Objectives
Deakin’s Bachelor of Laws is designed to produce first-class commercial lawyers. The course provides in-depth studies in each of the major areas of legal practice by offering a number of special features including an emphasis on practical legal skills training. You will study many areas of law including core units in Commercial Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contract, Legal Practice and Ethics, Taxation, Administrative Law, Equity and Trusts, Torts, Competition Law and Policy, and Law, Society and Civil Rights. Some elective units (offered on a yearly rotational basis) include International Law, Chinese Commercial Law, Health and Biotechnology Law, Migration and Refugee Law and Family Law. Popular, intensive International Study Programs are available, allowing you to study in Europe, China or India. You are required to complete 30 days professional work experience in any environment in which you can gain experience on how the law, or the legal system, operates in practice. This will enrich your formal legal education and practical experience, further preparing you for employment in the industry. Dispute resolution is an important part of Practical Legal Skills Training. You are required to satisfactorily pass four dispute resolution units by undertaking exercises in the various dispute resolution methods, including Moot, Mediation, Arbitration and Witness Examination. These exercises will assist you acquire skills in advocacy, research and the preparation of a brief. Within the structure and procedures of a court setting, you are required to develop and argue cases as part of a team. As part of the course Deakin also offers Law Clinic, a clinical skills unit which involves students working at a Community Legal Centre under the supervision of a legal practitioner. This unit is run in partnership with the Western Suburbs Community Legal Service, Geelong Community Legal Service and South West Community Legal Centre. The degree of Bachelor of laws may be awarded at honours level.
Course description
Professional recognition
Deakin’s Bachelor of Laws is designed to satisfy the university component of the requirements to become a barrister and solicitor in Victoria set by the Council of Legal Education (COLE). In addition to completing an approved LLB degree, a person seeking admission is required to work for one year as a legal trainee, or to undertake a practical legal training course.
Fees and charges
Equivalent Full Time Student Load (EFTSL)
EFTSL is the standard annual full time load. Eight credit points is the standard full time load for one year of study.
Commonwealth supported place (CSP)
A Commonwealth supported place is one for which the university receives some government funding. As such, students enrolled in these places are required to contribute only part of the cost of their course. To be eligible for a Commonwealth supported place you must be an Australian citizen, or a New Zealand citizen or holder of a permanent visa who will be residing in Australia for the duration of your unit/s of study. All Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens and holders of a permanent visa will receive a Student Learning Entitlement (SLE). The SLE entitles a student to the equivalent of 7 years of full time study in a Commonwealth supported place.
* The "indicative annual course fee" cited has been provided as a guide only. It has been calculated on the basis of a typical enrolment of a student undertaking the course in 2009, and reflects the cost involved in undertaking a full-time quota of units within the specified discipline.
The actual fees charged by Deakin University will depend upon the discipline from which each individual unit is chosen, and may vary from the indicative course fee cited, particularly if units are chosen from a number of disciplines.
Please note that the fees per unit/credit point may increase annually due to rises in the cost of course delivery and service.
Deakin assumes no responsibility for persons relying on "indicative course fees" to calculate the total future cost of their course.
Career opportunities
Obtaining a law degree is normally the first step towards becoming a barrister or solicitor, and most students entering law school aspire to enter one of these branches of the legal profession. A Law degree, especially when combined with a degree in Arts, Commerce, Management or Science, is a qualification, which offers unequalled career opportunities. As an alternative to practicing as a barrister or solicitor, you may choose to enter business (as a corporate lawyer, company administrator or business manager); government service (as a lawyer with departments or authorities as diverse as the Attorney Generals Department, the office of Parliamentary Counsel, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Australian Securities Commission); industrial relations; public administration; teaching (at a university); or in law reform (as law reform commissioner or research officer).
A law degree, especially when combined with a degree in arts, commerce, criminology, management or science, is a qualification which offers unequalled career opportunities.
Course rules
To qualify for the LLB, students must complete units totalling 32 credit points. 24 credit points, including 20 credit points of core units, must be selected from the LLB. The remaining 8 credit points may be taken as elective units, 4 of which must be non-Law units. All commencing students are required to successfully complete at least one wholly online unit. In addition, students are required to complete the prescribed Professional Experience and Dispute Resolution activities in order to be eligible to graduate.
Honours:
To be awarded the Bachelor of Laws degree with honours you must:
* satisfactorily complete an approved course of study meeting the requirements of the Bachelor of Laws pass degree;
* satisfactorily complete 4 credit points in the LLB at level 4
* achieve a weighted average mark of 65% or above in the LLB units undertaken in the LLB degree.
Course structure
Core units
MLL110 Law, Society and Civil Rights
MLL111 Contract
MLL213 Torts
MLL214 Criminal Law
MLL215 Commercial Law
MLL217 Misleading Conduct and Economic Torts
MLL218 Criminal Procedure
MLL221 Business Organisations
MLL323 Constitutional Law
MLL324 Administrative Law
MLL325 Land Law
MLL327 Property
MLL334 Evidence
MLL335 Legal Practice and Ethics
MLL342 Workplace Law
MLL391 Civil Procedure and Alternative Dispute Resolution
MLL405 Equity and Trusts
MLL406 Taxation
MLL409 Competition Law and Policy
MLL410 Intellectual Property
Core Practical Legal Skills units:
MLL010 Moot
MLL020 Mediation
MLL030 Arbitration
MLL040 Witness Examination
Elective units
Select 4 to 8 credit points of elective Law units from:
MLL314 Introduction to Negotiation and Mediation
MLL326 Restitution
MLL336 International Commercial Law
MLL344 Chinese Commercial Law
MLL349 Company Directors
MLL351 Law Clinic
MLL355 International Litigation and Dispute Settlement
MLL370 Law and the Internet
MLL375 Environmental Law
MLL377 International Law
MLL378 Banking Law and Securities
MLL382 Indian Commercial Law
MLL390 Succession Law
MLL393 Health and Biotechnology Law
MLL408 Family Law
MLL495 Migration and Refugee Law
Note: Law electives are offered on a rotational basis. Not every unit is offered every year.
Features of the Program
Orientation towards commercial law
A distinctive feature of the Law Program is its deliberate orientation towards commercial law. The Deakin LLB degree course is one of the few in Australia with a specific and exclusive focus. This has been achieved by including several core commercial units in the course, plus offering an elective program that consists predominantly of units drawn from the area of commercial law.
Practical legal skills training and dispute resolution
Practical legal skills training involves students performing various practical tasks through the medium of fictional law firms. This program is designed to train students to apply their theoretical learning to practical tasks performed by lawyers and results in more stimulating studies.
The dispute resolution annual program is designed to provide students with experience of a variety of different dispute resolution methods, rather than only of appellate proceedings. Students must enrol in these compulsory units through StudentConnect. These units are seen as a valuable way of developing research skills and the ability to present arguments orally and in writing. There are four practical legal skills units and normally one unit is undertaken per year. These units are:
MLL010 Moot
MLL020 Mediation
MLL030 Arbitration
MLL040 Witness Examination
Students undertake the units during Practical Legal Skills Week (being a part of ‘Professionals Week’), normal Law classes are cancelled for the week.
Exemptions are not granted from this requirement of the course.
Professional experience
During the course, students are required to acquire experience in legal practice by working for a period of 30 days in a solicitor's office or a similar law-related environment. The purpose of this requirement is to enrich the student's formal legal education and produce graduates with practical experience of how the law operates.
Law clinic
In conjunction with the Western Suburbs Community Legal Service, Barwon Community Legal Service and South West Community Legal Centre, the School of Law offers a clinical skills unit. This involves students working at a Legal Service under the supervision of a legal practitioner. They assist the practitioner to take instructions and to advise and represent clients. Clinical training of this nature is designed to teach students skills such as interviewing, counselling, negotiation, communication and advocacy. Quotas apply and enrolment is via application.
Admission to legal practice
At present, to qualify for admission as a barrister and solicitor in Victoria, university graduates are required to complete legal traineeships (previously known as articles of clerkship) for one year or to complete a legal practice course such as those offered by the Leo Cussen Institute or Monash University.
Course of study
The Deakin Law Program is designed to satisfy the university component of the requirements to become a barrister and solicitor in Victoria set by the Council of Legal Education. Study may be undertaken on either a full-time or part-time basis.
LLB combined with another degree
Students enrolled in a Law degree combined with another degree in Arts, Arts (International Studies), Commerce, Criminology, Management or Science, must complete units totalling 40 credit points for the combined course. For the LLB degree component of the combined course students must complete 24 credit points of Law units, including 20 credit points of core units, 4 credit points of elective Law units and dispute resolution and professional experience requirements. The degree may be awarded at either pass or honours level.
For the other degree component students must complete 16 credit points as prescribed for the relevant degree. Refer to Course Structures for combined courses and for bachelor degrees in Arts, Arts (International Studies), Commerce, Criminology, Management or Science.
Admission requirements - general
Deakin University offers admission to undergraduate courses through a number of Admission categories.
In all categories of admission, selection is based primarily on academic merit as indicated by an applicant's previous academic record.
For more information on the Deakin Admissions Policy visit The Guide.
Admission requirements - specific
Admission for school leavers will be based on their performance in the Victorian VCE or its equivalent -Prerequisites are units 3 and 4 a study score of at least 35 in English (ESL) or 30 in any other English; admission for non-school leavers will be based on Deakin University Law School Admissions Test (DULSAT) results GPA from Bachelor level and postgraduate studies from courses undertaken during or after 1999 and VTAC Pi form.
Students who are currently enrolled in a Deakin University undergraduate course must lodge an application with the Course Selection Committee (Law) using an Application for Course Transfer available from the Faculty campus office. Students who have completed two thirds or more of their current course cannot apply for a course transfer - they must apply through VTAC.
Advanced standing - general
The University aims to provide students with as much credit as possible for approved prior study or informal learning which exceeds the normal entrance requirements for the course and is within the constraints of the course regulations. Students are required to complete a minimum of one-third of the course at Deakin University, or four credit points, whichever is the greater. In the case of certificates, including graduate certificates, a minimum of two credit points within the course must be completed at Deakin.
You can also refer to the Advanced Standing System which outlines the credit that may be granted towards a Deakin University degree.
How to apply
Applications must be made through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC). For more information refer to the VTAC Guide (external site).
Your faculty may require further information from you when submitting your application. Please refer to the faculty information website for further details.
