General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3259 |
| Course name: | Innovation, Creativity and Ethics for Globalized Legal Practice |
| Programme offered under: | LLB Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Designated research course: | Not applicable |
| Specialization: | Not applicable |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 30 |
1.2 Course description
In post-COVID-19 era, lawyers face unprecedented legal, ethical and business challenges arising from the fast changing global environment. However, globalized legal practice also presents new opportunities for innovative and creative lawyers. This course brings together global lawyers practicing or having practiced in common law countries (like Australia, Canada, Singapore, United States and New Zealand) and civil law countries (like China, Israel, Thailand and Vietnam) to share through zoom meetings their globalized legal practice and the relevance of innovation, creativity and ethics to their professional careers.
In addition, this course teaches cutting-edge local and overseas developments on (a) how lawyers adopt innovation and creativity to promote legal practice and access to justice and (b) expose students to the ethical issues that flow from globalized legal practice. The course will also promote immersive learning and experiential learning methodologies in the form of engaging with global lawyers in different countries, as well as collaborative and reflective learning in the form of group project and reflective essays on issues of innovation, creativity and ethics in globalized legal practice.
What is more, this course teaches mindful ethics to help future lawyers cope with pressure brought about by globalized legal practice. It shares insights on how legal mindfulness can help them reduce stress and develop ethical decision-making strategies. In particular, it teaches them how to practice mindful communications, mindful actions and mindful livelihood in their daily lives to develop themselves into innovative, creative and ethical lawyers.
The course will include a research project to afford students the opportunity to research on innovation, creativity and ethics (including mindful ethics) in globalized legal practice and global lawyering. This course will enhance the learning experience of students through active interactions between students, teachers and guest speakers. Students will learn from innovative, creative and ethical lawyers, including ‘NewLaw’ practitioners, and experts in mindful ethics.
Key topics of this course include:
- Introducing Concepts of Innovation, Creativity and Ethics & Their Importance to the Practice of Law
- Legal Process Innovations and Design Thinking for Asian Legal Practices
- Mindful Ethics for Globalized Legal Practice
- Alternative Forms of Legal Services Delivery in Australia
- Technological Transformation of Globalized Legal Practice
- Alternative Forms of Legal Services in Hong Kong
- Innovations and Creativity in Law Firm Marketing
- Ethical Issues in Globalized Legal Practice I: Conflicts of Interests
- Ethical Issues in Globalized Legal Practice II: Confidentiality
- Ethical Issues in Globalized Legal Practice III: Technological Competence
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Richard Wu | richwswu@hku.hk | CCT 810 | By email |
| Course convenor | Seb Ko | sebko@hku.hk | N/A | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Understand and explain the impact of globalization on both domestic and international legal practices.
CLO 2 Demonstrate an awareness of different concepts of professionalism in globalized legal practice.
CLO 3 Articulate the ethical issues emerging in the globalized legal practice.
CLO 4 Connect globalization of legal practice to legal innovation and creativity, and understand how innovation and creativity impact on legal service delivery.
CLO 5 Apply the knowledge and understanding to identify and develop strategies to promote access to justice through legal innovation and creativity.
2.2 LLB Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/llb-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | N/A | 10% | 1, 4, 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Group project | 26 Nov 2023 | 45% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Reflective essay | 28 Nov 2023 | 45% | 1, 2, 3, 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/