The University of Sydney

Institute for Teaching and Learning

 
Faculty of Law: Contextualised Graduate Attributes

DRAFT 10/07/2004 		back
 
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Contact Peter Gerangelos, 9351 0313, peterg@law.usyd.edu.au


Research and Inquiry. Graduates of the Faculty of Law will be able to create new knowledge and understanding through the process of research and inquiry.
  • Are highly equipped to recognise, define and analyse legal problems, and to identify and create processes to solve them
  • Are able to exercise critical judgment and critical thinking in the learning and application of law
  • Are able to exercise critical judgment and critical thinking in the learning and application of law
  • Possess a highly developed capacity for legal research
  • Are able to recognise and to draw upon the interaction between law and other disciplines
  • View law as a dynamic discipline that is constantly striving towards new ideas and solutions.

Information Literacy. Graduates of the Faculty of Law will be able to use information effectively in a range of contexts.
  • Possess excellent knowledge of law in order to satisfy the requirements of legal practice and to be equipped to be skilled technical lawyers
  • Possess highly developed research skills in relation to both primary and secondary legal sources
  • Are equipped with outstanding legal research skills across electronic, print and other media
  • Are able to monitor effectively and keep abreast of changes in the law

Personal and Intellectual Autonomy. Graduates of the Faculty of Law will be able to work independently and sustainably, in a way that is informed by openness, curiosity and a desire to meet new challenges.
  • Are intellectually rigorous and seek mastery of legal subject matter
  • Possess the skills and critical judgment necessary to respond to and to direct changes in the law
  • Are confident and effective legal experts who appreciate the responsibilities which attach to that role
  • Have the capacity to recognise the limits of legal solutions and to appreciate non-legal courses of action
  • Are equipped to pursue independent and lifelong learning

Ethical, Social and Professional Understanding. Graduates of the Faculty of Law will hold personal values and beliefs consistent with their role as responsible members of local, national, international and professional communities
  • Appreciate that law does not operate in isolation, but rather in a wider social context
  • Are aware of the importance of law to the maintenance of a just and civilized society
  • Possess an understanding of the interface between domestic and international and comparative law
  • Understand lawyers professional and ethical responsibilities to their clients, other practitioners, the courts and the public

Communication. Graduates of the Faculty of Law will recognise and value communication as a tool for negotiating and creating new understanding, interacting with others, and furthering their own learning.
  • Possess exceptional written and oral communication skills
  • Understand the critical importance of effective lawyer-client and lawyer-lawyer communication
  • Appreciate the importance of plain legal language given the centrality of language to law as a discipline and as a profession