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 are less than adequate for either role”. It’s a view posited

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

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
back-to-top-scroll