Small Group Learning in Real Property Law

The philosophy of education at Flinders Law School emphasises the acquisition of foundation legal skills, including interpersonal communication such as interviewing and negotiation, in a program which is designed to foster independent learning. As part of this commitment, Flinders has initiated and maintained a project to incorporate self-reflection as an explicit goal of teaching. Developing a capacity for informed reflection on their own work will directly enhance students’ learning and enable them to monitor and improve their performance after graduating and entering the work- force

A psychometric appraisal of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy using law students

BACKGROUND: A growing body of literature indicates that empathic behaviors are positively linked, in several ways, with the professional performance and mental well-being of lawyers and law students. It is therefore important to assess empathy levels among law students using psychometrically sound tools that are suitable for this cohort. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The 20-item Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Health Profession Students Version was adapted for a law context (eg, the word “health care” became “legal”), and the new Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Law Students (JSE-L-S) version was completed by 275 students at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Data were subjected to principal component analysis. RESULTS: Four factors emerged from the principal component analysis (“understanding the client’s perspective”, “responding to clients’ experiences and emotions”, “responding to clients’ cues and behaviors”, and “standing in clients’ shoes”), which accounted for 46.7% of the total variance. The reliability of the factors varied, but the overall 18-item JSE-L-S yielded a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.80. Several patterns among the item loadings were similar to those reported in studies using other versions of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. CONCLUSION: The JSE-L-S appears to be a reliable measure of empathy among undergraduate law students, which could help provide insights into law student welfare and future performance as legal practitioners. Additional evaluation of the JSE-L-S is required to disambiguate some of the minor findings explored. Adjustments may improve the psychometric properties

The effect of family violence on post-separation parenting arrangements: the experiences and views of children and adults from families who separated post-1995 and post-2006

In 2009, the Australian Attorney-General commissioned research into family law and family violence in Australia, with a focus on the relationship between people's experiences of family violence and decisions made about post-separation parenting, with and without assistance from service providers in the family law system. The study included adults and children who had separated after 1995 and after the introduction of the 'Family Law (Shared Parental Responsibility) Amendment Act' (Cth) in 2006.\ud \ud This article reports key findings of two national online surveys with adults and children in relation to post separation parenting, which formed part of the larger research