The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (NSBS) has introduced a new Succession Planning Professional Standard, effective from the 2nd February 2021. The standard comes as the result of a working group launched in 2017 appointed to consider the implications for the profession if lawyers and firms do not have effective plans in place for practice interruption….
Legal Services Board releases options on ongoing competence
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published a new report on ongoing competence in the legal services sector. Confirming that it plans to develop this thinking further and consult on how competence can be assured over the course of a lawyer’s career. In the report the LSB points out that whilst legal regulators have comprehensive…
ABA releases first model diversity survey report on law firm equity and inclusion
On the 16th February, the American Bar Association Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession today released its 2020 ABA Model Diversity Survey Report, the first report focused on diversity, equity and inclusion within law firm practices in the USA. The Model Diversity Survey (MDS), was developed in 2016, and is designed to…
Law Society of Scotland launches new Racial Inclusion Group
The Law Society of Scotland has launched a new group on Racial Inclusion, headed up by Tatora Mukushi, a solicitor with Shelter Scotland, who has been appointed as the first convener of the group. The group has been formed by the Law Society, with the goal of forming a better understanding of the lived and…
Event: The Future Is Now: Legal Services
The Future Is Now: Legal Services Tuesday, April 27 – Thursday, April 29, 2021, from 12 – 2 p.m. CDT Online The fourth annual The Future Is Now conference will bring together lawyers, judges, legal academics, entrepreneurs, and other professionals from across the U.S. and internationally. The conference will explore the interplay between the changing legal profession…
Legal Skills: Making a Real Change in Nigerian Legal Education
Abstract The hallmark of legal education is the transfer and acquisition of knowledge of legal theories and skills. The purpose of this chapter is to examine those legal skills that are crucial to both the study and practice of law. This chapter argues that legal education in Nigeria is confronted with a crisis that can be attributed to the non-teaching of functional legal skills to…
Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession: The Significance of Giving Voice and Listening to Persons Who Experience Discrimination, Bias, and Harassment
Abstract Let’s admit it, harassment and bullying are endemic in the practice of law. Horacio Benardes Neto, the President of the International Bar Association (IBA), made this observation in introducing an IBA report, called Us Too: Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession. Published last year, the report was based on findings from the largest-ever global…
Canadian law schools must do their part to help combat climate change
The intensifying physical and socio-economic effects of climate change, mainstreamed by political debates and scientific evidence on anthropogenic disruptions to the global climate system, have motivated changing legislation, regulation, litigation, and institutions. But legal education is not keeping up; climate change has not yet been taught well and broadly in Canadian law schools. While a few schools have…
Unguided: social media usage in the legal profession and the need for practical guidance
An unprecedented ethical dilemma currently faces the legal profession, how to ethically utilize social media. Lawyers who choose to utilize social media in their legal practice are not provided any ethical guidance on how to properly use social media. Specifically, there are currently no uniform guidelines for state bar examiners to emulate these guidelines from. Existing rules of professional…
National Conference of Bar Examiners testing taskforce recommendations for next generation of bar exams
The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) testing taskforce has released preliminary recommendations as to what it feels that the next generation of bar examinations should look like. As part of its examination process, the NCBE is committed to periodic content review and design, in order to ensure high-quality licensing and examinations. The recommendations are…