header-logo header-logo

06 January 2011 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7447 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
printer mail-detail

An unfair divide?

As students take to the streets to protest rising levels of debt, law schools stand accused of treating their students as a revenue stream churning out young lawyers for jobs that don’t exist...

Part 2: Jon Robins calls for a dose of reality in the legal education system 

As students take to the streets to protest rising levels of debt, law schools stand accused of treating their students as a revenue stream churning out young lawyers for jobs that don’t exist. So the new review of legal education announced last month—and welcomed by the chair of the Legal Services Board, David Edmonds as “the most penetrating enquiry” into the training needs of lawyers since the 1971 Ormrod Review—is well-timed and long overdue.

A system of legal education that seeks to equip a solicitor at the point of admission to be equally competent as a corporate lawyer in a magic circle firm or as a general practitioner in a small high street firm is “in danger of producing a lawyer whose skills

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

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott boosts Southampton commercial property team with addition of partner Lee Edwards

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors announces four promotions

NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
back-to-top-scroll