2006 Media Releases
Wednesday 9 August, 2006
University Teachers Acknowledged for Promotion of Ethics and Access to Justice
A university program which directly improves access to justice and promotes ethical legal practice will be recognised today when a team of law teachers from La Trobe University receives a national award for teaching.
Mary Anne Noone, Liz Curran and Judith Dickson from La Trobe Law School say endeavours such as these are critical in today’s society where so many people struggle to get help and where lawyers are often criticised.
The team - one of six winners from La Trobe University - will receive a Carrick Australian Award for Outstanding University Teaching at an Award ceremony at the Melbourne Museum on Wednesday 9 August at 5pm.The citation emphasises the team’s success in linking classroom learning with legal practice thereby enriching students’ understanding of the ethical and professional responsibilities they face as lawyers.
“Our starting point is that students learn best when they are actively engaged with the subject matter”, says Mary Anne Noone. “In legal education, that means taking direct responsibility for a client’s legal work. This direct experience of legal practice breathes life into classroom theory and students have to confront complex ethical issues on a daily basis. Our job is to provide the structure and supervision to support the student learning”.
Students in the Law School’s clinical legal education programs are based at the West Heidelberg Legal Service and Victoria Legal Aid Preston office as well as a variety of non-government and government agencies ranging from the Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria to the Consumer Law Centre Vic. Students take responsibility, under supervision of the Award recipients, for representing clients in criminal, consumer law and family law matters as well as for drafting law reform and policy submissions. A key aspect of the programs is attention to ethical issues.
“Ethics education and the ethical conduct of lawyers and business people are much discussed and criticised," says Judith Dickson. She points out that the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2000 was highly critical of the way lawyers were taught about their ethical responsibilities and that there have been some spectacular failures of ethics in the corporate world in recent times. "Our program addresses these criticisms and creates a culture of ethical and professional responsibility".
The La Trobe program provides legal services to disadvantaged people. “Lawyers have public obligations”, says Liz Curran, “and our students learn that the law often fails to provide a remedy for wrongs our clients suffer. We encourage them to critically examine the law in practice and to see their professional obligations as extending to law reform and other activities to bring about access to justice”.
In 2006/07, all three members of the team are involved in teaching a new Postgraduate Program in Public Interest Law offering the opportunity to examine theory and practice in pro bono lawyering, human rights and other areas.
Liz Curran and Mary Anne Noone were recipients of an Australian Centenary Medal in 2003 for their legal services to the community. Today’s Carrick Award highlights the continued contribution of the three members of this teaching team to improving legal services in Australia.
For further information:
Judith Dickson, Tel: 03 9479 3760 or Email: j.dickson@latrobe.edu.au or Liz Curran, Tel: 03 9479 1133 or Email: e.curran@latrobe.edu.au