header-logo header-logo

The next generation

03 January 2008 / Susan Blake
Issue: 7302 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession , Employment
printer mail-detail

Mastering the art of working as an effective lawyer by Susan Blake

Effective legal practice is important for a society to function well. Many barristers and solicitors command relatively high salaries, and lawyers in and have a well deserved international reputation. Entry to the profession is competitive, and millions of pounds are spent each year on education and training. How good are we at producing lawyers who can work at the cutting edge of the law, and perform effectively and efficiently?

 

UNDERESTIMATING SKILLS

In some ways we are very good. We live in a jurisdiction that has many highly regarded university law departments, and many aspects of our skills-focused professional training have been copied in other jurisdictions. However, there are questions about how coherent our education and training is as a whole. Institutions running professional courses find that even among graduates with good quality law degrees:

Students find it difficult to deal with remedies, especially calculating damages. There may have been limited emphasis on these areas

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Francis Ho, City of London Law Society

NLJ Career Profile: Francis Ho, City of London Law Society

Francis Ho, Charles Russell Speechlys partner, was recently appointed chair of the Construction Law Committee of the City of London Law Society. He discusses the challenges of learning to lead, the importance of professional ethics, and the power of the written word, withNLJ

Slater Heelis—Chester office

Slater Heelis—Chester office

North West presence strengthened with Chester office launch

Cooke, Young & Keidan—Elizabeth Meade

Cooke, Young & Keidan—Elizabeth Meade

Firm grows commercial disputes expertise with partner promotion

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
In this week's NLJ, Bhavini Patel of Howard Kennedy LLP reports on Almacantar v De Valk [2025], a landmark Upper Tribunal ruling extending protection for leaseholders under the Building Safety Act 2022
Writing in NLJ this week, Hanna Basha and Jamie Hurworth of Payne Hicks Beach dissect TV chef John Torode’s startling decision to identify himself in a racism investigation he denied. In an age of ‘cancel culture’, they argue, self-disclosure can both protect and imperil reputations
back-to-top-scroll