Study the Juris Doctor at UWA - YouTube

SPEAKER: (SPEAKS INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE) kaartdijin Noongar boodja.

LECTURER: Hello and welcome.

My name is Rebecca Faugno and I'm Director of the Juris Doctor.

I'd like to talk to you a bit today about the JD

and what the course involves.

I'll also give you an overview for the varying entry pathways

into the JD.

The University of Western Australia acknowledges

that its campuses situated on Noongar land

and that Noongar people remain the spiritual

and cultural custodians of their land

and continue to practice their values,

languages, beliefs, and knowledge.

Firstly, today I'll talk a little bit about the Juris Doctor

or the JD, and I'll take you through our model

and why you might consider the UWA JD.

Will run through the course structure and your option units

and then I'll work through the various entry pathways

and talk briefly about each of the requirements

for the different pathways into the JD.

About the Juris Doctor, the Juris Doctor or the JD

is our flagship qualifying degree.

Graduates can apply for admission as a lawyer

with the legal practice board of WA.

Law students can apply for membership of the law society of WA

while still at university.

The course runs for three years if you choose to study full time,

there are also part time options available,

which can take up to nine years.

As I've said already, the JD is accredited by

the legal practice board of WA, it's also recognised in China,

Malaysia and Singapore.

The time commitment for the JD is approximately 40 hours per week,

over 12 weeks and that includes contact hours,

personal study, time and examinations.

How does the JD model work?

The Juris Doctor is a postgraduate degree,

so what that means is that you first need to complete

your three year undergraduate degree and then on completion of that,

you enrol in the postgraduate Juris Doctor.

At the end of the whole period of both degrees,

here we qualify to practice law

and you will have two degrees under your belt.

This means that we can teach the Juris Doctor

at the postgraduate level

and really provide challenging skills and rigour

in the way that we teach and the way that you learn.

So why might you consider the UWA JD?

You can learn here from the very best of the legal profession

and award winning academics,

recognised nationally for excellence in teaching and research.

We really do care about our teaching

and we work hard to try and design the best law program for you

that we can deliver.

So this includes staying on top of curriculum innovation

and also working hard on our materials

and our in classroom experience for our JD students.

As part of that, we have an emphasis on practical

and professional skill building and an inquiry approach to learning.

And this is to produce graduates who can distinguish themselves

in the workforce.

We do this in a number ways,

partly it's embedded throughout our units.

Partly also we have some core units which are taught in intensive mode

what I mean by this is a two week period at the start of semester one,

so immediately before semester one commences,

when you spend two weeks intensively learning the whole core unit.

What that does is it really enables us to workshop skills

and to build and develop those practical skills

in a way that otherwise might be more difficult.

You'll also be able to study here with high achieving students,

in an inclusive environment and build lifelong friendships

with a diverse and vibrant cohort of future leaders.

We have really inspiring and inspired students here

and it's an opportunity to make friends and lifelong friends.

The student body is very active and in particular,

there's a law student society called the Blackstone society.

They run a number of competitions

and they're very active in organising social events,

careers information, and a range of other activities as well.

We also have a fairly close relationship between students and staff,

which makes the learning and teaching experience

enjoyable for all of us I think.

We're pleased to say that we have very high graduate employment rates

and that rate was over 93% for our 2019 graduating cohort.

We also have comprehensive and integrated wellbeing

and professionalism programs.

And this starts from the beginning of the JD

and runs all the way through.

We think that wellbeing is really important,

both during your time studying law with us

and also we think it's important to equip you with skills

that you can take into practice to help with your future wellbeing.

As part of it, I'd like you to meet Tilly, our Juris Dogtor.

she's our law school therapy dog.

She's very cute, very soft, very friendly, and very cuddly

and you can book in time with her to take her for walks,

to sit and pat her and cuddle her.

And so if you do enter into the JD,

we hope at some point you will make sure

that you get to meet up with Tilly,

certainly our most popular member of staff.

We also try to be and remain at the forefront of innovation

and legal education and this is with initiatives such as

indigenisation of the JD curriculum.

This is an Australia first initiative,

that seeks to embed indigenous knowledge experience

and laws across the JD.

We also introduce our students to cutting edge technological

developments in the law and in the provision of legal services.

This includes for example, developments in artificial intelligence

and an attempt to equip students for the way that you'll be working

in the workforce when you graduate.

So can you use artificial intelligence?

Are you aware of the way that practice is changing?

And we really want to equip our students to be abreast of that.

We also offer a range of progressive

and interesting elective option units.

I'll talk more about those in a minute or two.

We believe that work integrated learning it's really important

to give you a taste of what to expect once you've graduated

and also to develop the skills that you need to contribute effectively

and confidently from your very first day in the workforce.

So one of our offerings here is a legal internship unit,

this involves the 12 week legal placement.

Students spend one day a week in a legal environment

and that ranges from private practice in house

to solo private practice or in house.

It could also include a placement at a government body,

at an NGO or with a barrister for example.

We have a clinical legal education unit,

which is situated in the UWA mediation clinic.

And we also offer a legal aptitude elective,

this involves students working in teams with clients

and people from industry to design legal ads,

that will help with their business.

We offer a range of motion competitions,

client interview competitions,

and Australia's first university law journal.

So quite a few opportunities there to develop your skills

and also to focus on work integrated learning.

I thought it might be helpful to briefly take you through

the JD core structure.

As I said earlier, the JD runs for three years full time.

Each semester of study involves four units,

if you take the JD full time.

The units in yellow are the units that are taught in intensive mode,

so each year of the JD, there is one core unit,

which is taught intensively over two weeks

before the first semester the study begins.

What that means is that we have a two week period

when the whole cohort is here on campus together

and campus is otherwise relatively quiet.

So it's actually a really lovely time to bond with your cohort,

especially in first year to make friends early on

and to work intensively in focus on law

and on developing those legal skills.

This intensive structure also means that your load is lightened

for first semester, because you have most of your study

for one core unit already out of the way

before the rest of the units commence.

You'll see as well, looking at this chart

that there are a number of option units,

in second year, you can choose two option units

and in the final year you can choose five option units.

So that really lets you progress your own interests

and decide what you might like to study.

In terms of our option unit offerings,

I put up on this slide here our option units on offer in 2020.

You can see that we cover quite a range,

so in terms of practical units,

you might be interested in units like Forensic Advocacy,

Negotiation and Mediation, Advanced Evidence and Proof,

or the Legal Aptitude Unit I was already talking about.

We require all students to undertake

one International Focused Option Units,

and you can see that there's quite a range there also,

these are the units in the middle column.

So you might be interested in International Environmental Law,

Comparative law, WTO Law, or one of our recent additions

is, you know, on Satellites, Drones, and Space Law.

And then in the column on the right here,

you can see there's a range of other option units

that we offer as well and this will allow you

to pursue an area of interest like intellectual property,

Health Law and Policy.

There's an advanced legal research possibility

for some students in their final year,

much is on acquisitions and a number of other units

to choose from.

I'd like to move on now to talk about our JD entry pathways.

And you can see from this slide

that we offer five main entry pathways.

They are a little different and the purpose of this

is to encourage diversity within our school

and to provide different pathways

depending on what your background is and where you're at in life

at the point when you decide you would like to study the JD.

I'll start by talking about the direct pathway entry.

This is an option that you might be considering

if you're currently in year 12 or soon to complete

your secondary schooling.

This pathway requires an ATAR of,

at the moment, minimum ATAR of 96.

And then you may be offered a place in the JD (UNKNOWN)

to what we call our Direct Pathway.

What that means is that you receive your direct pathway offer

into the JD at the end of your school studies,

you complete a three year bachelor's degree,

and then if you satisfy certain requirements across that degree,

you have a guaranteed place in the Juris Doctor

on completion of that first degree.

So what you would be looking for there is an ATAR of 96 or above,

and then completing your first degree with the equivalent

of a GPA or Grade Point Average of at least 5.5 out of seven

across all completed tertiary studies.

And then at the end of your bachelor's degree

plus your postgraduate Juris Doctor degree,

you'll be qualified to become a lawyer.

If you miss out on direct pathway in year 12

or if you don't decide until later that it's the JD

that you would really like to study,

there's an option to transfer into a direct pathway

in the course of your first undergraduate degree.

How does this work?

Students who've completed,

UWA students sorry,

who have completed 48 points in their undergraduate degree

at UWA, so that's equivalent to one year full time

with a minimum GPA of six,

can apply to be considered for a direct pathway

into the Juris Doctor.

I've put a note that the application should be submitted

before the official release of results for the semester

when you expect to complete your 48 points.

And applications from second, third year students

may be considered,

but if you apply after completing more than 48 points

you must also have a current GPA of at least six.

And students in the final semester of their undergraduate degree

cannot apply for a direct pathway.

That is largely because those students would be looking at entry

via the standard pathway which I'll talk about now.

So the standard pathway or what I've called here

general admission,

requires applicants to have a bachelor's degree

or an equivalent qualifications recognised by UWA.

And to have completed that degree

with the equivalent of UWA Weighted Average Mark

or WAM of at least 65%

or the equivalent of UWA Grade Point Average

or GPA of at least 5.5.

We offer a number of other pathways too

and one of these is the indigenous entry pathway.

To be eligible for admission via this pathway,

an indigenous applicant

must have met the general admission requirements

I spoke about on the previous slide,

or must have a bachelor's degree

via the UWA Indigenous Direct Pathway

and the equivalent of UWA Weighted Average Mark of at least 60%

or the equivalent of UWA GPA of at least five.

Or the third possibility is to have completed a bachelor's degree

on equivalent qualification as recognised by UWA

and a school of indigenous studies law admission test

and interview.

To be considered by the equity and diversity pathway,

an applicant must have held a protection refugee

or humanitarian visa within seven years prior

to applying for admission to the JD.

Or experienced significant personal, medical, social, educational,

cultural or financial disadvantage or hardship,

including any disadvantage or hardship

resulting from the applicant's sexual orientation

or gender identity, that has had an effect

on their prior academic studies.

So either of those two and a bachelor's degree

or equivalent qualification as recognised by UWA,

and the equivalent of UWA WAM

of at least 60% or a GPA of at least five.

If you are a mature age applicant,

you might be interested in our alternative experience pathway.

In order be eligible to be considered for admission via this pathway,

you need to have a bachelor's degree

or an equivalent qualification as recognised by UWA.

You need to demonstrate competency for legal studies

derived from a minimum of five years unpaid or paid work.

Study or other experience

since completion of the undergrad degree

and completed the equivalent of one year full time

in a UWA undergraduate course

with a minimum WAM of 65 or GPA 5.5.

And that needs to have been undertaken

within the past two years.

Alternatively, the other possibility for this pathway

is to have a bachelor's degree or equivalent

as recognised by UWA

and the equivalent of UWA WAM of 60% or GPA of at least five.

And demonstrate capacity for legal studies

derived from a minimum of five years unpaid or paid work,

study, or other experience

since completion of your first undergrad degree

and a personal statement and an interview.

So there are a number of different pathways into JD.

If you have already embarked on studies elsewhere

and you are interested in transferring to the Juris Doctor,

there is a transfer possibility.

And to be considered for transfer,

an applicant must have at a minimum,

completed the equivalent of a full semester of the UWA JD

at an Australian University,

and achieved the equivalent of a UWA WAM of at least 60%

in that JD course.

That's all that I had planned to talk to you about today.

If you have any questions about the Juris Doctor,

please do let us know.

There are a number of different ways

in which you can raise your questions.

You're welcome to post questions

on the open day discussion board.

You can also call us on 64883939

if you'd like to discuss your queries.

You can email us at

[email protected].

And you can also use the AskUWA portal at

ask.uwa.edu

Or you're also welcome to contact me at

I hope that's been helpful for you today.

Thank you for listening

and we wish you all the very best for your studies and beyond.

Thank you.