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19 January 2012 / Peter Nussey
Issue: 7497 / Categories: Features , Training & education , Profession
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Thinking space

Peter Nussey explains how to help bridge the gap between training & work

In 2009, Richard Susskind reviewed the College of Law’s e-learning as “an innovative, exciting, and important technique for the world of legal education”. In 2010, he said: “The conventional law lecture will soon be superseded by e-learning.” While e-learning has become reasonably well established within the academic environment, it has yet to become widely adopted by the wider legal world. A number of law firms and vendors have created e-learning programmes to ensure compliance with SRA diversity, equality, and data protection regulations, however, these fall short of providing the sort of technical legal training demanded by practitioners and, in particular, juniors and trainees.

 
For aspiring lawyers the move from academic challenge to pragmatic application is probably the most significant migration in their career. Having completed the training contract, the responsibility that is placed on them can be significant, yet the level of support, in particular training, is not always sufficient. They often face difficult legal challenges without the breadth of experience
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Projects and rail practices strengthened by director hire in London

DWF—Stephen Hickling

DWF—Stephen Hickling

Real estate team in Birmingham welcomes back returning partner

Ward Hadaway—44 appointments

Ward Hadaway—44 appointments

Firm invests in national growth with 44 appointments across five offices

NEWS
Refusing ADR is risky—but not always fatal. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed and Sanjay Dave Singh of the University of Leicester analyse Assensus Ltd v Wirsol Energy Ltd: despite repeated invitations to mediate, the defendant stood firm, made a £100,000 Part 36 offer and was ultimately ‘wholly vindicated’ at trial
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
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