Bachelor
A combined qualification in IT and law can prepare students to leverage technology for professional gain. This combined degree emphasises practice-based IT skills that can be integrated into a legal career or comprehensive legal skills that can prepare students for the competitive world of IT.
Students study the fundamentals of law (such as ethics, criminal, tort, contracts and constitutional law, among others) and IT (including programming, networking, information and web systems) plus a range of specialist electives that reflect their professional interests. The Legal Futures and Technology major can also build additional technical expertise.
By completing the law component of this combined degree, students meet the academic requirements for admission to practise law in NSW. As well as gaining discipline-specific skills, students also build capabilities in critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration that can serve them well in a wide range of workplace environments.
Lawyers with IT skills are in demand. Career opportunities include lawyer or policy adviser in various government departments, in-house legal counsel to an IT or software company, or specialist in areas such as intellectual property, e-commerce and privacy or internet censorship. Alternatively, graduates can work as IT professionals in legal practice, legal publishing or private law firms.
The course comprises a total of 240 credit points, allowing students to graduate with the separate degrees of Bachelor of Information Technology and Bachelor of Laws. The study components for course completion are as follows.
The law component of 144 credit points is made up of:
The IT component of 96 credit points is made up of:
For a current listing of subjects in each course refer to the study package directory.
To practise as a lawyer in NSW, students need to successfully complete an accredited legal academic qualification (e.g. Bachelor of Laws) and an accredited course of practical legal training (PLT), which UTS offers through its PLT program.
Students enrolled in this course may complete their practical legal training by undertaking a postgraduate course in PLT, such as the Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C11232).
Students also have the option to undertake the Diploma in Information Technology Professional Practice (C20056) once they have secured suitable full-time employment in the IT industry. This incorporates a minimum of nine months' full-time paid work experience with four supporting subjects at UTS.