Why LERNing matters. Patricia Leighton explains why it pays to invest in research into legal education
The legal media, profession and educators have been debating the implications of the Legal Education and Training Review(LETR)—a research-based report funded by the main regulators of professional legal education in England and Wales—since work first commenced on it in 2011.
The LETR was a major report on the nature and content of legal education and the first for over 40 years. Since then, the number of law schools, law courses and students has grown dramatically. Unsurprisingly, one of the LETR’s main recommendations was that there should be more research into legal education itself.
We have recently seen major problems for law graduates, including a hugely competitive market for training contracts and pupillage, “forcing” many graduates into non-law careers. We have also become aware of eye-watering levels of student debt and of complaints and criticism of legal education itself. While it is correct that, generally, law programmes rate quite well in the National Student Surveys it appears that at least a third of law students consider degrees, at £9,000
