

    LAW4704
  • Year

    2024
  • Enrolment Period

    2
  • Version

    5
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Sean GOLTZ

Description

The unit introduces students to the practice of law and the ethical obligations they will assume as legal practitioners in Western Australia. It delves into the ethical and professional commitments imposed on legal practitioners in their interactions with clients and other stakeholders.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass LAW1111, LAW2312 and LAW3103

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Discuss the binding rules and ethical values in legal practice.
  2. Appraise the ethical standards of the legal profession in Western Australia.
  3. Generate ethically creative solutions as a legal practitioner.
  4. Critique ethical issues or concerns in legal practice.

Unit Content

  1. Introduction to the rules of ethical and professional responsibility and the values that inform those rules.
  2. Practitioners' obligations with respect to costs agreements, fees and trust funds.
  3. Lawyers' obligations to the public.
  4. The practitioner's obligations to the courts.
  5. The practitioner's obligations to clients.
  6. Regulation of the legal profession in Western Australia, including the requirements of Admission and Disciplinary Processes.
  7. Introduction to ethics and professional responsibility.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 213 x 2 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 213 x 1 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
PresentationPresentation20%
Case StudyCase Study30%
ExaminationFinal Examination50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
PresentationPresentation20%
Case StudyCase Study30%
ExaminationFinal Examination50%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

LAW4704|5|2