FOREWORD

Welcome to the QUT School of Law and the beginning of your professional future.

I’m delighted that you’ve chosen us to provide you with the real-world learning experiences, professional opportunities, expert teaching and industry connections that will empower you to achieve your career goals.

Completion of a law degree leads to a wide range of different careers both within the legal profession and beyond. More importantly as a law graduate you will be a leader and community advocate. As you commence your law studies, I encourage you to reflect on why you chose to study law and what brought you here, whether that is because you are passionate about the law and want to make a difference in the world, or because of the many career opportunities a law degree brings.

You will start to develop skills and experience right from the beginning of your law degree at QUT. Our law course has been designed in consultation with industry, and has strong foundations in contemporary legal knowledge and practice. We maintain strong connections with industry that allows us to offer practical and effective hands-on learning experiences. We have exceptional facilities, including a city campus with court rooms and a dedicated law library. Should you decide to practice law, we also offer a seamless pathway beyond your law degree to become an admitted legal practitioner. We’re Brisbane’s only university to offer the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice—an essential qualification to be admitted as a solicitor in Queensland.

The advice offered in this guide is invaluable because the QUT Law Society team are in the midst of their degrees and can provide a unique perspective on studying law. Although we encourage you to dedicate time to your studies, we also hope that you take advantage of the many extracurricular opportunities on offer and how these can enrich your time as a student. I hope you consider entering some of the Law Society’s competitions, including the First-Year Moot, which provides a taste of the mooting program here at QUT and is but one of the many extra-curricular activities you can be involved in throughout your studies.

I trust you settle in well to student life at QUT Law, and I wish you all the best with your studies.

PROFESSOR SHARON CHRISTENSEN HEAD OF THE SCHOOL OF LAW