| Sumario: | A study of the Brain and Mind Research Institute released in 2009 established that more than one third of Australian law students suffer from psychological distress. The psychological health of law students is therefore a critical issue for Australian legal education, and strategic change is necessary to address the stressful nature of studying law. This article argues that intentional first year curriculum design has a critical role to play in addressing and preventing psychological distress in law students. In particular, the authors argue that assessment and feedback practice in the first year can be harnessed to assist students to successfully transition to studying law at university by supporting their development as independent and self-managing learners, and assisting their acquisition of the necessary tertiary literacies. First, the authors consider the problem of psychological distress in law students. Second, they explore a range of theoretical and practical strategies to assist the implementation of good assessment and feedback practice in the first year of legal education. The article concludes that intentional assessment and feedback design in the first year of law is critical to alleviating psychological distress levels in law students. [Author abstract]
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