RMIT LSSPROSPECTUS 2017

This publication was designed and edited by Mieke Matimba. If you have any feedback or if you would like to contribute to the next edition, please contact:

Mieke Matimba Vice President RMIT LSS VicePresident@rmitlss.com

©2016 RMIT Law Students’ SocietyPO BOX 21168, Little Lonsdale St VIC 8011Published March 2016

The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not reflect the views and opinions of RMIT University and the RMIT Graduate School of Business and Law. The RMIT Law Students’ Society Inc. is an independent student led and driven organisation with no formal affiliation to the RMIT Grad-uate School of Business and Law, RMIT University or the RMIT Student Union. This publication is copyright of the RMIT Law Students’ Society Inc. 2012, except as provided by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The infor-mation provided is correct at the time of publication and is intended only as a guide and does not constitute any advice whatsoever. You should seek independent advice in relation to your individual circumstances. The RMIT LSS accepts no responsibility or liability for relying on the information contained herein.

With the 10th anniversary of the RMIT Juris Doctor Programme, RMIT Law Students’ Society is heading into an-other busy year and excited to promote the agenda for 2017.

2016 saw the RMIT LSS host another busy year of events including Plain Language training, first year mixers and the successful publication and launch of our ‘Careers and Clerkship Guide’.

The RMIT LSS Competitions portfolio hosted our annual Personal Injury Moot and numerous internal Client Interview Competitions. Our competitors had a hugely successful year; our negotiations team were runner-up Aus-tralian Champions at the National Negotiation Championship hosted at the Australian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) Conference, winning in the Nowicki Carbone Personal Injury Moot, and making the advanced rounds in the 5th Annual Justice Kirby Contract Moot, the AAT moot, and many great individual efforts in other competi-tions.

Our weekly bulletin, distributed to the JD student cohort is read by over 200 students each week and on-line com-munications strategy has generated significantly more interest in the society with a 67% increase in likes of our Facebook site. The LSS also doubled its membership through increasing the value offered to membership to the society.

In February 2016, the RMIT LSS hosted ALSA’s triannual national council meeting with representatives from all over Australia meeting to discuss issues relevant to law students today. RMIT LSS continues to contribute to this national advocacy body in a meaningful fashion, with RMIT students continuing to serve on national committee positions.

WELCOME

Thank you for taking the time to review our prospectus. We have had an excellent year in 2016 and I am looking forward to another sterling year in 2017, particularly with the 10th anniversary celebrations of the RMIT JD programme.

I am passionate about the RMIT Law Students’ Society and the opportunities we offer law students at RMIT and I hope that after reading this prospective, you will be as passionate as we are.

The RMIT Law Students’ Society is a young and vibrant society that is quickly making a name for itself at inter-varsity competitions, innovative justice programs and networking events. Formed in 2009 following the commencement of the Juris Doctor program at RMIT in 2007, the RMIT LSS has developed a foundation of competitions, publications, events and connections, on which to provide our members and sponsors with exciting opportunities.

2017 promises to be an exciting year with the 10th Anniversary of the JD programme, and will see ever increasing numbers of graduates from RMIT! We continue to offer our successful careers’ guide launch party and are looking to host a special event for all RMIT law alumni for the 10th anniversary. 2017 also sees the society focus on its’ equity portfolio and consider how best we can serve our members to access resources and appropriate assistance in this area. In particular, all the Melbourne Law Student Societies are working collaboratively in the LGTBI space to provide safe and respectful support to members and students from that community.

I hope that you will consider partnering with us in 2017 and be a part of what is sure to be an exciting year. I look for-ward to the opportunity to sit down with you to discuss how we can work together to demonstrate our value to your organisation and improve our law student’s experience. There are some unique opportunities in light of our 10th anni-versary for a meaningful contribution to our landmark celebrations.

Elise SteegstraPresident

Elise Steegstra RMIT LSS President

In 2017 the RMIT LSS will produce our annual publications, the ‘Welcome to Law School Guide’ distributed to every new JD students at RMIT, and the ‘Careers and Clerkships Guide’ which is released mid-year before

applications for clerkships are due. Our publications are all available online.

New in 2016, we published our ‘Guide to Mooting’ and ‘McPherson’s Papers’ – The RMIT LSS Journal.

PUBLICATIONS

McPherson’s Papers Macpherson’s Papers was launched at our end of year gala and contains the top 5 essays submitted to the LSS Essay competition – all of which were also submitted to the National Essay Competition. This publication is available on our website

(www.rmitlss.com/publications), and through Issuu, a digital publishing platform:

(https://issuu.com/rmitlaw/docs/mcpherson_papers__2016).

Introduction to Law School GuideThis publication is a welcome to all new RMIT JD students. We want to help prepare students to get the most out of their study and the guide contains useful information for getting started. For instance it includes articles such as, ‘how to write a legal memo’ and ‘how to maximise your time at law school’.

Careers and Clerkships GuideThe Careers and Clerkshis guide is our largest publication and aims to fuel students with information about applying for clerkships and preparing for careers in the law. The publication contains testimonials from ex-students and lawyers from our

sponsor firms detailing their experiences in the work force and the career paths they have chosen since completing their law degrees. All our sponsor firms are featured in this publication, giving students an idea about the kind of law pursuable and the varying opportunities that different firms and industries offer .

SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE PRESENCE

RMIT LSS’ Website - www.rmitlss.comThe RMIT LSS website has continued to consolidate this year. We uploaded videos from sponsors and the PLT providers, which are integrated with the presentations as given to the student cohort. Our sponsors not only have their logos displayed prominently across the webpage, they also have dedicated sponsorship pages. We also make our publications available for download, along with publications from other contributors, like ALSA and the Victoria Law Foundation. Up to date details about our events and competitions are also available. A dedicated LSS IT officer maintains and updates this vital resource.

THE RMIT LAW STUDENTS SOCIETY APP HAS ARRIVED!!!

We released our first app in 2016, which allows us direct access to

our member’s and provides all the information and utility of the LSS

website direct to members’ smartphones.

Go to the app store and check it out for yourself;

just search ‘RMIT Law Students Society’!

RMIT LSS on Social Media

RMIT LSS hit the ‘500 likes’ milestone this year. We continue to use Hootsuite to coordinate postings between different media channels; we have a weekly Facebook post reach of almost 1000 views; and continued to build an active Twitter following with most tweets averaging 100 impressions per tweet. We also share content on Instagram and LinkedIn.Further, our weekly bulletins are distributed to the entire JD student body, as well as published online. These bulletins include details about upcoming events - inside RMIT and in the greater law profession, as well as promotions and information about competitions and other areas of interest to our students.

Social media & Online PresenceRMIT JD has more than 400 active and enthusiastic students, many of whom are likely graduating next year we hope that you will consider us for sponsorship in 2017.Due to the number of part time and online students in the RMIT Juris Doctor program, the LSS communicates predominantly through online channels.

COMPETITIONS

In 2016 the RMIT LSS participated in more competitions than ever before. We ran an internal Client Interview competition with great success. RMIT came in fourth at the ALSA Negotiation Competition held in Hobart, out of 25 teams from all over Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia.

For the third year in a row the RMIT Law Students Society hosted the Nowicki Carbone Personal Injury moot, which included teams from all Melbourne based universities. The RMIT team came in first place. Videos can be seen on the RMIT LSS website <http://www.rmitlss.com/nowicki-carbone-personal-injury-moot.html>

RMIT LSS also made it through to the advanced round in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal National Moot, participated in the Kirby Contract Moot and the Castan International Human Rights Law Moot.

We currently have a team preparing to compete in the Vis East Moot to be held in Hong Kong in 2017.

Intro to Law Socials: The RMIT LSS hosts our first-year students to an informal drinks night to celebrate the second weekend intensive of their first subject, ‘Introduction to Australian Legal Practice’. This event is a good opportunity for current students to mingle with the JAFFYs, sign them up and get them interested in LSS activities. This is a compulsory subject that is attended in person by all students, including our OUAs.

EVENTS

End of Year Cocktail Party: The end of year party is an opportunity for the students to reflect on the year that has been, celebrate our success and let off a little steam. We invite our sponsors to attend this event, and present awards for excellence in competitions or academic merit.

Careers Symposium: The RMIT LSS hosts the ‘Careers Guide Launch Party’ to kick-off clerkships season and to prepare students with the information they need for applications and interviews. The evening includes guest speakers, and our sponsors are invited to attend to give students a chance to ask questions about firm-life and real practice. In 2016 the Careers Symposium was cocktail themed and held at ‘The Moat’.

Education Events: The RMIT LSS host numerous education sessions throughout the year. Several ‘Plain English’ seminars were held, as well as sessions on resumes, job hunting, legal drafting and choosing a PLT provider. Some of our presentations were conducted by PLT providers who came to offer expert advice on how to get the most out of a law degree.

RMIT 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF JURIS DOCTOR

In 2017, RMIT is hosting the Tristan Jepson Memorial Leture, and the Higginbotham Lecture. The faculty will also host various other events to be announced in 2017.

The RMIT LSS is planning a celebratory night to remember with drinks, dancing and guest speakers. We’re looking for some interesting ideas from sponsors on how they would like to be involved.

Join us during RMIT’s 10th Anniversary of the Juris Doctor. We have events planned all year long to celebrate our achievements.

The RMIT JD was launched in second semester, 2007 and saw our first graduates complete their degrees in 2009. RMIT intake numbers continue to rise, both face-to-face and online, and every year sees more and more graduates from the RMIT JD.

RMIT is committed to student diversity and graduate employability. The RMIT JD is intensely practical with a focus on mooting assessments, client interviews and memorandums of advice.

A recent survey among our students showed that over 76% are currently employed - a majority in full-time employment. Further, over 70% of respondents were female. The key areas of interest to the students are innovative justice, international law and business and commercial law. RMIT is proud of these achievements.

These packages are intended as a guide only. We would love the opportunity to sit down with you and tailor something to your preferred level of involvement.

PREMIUM SPONSORSHIP (P.O.A)• Two Information Sessions with video recording hosted on our website• Three page adverts (A4) in our Careers and Clerkships Guide• One article (500 words) in our Careers and Clerkships Guide• Unlimited online material distributed to our members• Four tickets to all RMIT events• Naming rights for the Moot Award at the end of year event• Recognition as Premium Sponsor on RMIT LSS Homepage

GOLD SPONSORSHIP $1,000• Two page advert (A4) in our Careers and Clerkships Guide• One article (500 words) in our Careers and Clerkships Guide• Two tickets to the launch event for the Careers and Clerkships Guide• Two tickets to the RMIT 10th Anniversary Event• Two tickets to the RMIT End of Year Event• Up to five posts/short pieces in the Fortnightly Bulletin per year• Up to five posts on the RMIT LSS Facebook site per year• Recognition as a Gold sponsor on the RMIT LSS website

SILVER SPONSORSHIP $700• One page (A4) advert in our Careers and Clerkships Guide• One article (500 words) in our Careers and Clerkships Guide• Two tickets to the launch event for the Careers and Clerkships Guide• Two tickets to the RMIT End of Year Event• Up to three posts/short pieces in the Fortnightly Bulletin per year• Up to three posts on the RMIT LSS Facebook site per year• Recognition as a Silver sponsor on the RMIT LSS website

BRONZE SPONSORSHIP $400• One page (A4) advert in our Careers and Clerkships Guide• Recognition as a Bronze sponsor on the RMIT LSS website

SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES

Get in contact with us!

RMIT LAW STUDENTS SOCIETY

PO Box 21168Little Lonsdale St Vic 8011

president@rmitlss.com