Course overview
This course will cover procedures applicable to the resolution of civil disputes, including conciliation, mediation, arbitration and judgment, together with the ethical obligations that lawyers bring to these procedures. Through problem solving and practical role plays students will be critically introduced to the nature of civil process in South Australian and Federal courts and the respective roles and responsibilities of parties (including their legal representatives), mediators, arbitrators and judges in commencing, continuing and conducting these processes. Particular topics of court adjudication under an adversary system will include: the cost of litigation; initiation and service of process and jurisdiction: joinder of parties and claims; the definition of issues through pleadings and admissions; obtaining evidence through disclosure, inspection and interrogatories and the limits imposed by privileges and immunities; interlocutory injunctions; pre-trial conferences; mediation; judgment without trial including settlement; the nature of judgment; rights of appeal; and the enforcement of judgments. Duties owed by lawyers to the law, the court, clients, other lawyers and the community will be considered in theory and in practice, both particularly in relation to dispute resolution and more generally, as well as the concept of professional misconduct and wider questions of a lawyer's personal ethics and conflicting duties and values.
Course learning outcomes
- Apply the theories that underpin dispute resolution in society, social and psychological; select appropriate Dispute Resolution models for specific disputes; practice the skills of dispute resolution in simulated mediation and negotiation exercises
- Locate, critique and apply legislation, case law and secondary sources to resolve complex legal problems
- Critically review different dispute resolution options within and outside the civil court system
- Critically analyse and apply legislation, rules and cases to generate solutions and to critique dispute resolution law from the perspectives of fairness, accessibility and effectiveness of the civil justice system, and access to justice
- Create and sustain concise and cohesive written and oral arguments with a focus on client advice, courtroom documents and advocacy
- Work effectively as part of a team undertaking complex legal work in the context of a mock civil dispute
- Apply ethical principles governing civil legal practice, articulate the professional obligations of lawyers relevant to dispute resolution, and critique dispute resolution laws from a range of perspectives
- Reflect on their capacity to operate effectively individually and as a member of a team
- Utilise feedback and constructive self-evaluation to inform improvement and personal development