Our Course

This Unit is coordinated by the Executive Director and supported by a range of guest practitioners and instructors.

This Unit focuses on advancing your technical and practical knowledge in the areas of client interviewing, drafting (including writing letters) and advocacy skills which are then developed throughout the Tasmanian Legal Practice Course.

You will participate in a combination of individual or group-based tasks within lecture and workshop settings.

The Unit is organised into five modules: Lawyers’ Skills, Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Problem-solving Skills, Work Management and Business Skills and Workplace Experience.

This Unit is coordinated and conducted primarily by a member of the Tasmania Bar, experienced in Supreme Court practice and civil and commercial litigation. Guest instructors from the Tasmanian legal profession will assist from time to time.

This Unit is focused on building skills to enable you to conduct civil litigation in first instance matters in at least one State or Territory court of general jurisdiction. It is organised into six modules covering topics including court familiarisation, litigation strategy and conduct of litigation, negotiation and trial advocacy. Throughout the Unit you will develop valuable advocacy and procedural skills, and learn to communicate effectively in range of legal settings.

Judges and legal practitioners conduct regular workshops and issue practical exercises, and you will appear in the Supreme Court regularly to make applications, submissions and undertake other advocacy exercises mirroring various procedural steps in a civil litigious matter. After being introduced to civil litigation in an “overview file” based in the Magistrates Court, you will conduct a more complex “interactive” personal injuries file for the duration of the Course, culminating in a dispute resolution process in the Supreme Court.

This Unit also includes a sub-module on Tribunal Practice in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) where you will have the opportunity to prepare and appear in preliminary proceedings in one or more dispute resolution divisions of TASCAT.

In 2024, Federal Court exercises were introduced involving advocacy and conciliation opportunities, and these will continue to be included in the Course.

This Unit is coordinated and conducted by a member of Tasmania’s criminal bar, supported by other practitioners and judicial officers specialising in this jurisdiction.

It is focused on building your skills and knowledge to competently practice criminal law as an entry level lawyer in the Magistrates Court. It provides an overview of the practice and procedure involved in the various stages of advice and representation for a defendant in the criminal jurisdiction of the Court.

You will develop valuable advocacy and procedural skills and learn to communicate effectively in a range of professional and legal settings. The Unit is organised into three modules covering familiarisation with the Court, practical advocacy through court applications and submissions and aspects of conducting defended hearings.

As an integral part of the Unit, you will appear in the Magistrates Court on fortnightly exercises to make applications, submissions and undertake other advocacy exercises with oral feedback given directly by presiding judicial officers and assisting practitioners.

This Unit is coordinated and conducted by an experienced senior commercial practitioner.

It is designed to build your knowledge and capabilities as an entry level lawyer to conduct commercial transactions, set up commercial structures, deal with loans and securities and advise on revenue law and practice.

It is organised into three parts of commercial law practice – Foundations, Transactions and Interactions, and covers a range of other common commercial law matters including transaction and file management, commercial document construction, entity structuring, GST and tax, due diligence, costs, companies, trusts, not-for-profits, corporate governance and managing client relationships.

This Unit is coordinated and conducted by an experienced senior practitioner.

It is structured to build your knowledge of all the legislative and administrative steps associated with conducting a standard transfer of property in Tasmania, from both a vendor and purchaser perspective. Key aspects include drafting a standard form contract for sale, preparation of transfer documentation and settlement statements, and simulated attendance at settlement of a property transaction.

This Unit also includes a sub-module on Wills and Estates where you will receive instruction from an experienced estate lawyer on how to draft a will and important aspects of probate and administration of estates.

This Unit is coordinated and delivered by a certified practising accountant and is designed to help you build knowledge and capability as an entry-level lawyer. You will create, maintain and report on firm-based office and trust accounts in accordance with professional obligations.

This Unit is focused on developing your knowledge and understanding of important fiduciary, ethical and reporting obligations associated with the maintenance of trust accounts using appropriate accounting and financial software.

This Unit is coordinated and instructed by a family law practitioner, assisted by guest practitioners with experience in both Federal and State Courts dealing with matters arising from the breakdown of relationships.

This Unit is designed to build your knowledge and understanding of general concepts applicable in family law practice and provides an overview of pre-action procedures in the Family Court Federal Circuit Court of Australia including dispute resolution.

Throughout the Unit, you will be introduced to key aspects of practising in the family law system and participate in lectures, workshops and practical advocacy exercises, with opportunities to participate in or observe dispute resolution and early-stage proceedings in the Family Court Federal Circuit Court of Australia.