S|M| i |L|E Social Media in Legal Education is a new collaborative project by Australian legal academics. The project aims to promote and support the integration of social media into legal education, starting as a resource and repository for the ongoing explorations of academic collaborators, Kate Galloway, Kristoffer Greaves, Melissa de Zwart and Melissa Castan; others will be involved too. It aims to be a useful resource for academics, ECRs and HDR students, law students, and legal practitioners. Please take a look at the libraries there.
“in summing up, it’s the constitution, it’s Mabo, it’s justice, it’s law, it’s the vibe and no, that’s it, it’s the vibe…. I rest my case.” **
I’ve been procrastiblogging by compiling a list of the best Australian constitutional law blogs, for both the legal academic and the student/scholar. There are now a number of high quality academic blogs that offer case or issues analysis sometimes within days (or hours) of a major constitutional decision being handed down. Whilst many students are understandably wary of using blogs for research assignments and study, I am confident of the authoritative and scholarly nature of these ones. Read on…Read the rest of this entry »
Ana felt it was time to stretch her academic wings
When the southern hemisphere winter sets in and the days are short and bleak, its time to start planning to get out of the doldrums and into a conference. But how do you get a paper accepted by the convenors? And what if you are an inexperienced public speaker?
Flora Poste Writes has a very useful summary of tips and advice for those preparing to present or attend at a conference, and similarly the Thesis Whisperer has shared her slides on Academic Conferences: A beginners’ guide. Over at Hook & Eye Amiee Morrison (digiwonk) has a terrific post that reminds us that Conference Papers are like Movie Trailers. Her key points ~ “Hit the highlights, Show the chase scene, Simplify the plot”. That’s good advice! [read on…]
Are we just reproducing the dominant paradigm? *Mattel
The Culture of Professional Dressing
There’s been a lot of talk on this blog here and here amongst others, of women’s (and some men’s) experiences as legal practitioners, in terms of what to wear. We could ask why these posts are so popular with readers. Is it because women love clothes? (I mean – you know what women are like, right?) Perhaps. However I have another theory.
Law blogs (blawgs?) are increasingly popular as a way for lawyers, law students and legal academics to communicate to new audiences, create communities of shared interests, and generally vent about the peculiarities of the law. They are also one of the few ways people can access and exchange legal information and analysis for free (although there is a cost to the blogger, there is little cost to the bloggee). I recently had to hunt down a variety of blogs for an article I was writing, and I realised its hard to locate an up to date list of ‘Oz Blawgs’. Here is a list of the ones I found so far. It complements my list of Australian Legal tweeters here and Legal Info here. Read on Read the rest of this entry »
Have you ever wanted a quick and dirty guide to the main principles underlying the methods and motives for correct use of footnotes and citations in Australian law?
Legal citation has been referred to as a ‘peculiar human custom’.1 It allows a writer to refer to legal and non-legal authorities clearly and consistently, so as to support the arguments made, as well as to enable a reader locate the references. The purpose of providing references is to acknowledge sources of your writing, and demonstrate the breadth and depth of your research. We set out for you here* the shortest possible instructions on Australian legal footnotes style. Read the rest of this entry »
"I seek not to know the answers, but to understand the questions."
There has been a burgeoning of law schools in Australia in the last 15 years, matching a rise in demand for law degrees. Yet there has been little exploration of the expectations and aspirations of young students commencing a law degree in Australia. By contrast, a number of studies on features of professional life for practising lawyers are emerging. In particular, recent studies have shown high levels of stress, anxiety and depression among practising lawyers. In addition, there is evidence of high levels of attrition of women from private legal practice in the first few years following admission and a significant under-representation of women in the senior levels of the profession. [read on] Read the rest of this entry »
Early career academics - are they the pop stars of legal academia? *
Reflections of a NKOTB: my first two months as a legal academic
After ten years of study, five years of practice (including private practice and homelessness lawyering), two undergraduate degrees, three postgraduate qualifications, two children, hundreds of clients and thousands (millions?) of pages of legal documents, I came to the conclusion that I don’t want to be a lawyer. For now.
It wasn’t that I was burnt out, mistreated or jaded; I just don’t have the passion for casework at this stage of my career. But I loved the research and advocacy part of my role managing Victoria’s Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic, and the impact the law can have on society.
We are all busy, and sometimes its hard to catch up with what is new and useful. But some things are really worth taking a few minutes to check out. We asked Kay Tucker, the wonderful law librarian at the Monash Law Library, if we could post a link to her terrific presentation, “30 sites in 30 minutes”. Read on… Read the rest of this entry »
They say that what happens at the law conference stays at the law conference.
We all know the value of getting out of the salt mines, meeting new people and hearing new ideas. Whether its the networking, the great speakers, the time away from home and the desk, we think conferences are a wonderful opportunity to have a break from the daily grind, and experience something new.
I have been on the lookout for a list of people using twitter to share news and views on Australian law (or in twitter terms #auslaw), mainly for the benefit of law (and legal studies) students who ask me for recommendations. You can follow people’s own curated ‘twitter lists’ that collate tweeters on different topics, but you need to know who to start following in order to make best use of lists. And perhaps this list may prompt some of our non-tweeting colleagues to start up the habit.
So below is my attempt at (an incomplete) listing those twegals who like to tweet (the little bios are the tweeters’ own). I would welcome any other suggestions, and if I have left you off inadvertently, or you don’t want to be here, please let me know. Read the rest of this entry »
A recent article in the Australian (here) noted that there are fewer law students taking jobs in firms and more law students taking jobs in industry and commerce. The article is titled ‘Fewer graduates choosing practice …’.
Is this trend really a matter of choice or a case of taking what is available? Certainly, the article refers to AAR development director Jane Lewis who noted that
‘Growth in law firm jobs had not kept pace with the sharp increase in graduate numbers … so it made sense that a greater proportion of law graduates were being employed in the corporate sector.’
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Entries have recently closed for the University of Alabama Law School, where Harper Lee studied law, and the American Bar Association Journal for the Harper Lee prize for legal fiction.
Clearly, the entries are unlikely to match the original. Indeed, many works of fiction about lawyers are often highly compelling airport fodder. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see what comes out of the competition. Many lawyers I know yearn to write or indeed do write in their “spare” time. I also wonder how many lawyers would rank To Kill a Mocking Bird as one of their formative reading experiences.
What are your favorite or formative legal fictions (of the literary kind)?
LATE BREAKING NEWS: a signed 1st edition of To Kill A Mockingbird sold last week for $25,000 (LA Times, click here). Some people really love that book!
I have been talking to a friend about the ‘incremental disadvantage’ faced by under-represented groups in legal practice. Lots of little lost opportunities eventually add up to a big disadvantage. Interesting in this light is a study by Nancy Leong and Jennifer Mullins which finds that fewer female than male students publish case notes in US law Journals. It might not seem like an issue but scholarly publications are relevant to later employment and promotion opportunities. The authors also include some practical suggestions for addressing this issue.
See Leong, Nancy and Mullins, Jennifer, An Empirical Examination of Gender and Student Note Publication 1999-2009 (March 8, 2011). Available at SSRN:
From Supergirl to Invisible Woman: The divide between student perception and professional reality in corporate legal practice by Melissa Castan and Jeannie Paterson in the Alternative Law Journal 2010
Young women are prominent and successful at Australian law schools, yet women remain under-represented in the senior echelons of the legal profession. In this article the authors examine factors affecting the attrition of young women lawyers from corporate legal practice, and make suggestions regarding the responsibilities of law firms and law schools to address this issue… (Long version here).
Welcome to Amicae Curiae, A blog discussing the role of women in the law, in legal education, as students as academics, and within the legal profession. What does Amicae Curiae mean? Literally it means girl friends of the courts. For more on what and Amicus Curae is read this.
1. Finding Australian Law Blogs: https://amicaecuriae.com/2012/04/28/finding-australian-law-blogs/
2. 64 (and more) Australian Legal Tweeters: https://amicaecuriae.com/2011/08/14/64-or-more-australian-legal-tweeters/
3. Australian Legal Info on Twitter: https://amicaecuriae.com/2011/08/24/australian-legal-info-on-twitter/
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