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…
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…
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…
Solicitor’s Regulation Authority conference on upcoming qualification changes
The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority of England and Wales (SRA) has published video recordings of its 2020 conference on the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). The SQE is a new qualification system being implemented in England and Wales over the course of this year. Conference topics included provider and firm strategies around the changes, changes to qualifying…
Event: Global trends and challenges in legal education and legal practice
28 JAN 2021 1300 – 1400 GMT Online The connection between legal practice and legal education is extremely relevant for law firms and legal departments, as well as for universities and bar associations. This webinar will explore the connection between the most recent global trends and challenges in legal practice and legal education. Event Website
Listening and Relational Lawyering
Abstract Legal professionals spend much if not most of their time listening to others, including clients, witnesses, co-workers, and judges. And yet, lawyers are notorious for being poor listeners. Perhaps this helps explain why the legal profession consistently gets ranked as one of the least trusted professions. The primary reasons for clients’ dissatisfaction have more to do with…
Solicitors Regulation Authority publishes compliance officers conference online
The Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales (SRA), has published recordings of their recent compliance officers (COLP) conference on their website. Due to the content of the conference, looking at regulatory and compliance developments, ICLR members may well find the content interesting and relevant to their own regulatory work. Sessions included: Discussions around rule…
Regulatory developments in Ireland
On the 19th November, The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) published two separate reports with recommendations to the Minister for Justice. The first report is entitled, “Setting Standards: Legal Practitioner Education and Training“. The report is focused on examining the competence and standards required to practise as either a Solicitor or a Barrister in Ireland….
American Bar Association Recognised Law School requirements relaxed due to COVID
The Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has announced that they will consider individual law school circumstances due to COVID-19 if bar passage rates fall below 75%. During the announcement at it’s November 20th public meeting, the council said law schools failing to meet Standard 316, sometimes called…
Is Legal Education Over-Regulated or Under-Regulated?
Abstract Posing the challenges facing legal education as concerned with its under- or over-regulation is the wrong question. Instead, we need to cast fresh eyes on the question of legal education beyond the binary of over-and under-regulation. This paper identifies three inter-related factors that reveal the inadequacy of our long-standing discourse on the regulation of Australian legal education: the misapprehension as to…