Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice inherent requirements

Externally accredited

Flinders University offers a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice [LLB/LP] degree which meets external South Australian Legal Practitioners Education and Admissions Council accreditation requirements and provides graduates with the necessary qualification to be admitted as a legal practitioner in South Australia.

Key legal practice skills are embedded and assessed in compulsory topics throughout the LLB/LP degree.

Students with health conditions, impairments, learning or other disabilities

Flinders University is committed to providing an inclusive environment and community for all students and staff, regardless of their ability or disability. Students may be provided with adjustments in teaching and/or assessment methods, provided such adjustments do not compromise the safety or wellbeing of any person, and technical and academic standards are maintained.

The inherent requirements of the LLB/LP degree are the fundamental skills and abilities that you must be able to achieve in order to demonstrate the essential learning outcomes of the degree.

If you intend to enrol in a LLB/LP degree at Flinders Law School, look carefully at the inherent requirements listed in this statement and think about whether you might experience challenges in meeting them.

This statement provides realistic information about these requirements so you can make an informed judgement about your ability to fulfil them before you enrol in the LLB/LP.

Students who anticipate that they might experience challenges in meeting the inherent requirements of this course are encouraged to discuss their concerns with a Disability Advisor in the first instance. The Student Disability Service is free and confidential to prospective and enrolled students.

Reasonable adjustments

Students with disabilities may be provided with accommodations to enable them to meet the inherent requirements of the LLB/LP degree if the adjustment is:

logistically reasonable; and
likely to result in the student being able to perform the skills adequately and in a timely manner.

An alternative option - Bachelor of Laws

If you anticipate that you might experience challenges in meeting these inherent requirements for legal practice, you may wish to consider enrolling in a Bachelor of Laws [LLB] degree.

However, it is important to note that:

the LLB does not provide graduates with the necessary qualification to be admitted as a legal practitioner in South Australia.
many of the LLB core topics contain legal practice skills as part of their assessment requirements and the inherent requirements may still apply in relation to those core topics.

Inherent requirements

The LLB/LP degree has inherent requirements in four categories:

communication skills
motor skills
intellectual, conceptual, integrative and quantitative abilities
behavioural and social skills.

Many of the activities associated with professional legal practice are time critical, where the capacity to perform certain activities within specified time limits is required to reduce or avoid risks to the legal interests of clients or to meet court imposed deadlines.

Students are required to undertake professional experience placement activities in mixed gender and diverse cultural environments which reflect the Australian legal practice context.

Communication skills

As a student you will have the ability to:

clearly, effectively and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles
clearly, effectively and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles
use effective oral and written communication to interact with others including the lay public, courts, government and other authorities and members of the legal profession, to a professional standard using language that is appropriate to the audience and context
read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal and other material.

Motor skills

The ability to physically attend on campus when require is a core requirement of the course as the LLB/LP provides the qualification for admission as a solicitor in South Australia. The LLB/LP is accredited for that purpose by the South Australian Legal Practitioners Education and Admissions Council as an on-campus course, and is not therefore available online.

As a student, you must be able to attend classes as scheduled at the Bedford Park Campus and/or the Victoria Square Campus.

Behavioural and social skills

The behavioural and social attributes that enable a student to participate in a complex learning environment
The ability to take responsibility for his or her own participation and learning
The ability to deal with uncertainties in a constructive and professionally appropriate manner
The ability to contribute to the learning of others in a collaborative learning environment, showing interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students
The ability to work effectively both as individuals and as members of teams
The ability to interact in a professional manner with others including students, staff, members of the lay public, courts, government authorities and members of the legal profession
The ability to operate ethically and responsibly within any contextual framework
The emotional health to utilise his or her intellectual abilities fully and to manage in stressful and emotionally traumatic situations
The ability to recognise personal limitations and when and where to seek assistance or professional advice and support.

As a student, you must be able to:

manage yourself and relationships with others in relation to academic exercises;
manage yourself and relationships with others to demonstrate the competencies required of a legal practitioner.

Intellectual – Conceptual, integrative and quantitative abilities

As a student you will have the ability to:

read, analyse, comprehend and integrate complex written legal materials
critically evaluate argument
reason and to synthesize legal knowledge in order to solve legal problems
use basic quantitative skills;
conceptualise and use knowledge appropriate to the situation.

As a graduate, you must have:

comprehensive knowledge of key areas of current law, including new and developing areas of law;
an ability to use legal knowledge to plan, analyse and think critically, logically and creatively; and
an ability to apply legal knowledge and skills in academic, clinical and legal practice settings.