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| The legal education training review is finally here. And not much has changed | The legal education training review is finally here. And not much has changed |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| As with many things in life, the thrill of the freshly-concluded Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) — the biggest review of future lawyers' education in a generation — turned out to be in the anticipation. | As with many things in life, the thrill of the freshly-concluded Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) — the biggest review of future lawyers' education in a generation — turned out to be in the anticipation. |
| Fusty barrister training surely had to change, it was assumed. The Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) — from which only one in five graduates ever go on to practise as a barrister due to a lack of jobs — is toast, it was predicted confidently. Such dysfunction, with all the associated inns of court pageantry, could have no place in the magnificent new legal education dawn that was about to break, it was (not a little) smugly agreed. | Fusty barrister training surely had to change, it was assumed. The Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) — from which only one in five graduates ever go on to practise as a barrister due to a lack of jobs — is toast, it was predicted confidently. Such dysfunction, with all the associated inns of court pageantry, could have no place in the magnificent new legal education dawn that was about to break, it was (not a little) smugly agreed. |
| As for the training of solicitors, well, surely that would be turned on its head too. Wise men and women predicted the implementation of a US-style system where the title of "solicitor" would be awarded upon completion of the Legal Practice Course (LPC), with the cumbersome two-year training contract done away with altogether. A neater system like this would persuade more top foreign graduates to chose English legal training over the increasingly popular New York Bar qualification, it was argued. | As for the training of solicitors, well, surely that would be turned on its head too. Wise men and women predicted the implementation of a US-style system where the title of "solicitor" would be awarded upon completion of the Legal Practice Course (LPC), with the cumbersome two-year training contract done away with altogether. A neater system like this would persuade more top foreign graduates to chose English legal training over the increasingly popular New York Bar qualification, it was argued. |
| And these were the cautious voices. Bolder types forecast a complete merging of barrister and solicitor training that, over time, would lead to a fused profession. This blurring of boundaries would take place in a highly-impressive haze of interactive lectures populated by Google Glass-clad lawyers-to-be, who, thanks to an impossibly sophisticated flexible learning regime, would also easily hold down full-time jobs and active social lives. | And these were the cautious voices. Bolder types forecast a complete merging of barrister and solicitor training that, over time, would lead to a fused profession. This blurring of boundaries would take place in a highly-impressive haze of interactive lectures populated by Google Glass-clad lawyers-to-be, who, thanks to an impossibly sophisticated flexible learning regime, would also easily hold down full-time jobs and active social lives. |
| Instead, as the LETR report was finally unveiled on Tuesday, what we got was a bit of mild tinkering. The result is that the legal profession finds itself moving into a new era of competition from the likes of Tesco and Google with a system of education that still requires students to eat 12 dinners in order to qualify as barristers. | Instead, as the LETR report was finally unveiled on Tuesday, what we got was a bit of mild tinkering. The result is that the legal profession finds itself moving into a new era of competition from the likes of Tesco and Google with a system of education that still requires students to eat 12 dinners in order to qualify as barristers. |
| OK, OK, so that's not quite true. That 12 dinner requirement has long since been replaced by an option to complete 12 "qualifying sessions" instead. But ask any trainee barrister and they'll tell you that the dominant activity in most of the sessions they attend is eating. Anyway, the point is that LETR didn't take the opportunity it had to update even the most arcane feature of law's training regime. | OK, OK, so that's not quite true. That 12 dinner requirement has long since been replaced by an option to complete 12 "qualifying sessions" instead. But ask any trainee barrister and they'll tell you that the dominant activity in most of the sessions they attend is eating. Anyway, the point is that LETR didn't take the opportunity it had to update even the most arcane feature of law's training regime. |
| So what did it do? The most significant thing in the 335 page report, which took over two years to produce following various delays, is its public acknowledgement of "considerable dissatisfaction" from students paying in pursuit of a career "they're never likely to achieve". Lest we forget, university tuition fees trebled last year. Meanwhile, the already high cost of legal training continues to rise. | So what did it do? The most significant thing in the 335 page report, which took over two years to produce following various delays, is its public acknowledgement of "considerable dissatisfaction" from students paying in pursuit of a career "they're never likely to achieve". Lest we forget, university tuition fees trebled last year. Meanwhile, the already high cost of legal training continues to rise. |
| What that means, in the practical terms outlined in the report, is not the introduction of an aptitude test to determine who is allowed to go to law school — an option which the LETR team rejected for "diversity" reasons. Rather, a focus on opening up alternative, cheaper ways to become a lawyer is being encouraged. | What that means, in the practical terms outlined in the report, is not the introduction of an aptitude test to determine who is allowed to go to law school — an option which the LETR team rejected for "diversity" reasons. Rather, a focus on opening up alternative, cheaper ways to become a lawyer is being encouraged. |
| Noting a "lack of variety of models of vocational training for solicitors and barristers", the report calls for further development of apprenticeships for wannabe solicitors, more of the vocational stage of training to be integrated with workplace training, new "work-based learning pathways through the training contract" and the development of "additional alternative pupillages". It also recommends that an assessment be made of the viability of a model that would exempt lawyers from the requirement for a three-year degree. | Noting a "lack of variety of models of vocational training for solicitors and barristers", the report calls for further development of apprenticeships for wannabe solicitors, more of the vocational stage of training to be integrated with workplace training, new "work-based learning pathways through the training contract" and the development of "additional alternative pupillages". It also recommends that an assessment be made of the viability of a model that would exempt lawyers from the requirement for a three-year degree. |
| Not that any of these ideas are particularly new. Indeed, most of them are already underway in some form or another. For example, it has been possible to do a legal apprenticeship — overseen by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives — since the last training review, over 30 years ago. And there have long been "alternative pupillages" to be had in organisations such as the Government Legal Service (GLS) and in-house at solicitors' firms. | Not that any of these ideas are particularly new. Indeed, most of them are already underway in some form or another. For example, it has been possible to do a legal apprenticeship — overseen by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives — since the last training review, over 30 years ago. And there have long been "alternative pupillages" to be had in organisations such as the Government Legal Service (GLS) and in-house at solicitors' firms. |
| What the report may herald, though, is a much greater emphasis being placed on such alternative routes, which currently are perceived as lower status by students. If the powers that be can somehow establish a new narrative that makes non-traditional paths into law seem sexy, then some of that "considerable dissatisfaction" caused by an over-supply of conventional law graduates could begin to dissipate. | What the report may herald, though, is a much greater emphasis being placed on such alternative routes, which currently are perceived as lower status by students. If the powers that be can somehow establish a new narrative that makes non-traditional paths into law seem sexy, then some of that "considerable dissatisfaction" caused by an over-supply of conventional law graduates could begin to dissipate. |
| The problem they're likely to encounter is that the more process-driven law jobs that tend to match up with cheaper routes to qualification are always going to be less desirable than barristerial/City law glamour. Getting the high end chambers and top law firms to accept apprentices as equals will be the big test. | The problem they're likely to encounter is that the more process-driven law jobs that tend to match up with cheaper routes to qualification are always going to be less desirable than barristerial/City law glamour. Getting the high end chambers and top law firms to accept apprentices as equals will be the big test. |
| David Edmonds, the chair of the Legal Services Board, accurately described the report as "an important milestone, rather than the last word on the subject." LETR may be dull, but in keeping as many options open as possible at a time when so much in the legal profession is in flux, its authors deserve praise. But what a lot of time and effort! In hindsight, as one legal tweeter pointed out, perhaps the powers that be should have delayed the thing until major changes like Tesco Law and the university tuition fee rises had been able to bed down a bit more. | David Edmonds, the chair of the Legal Services Board, accurately described the report as "an important milestone, rather than the last word on the subject." LETR may be dull, but in keeping as many options open as possible at a time when so much in the legal profession is in flux, its authors deserve praise. But what a lot of time and effort! In hindsight, as one legal tweeter pointed out, perhaps the powers that be should have delayed the thing until major changes like Tesco Law and the university tuition fee rises had been able to bed down a bit more. |
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