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 in their previous studies, or they may have a misconception that lawyers don’t do maths.
