Deakin Law Clinic - What the Unit Guide Doesn't Tell You
- dlssgeelong
- Aug 11, 2020
- 5 min read
By Daphne Chan
What is Deakin Law Clinic?
Deakin Law Clinic (‘The Clinic’) is a community legal centre run by experienced practitioners in association with the Deakin Law School. The Clinic is based in Deakin Downtown which is minutes away from Southern Cross Station. The Clinic offers law students opportunities to develop their legal, analytical and communications skills by working alongside their fellow students under the supervision of a qualified legal practitioners. There are five practice areas students can enrol in within the Clinic:
· Civil and Commercial Law
· Criminal Law
· Employment Law
· Family Law
· Venture Law
Application
About a year ago, I decided to submit an online application for a position for the Criminal Law Clinic and Commercial Clinic for Trimester 3. I had no idea what to expect when I first applied, all the information I knew was from the Handbook. Filling in the form was straightforward; the hard part comes next.
*Note that if you are applying for any of the Clinic stated above you must:
· Enrol or remain enrolled in MLL235 Legal Practice & Ethics or had passed MLL235 in your previous trimesters.
Day 1 at the Deakin Law Clinic
A few months later, I was offered a position (which I accepted) and was invited to attend induction. The induction for the Clinic is a mandatory event that everyone needs to attend.
As an overly prepared person, I decided to bring my laptop, my notebook, a pen, basically everything you need as a human being. Because Business Attire was the attire requested, so I needed to fit all these ridiculous items into my handbag, which I might say, it was very heavy. My arm hurts after that. Mind you, I was travelling from Geelong to Melbourne with my heavy handbag!
Tip # 1! You do not need to bring your laptop! The Clinic provides you with a computer and a notepad with a file during the introduction. I would say just bring yourself and a pen (maybe a notebook if you are paranoid) to the induction, there is no need to bring any other things.
During the Induction, the supervisors will explain the preliminary details about the Clinic and your duties as a student working in the Clinic. You will then be brought to the Clinic where you are seated with your own computer/laptop and provided a file that consist your own IT login details. Your username will be dlc_00. Congratulations! You are officially a number in a system! Good Luck memorizing your password too!
Tip # 2! Fill free to leave the whole file in the Clinic! There was no need to bring it home because it will be safer in the Clinic.
In the file, it will also provide you the case file that you will be working for. You will be working that case with 2 other students. It is always great socializing with them because you are now officially a team! You will see them twice a week for the next 11 weeks, ask about their day, their family, their weekend and make some friends. These might be your lifelong friends!
Tip # 3! Enjoy yourselves! Even if you hate group work, I promise that working in a team in the Clinic is a way different experience than working in a group assignment.
Workload (aka how to manage uni work with clinic)
As a crazy person, I took the liberty to enrol myself into 3 other subjects alongside the Clinic. If you must know, I was doing MLL117, MLL323, MLL418 (Intensive) and MLL416 (Criminal Law Clinic). I personally do not recommend anyone doing this at all, but it is quite manageable.
As you seen in the handbook, there is 3 assignment for MLL416:
· Assessment 1: (Individual) – Practical assessment
· Assessment 2: (Individual) – Written professional
· Assessment 3: (Individual) – Legal writing assessment
Assessment 1 is self-explanatory; the supervisor will grade you based on your performance in the Clinic.
Tip # 4! Be yourself! There is no need to try extra hard to impress the supervisors! From personal experience, I was not one to be socializing with everyone in the Clinic. As an introvert, I was afraid that this might had affected my grades because I am always under the radar. However, remember that the supervisor is there to grade you based on your performance and your work.
Assessment 2 is the main assignment that you will probably spend most of your time on. This assignment requires students to describe the activities you undertake daily while at the Clinic. I called this the ‘Reflective Journal’. In simple terms, you are required to reflect on your day and how you feel about the day and what you have done the whole day in the Clinic basically. I know that the word limit that was found in the handbook states 2,000 words. IT’S A LIEEEEE! RUNNNNNNN! If you are still reading this, let’s move on to ……
Tip # 5! It is definitely not a 2,000-word essay! I personally wrote at least 10,000 words.
Tip # 6! Do not leave this assignment last minute! I would STRONGLY ADVISE students to fill in the journal at least once a week (if you want a high mark)! Like I say, it is a hefty assignment. It is not a joke!
I would not say it is a hard assignment, just a lot of why. Every sentence you write, I would advice you to ask yourself, why, and reflect again and again. For example (for academic misconduct reason I will use my own example): I am making a sandwich. Why? Because I am hungry. Why? Because I had not had my dinner yet. Why? Because I was doing my assignment. Why? Because ….
You get the gist. But more on your feelings not food. Replace the word hungry with an emotion you’ll be fine.
Assessment 3 is a pretty easy assignment too. Basically, submit the best document that you had drafted while you are working in the Clinic. It can be a group work or an individual work.
Tip # 7! DO NOT! I REPEAT DO NOT THROW YOUR DRAFT AWAY! Even those hand written notes, DON’T YOU DARE THROW THEM AWAY! If you decided to have a certain piece to hand it in, you will need to track back all your notes, all the drafts that you had been working on. I would advice to always saved the document under the new date every time you work on it.
For example, if you are working on a letter of advice on 7 August 2020, saved the letter of advice as 07.08.2020 Letter of Advice. The next time you work on it, saved the letter of advice as 15.08.2020 (the date) Letter of Advice. This will help you find all the drafts easier when you are submitting this assignment. TRUST ME!
Other thoughts
I would say despite all this, this is hands down one of the best positive work experiences I've ever had. I encourage all law students to enrol and work in the Clinic if you have the chance.
Enrolment for trimester 3 is now open! What are you waiting for! Check out the link below to enrol now! For more information about the administration and boring but important stuff, check out the link as well!
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