Shaping the Future of Legal Education - 2006/2007 Consultation
In November 2006, we launched "Shaping the Future of Legal Education".
RESPONSES
The consultation was primarily aimed at individuals and trying to capture the widest range of views and opinions on legal education and training as possible. This approach was chosen for the reasons explained below.
However, the Society equally recognised that some organisations would still wish to log a response representing their policy position. An option within each questionnaire allowed such feedback to be submitted. When this option was selected the respondent was asked to confirm that they had the authority to submit an organisational response, that the response was the official policy position of the organisation, and that the response could be made public. They were also asked to provide details of the internal consultation and decision making process that had lead them to achieve a consensus view. Finally, the Society also recieved and considered responses outwith the online questionnaire format. The organisations that responded included:
- Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)Scotland Law Advisers Group
- Faculty of Advocates
- Institute of Paralegals
- Johnston Consulting
- Lawcare
- OFT (Office of Fair Trading)
- Scottish Consumer Council
- Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
- Scottish Law Librarians Group
- Scottish Legal Aid Board
- Scottish Refugee Council
- Scottish Women's Aid
- Society of Legal Scholars
- BIG FIRMS (representing a third of trainees in Scotland)
Reasons for focussing on individual responses
Encouraging individual feedback also dealt with a range of difficulties relating to organisational responses, for example:
- Receiving responses with dissenting opinions attached
- Receiving more than one response, with conflicting views, from the same organisation
- The status of responses – whether they represent the official position of the organisation
- The weighing of responses – how you rate responses from different organisations, with different roles, and representing different numbers of members or clients
- Double-counting – many institutions have been involved in the development of the consultation (for example, all law schools were invited to respond to a consultation on the content of the ‘Professional Subjects’), commenting on proposals they helped construct may be viewed by some as ‘double counting’
RESPONSES ON THE DETAIL
At the time of the consultation it was emphasised that there were no detailed proposals or recommendations on these edcuation and training issues. Indeed, neither the Society’s Education and Training Committee, nor its Council, had considered papers on the topics prior to them being consulted on. However, some aspects of the route to qualification had been examined in more detail.
This section provides downloadable and printable versions of this work for any areas where more detail was available:
Core Values and Principles
A copy of the original 'Foundation Document', which was the subject of an earlier consultation. Following that process the document was not formally endorsed by the Society - but developed into this current consultation
Legal Foundation Programme
This paper provides further details on what areas might be covered at this stage of training (currently attained through the LL.B. or the Society's Exams)
Professional Education and Training – Stage 1
This document provides a detailed competency framework and discusses issues of assessment and implementation
Professional Education and Training – Stage 2
This project is at an earlier stage of evolution, but contact details for the project manager are included for those interested
Continuing Competence, Ongoing Development
Details of suggestions made by the working party examining the current CPD system
If you have any questions on these detailed documents, please contact us through the consultation e-mail address
In the original consultation, we asked you for your feedback on the detail of the following areas. Click on the links to download the responses.
Foundation Programme (Statistics)
Foundation Programme (Free-text)
The above is that stage of training currently met by the LL.B. or the Society's Professional Exams
Professional Education and Training - Stage 1 (Statistics)
Professional Education and Training - Stage 1 (Free-text)
The above is that stage of training currently met by the Diploma in Legal Practice
Professional Education and Training - Stage 2 (Statistics)
Professional Education and Training - Stage 2 (Free-text)
The above covers the traineeship, Quarterly Perfomance Reviews, Logbooks, and the Professional Competence Course
In order to fully understand these data sets you may wish to read the background papers. You may also find details of the current arrangements helpful. If you have any questions about these questionnaires, please contact us through the consultation e-mail address.
POST-CONSULTATION
We were delighted at the response of the profession and the wider stakeholders with which we work and at this stage we had the largest single set of data on legal education ever generated in this country.
We knew we had a duty to all those who responded to act fast, taking on board ideas and suggestions where there was clear consensus and investigating more some of the radical suggestions made. However, we also had a duty to analyse the data thoroughly and robustly, something which took time with such a large volume of statistics and free-text comment.
We organised a two-day meeting of the Education and Training Committee. This meeting examined an initial report on the statistical data as well as all of the free-text comments. The aim was clearly set out a plan for further interrogation of the data-set and start focussing down on what ideas should be the subject of further development.
A variety of other factors needed to be taken into account going forward. These included ensuring no set of individuals currently working towards entering the profession was adversely affected by any period of change; the constraints on our key stakeholders and their systems and process; the need to ensure a supply of entrants to the profession; and the need for changes to our current training regulations.
This means we couldn't promise that every good suggestion would be acted on, or that every idea with wide support will be turned into policy. However, what we could assure you of was that we would keep you up-to-date and that you would have access to the results and how they are used, through this website and the Society's Journal.
After consultation close, and in May 2007, we wrote to all key stakeholders let you know that the results of the Education and Training Consultation were out, and that both free-text and statistical summaries could be downloaded from the website. We also shared an outline of the basic policy direction coming out of an intensive round of meetings of the Society’s Education and Training Committee. Work continued at a remarkable pace:
HEADS OF LAW SCHOOL AND DIPLOMA UNITS
On 9th July we met with representatives of the Faculty of Advocates, who noted a particular interest in the need to work to keep our organisations’ policies aligned where possible to the benefit of everyone in the system. On this latter point we noted that CPD arrangements were of less direct relevance but that the Faculty had a strong interest in the nature and content of the foundation programme, and a continued requirement for a period of in-office training. The Faculty also raised issues of how other Society training programmes related to the Consultation, such as the training for solicitor-advocates. Like with our colleagues in the universities they also felt it would be easier to give more specific feedback once greater detail was available, but were positive about the Society commencing the next phase of work,
ALL TRAINING FIRMS
We wrote to all firms and organisations in Scotland which take a trainee. Despite a high level of coverage in the Society’s Journal and e-zine we wished to ensure that this vital group, which provide the final stage of training for the next generation of solicitors, had all received an update on the progress of the project. The communication encouraged those involved to contact the Society with comments, questions, or requests for further information.
‘BIG’ TRAINING FIRMS
On the 19th July 2007 the Society attended a meeting to which the 13 ‘big’ training firms that has submitted a joint response to the consultation had been invited by Jim Moser of Dundas and Wilson. A lively and thought provoking discussion ensued, touching on areas such as the ‘war for talent’ and the requalification process between jurisdictions. Again we managed to address specific concerns. For example, the firms that have trainees in more than one jurisdiction want, where possible, for the systems’ requirements to be similar to make the process more efficient. This was already something that was being examined, and we followed up by contacting all project leads with the current English and Welsh arrangements to ensure copies were in front of them as they undertook the next phase of work.
OTHER KEY STAKEHOLDERS
We wrote to key organisations that have views on legal education and the legal services market in Scotland, including the OFT (Office of Fair Trading), the Scottish Consumer Council, and Scottish Legal Aid Board.
ONGOING COVERAGE
We are delighted that coverage of the project has continued in, for example, the legal press including the Society’s Journal, and recent editions of the SCOLAG Journal and The Firm Magazine. We have also had comment in the general media from the Scotsman through to BBC radio – who interviewed the Deputy Director of Education along with two agencies that had responded to the consultation, Scottish Refugee Council and Scottish Women's Aid.
UK AND IRISH LAW SOCIETIES
A presentation on the consultation outcomes and policy direction was made to senior staff from other Law Societies (England and Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland) at both the recent Joint Education Forum and the meeting of UK and Irish Secretaries and Presidents. At both events the presentation was later described as the highlight, and our colleagues here (and from as far afield as New Zealand) have pledged to keep a close and interested eye on our next phase of work.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING COMMITTEE
The Committee has continued to meet to oversee the project. On 16th August the Committee approved a first draft of a statement on the ‘core principles of legal education in Scotland’ which sets out the high level policy statements that will inform all areas of education and training. The draft drew extensively on evidence from the consultation process, the underpinning projects, and evidence from other jurisdictions and professions. We knew from the consultation phase that many found it hard to engage with the broad principles, without thinking about how they would operate in practice.
COUNCIL
On 29th June the Council of the Society received a detailed presentation on the work undertaken to date and the outline policy direction which would define the next phase of work. The proposals so far were then debated, and authorisation for the next phase of work granted. The Council had particular interest in encouraging and ensuring the availability of trainees and in a regulatory structure that would be efficient both for firms and solicitors, and for the Society itself.
OTHER WORK
Meanwhile the department continued with its other work. Two accreditation processes were run for institutions already providing the LL.B. degree but needing to bring their programmes within the current accreditation arrangements. The process of accreditation for a new provider of the Diploma in Legal Practice took place. The results of the Profile of the Profession project were published making the profession one of the first to publish a full equality profile of their membership (race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion and belief, social background) as well as examining experiences of discrimination. A major engagement event called ‘Engaging Tomorrow’s Lawyers Today’ was run with those with stake in education and training, examining how the Society can ensure effective career and professional links with those who are considering a career in law, progressing through the route to qualification, or just qualified.
The June 2007 edition of The Journal included an article updating the profession on progress with the consultation and discussed what would happen next. Click here to read that Journal article. The January 2008 edition of the Journal included an article in which the project leads discussed their section of the project and the "Discussing the Detail" Consultation. Click here to read that article. Click here to visit our section on "Discussing the Detail", the stage which followed.
For completeness, archived news items follow below:
NEWS - Education & Training Committee make first policy announcments
The results are in! After the first phase of analysis of the statistics and free-text comments generated by the recent consultation we now have the largest evidence base ever generated on the views of solicitors, other legal professionals, those in training, and those with an interest in legal education, not just on the future shape of the route to qualifying, but also on the mechanisms for continuing competence and ongoing development once in practice.
During late February and March summaries of statistics and key themes from the free-text responses were prepared, with two intensive day-long sessions of the Education and Training Committee to discuss the findings taking place in April. Throughout these meetings the extensive set of evidence generated prior to the consultation continued to be referred to. The committee have now developed what they might regard as policy positions on many key areas which will influence the final recommendations. For example, the committee has agreed that the future system should:
Be a framework of standards in relation to content, assessment methods, and accreditation
In the future, the ‘route’ to qualification might not be an LL.B, a Diploma, and then a traineeship. The majority of students may well continue to follow a path similar to this (albeit with each stage amended in the light of feedback) but some may follow different routes. For example, a graduate in a non law discipline who at the moment either takes an accelerated LL.B or a pre-Diploma Training Contract, could possibly elect to take modules from a university or commercial provider that cover the core subjects to the same standard as an LL.B degree, but do not result directly in the award of an LL.B. They might then proceed to an intensive skills course, and then a traineeship with elements of ‘release’ back to the classroom. This is NOT about the Society seeking to set up different schemes, but allowing providers to construct alternative routes within a framework which will rigorously assert and monitor core standards to be attained by all, whilst allowing students greater flexibility.
Combine academic excellence with an outstanding preparation for practice
The committee thought it desirable to see more emphasis on a comparative dimension in the teaching and assessment of law, firmly rooting the Scottish position within the EU/UK/International law setting, and greater integration of the ‘strands’ of law so as to more closely relate to how a client problem may present (rather than exclusively taught and assessed through individual ‘strands’ of law).
Recognise that with increasing specialisation there needs to be a balance between covering necessary areas of law and tailoring a course of study to specific areas
This then raises the question of what content should be recommended? The committee agreed that there should be a more focussed core (ie less individual subjects) which should comprise of ‘building blocks’ which made many areas of law accessible (such as Obligations) or areas of law which pervasively affect a range of practice (such as Human Rights law), as well as areas of law of which all legal practitioners ought to be aware. This will also free time for the new focus on teaching and assessment which is comparative and draws together the different areas of law in a way more analogous to client requirements.
Manage in-office training in a different manner
There was strong support, from solicitors and others, for authorisation of training firms and the requirement to have a ‘training partner’ who had skills and experience in the supervision of traineeships. Assessment methods would carry across the much more integrated professional stages of training (currently a Diploma and a traineeship). A package of support would be put in place to assist training firms with this change – which initially will represent a drawing together of several current requirements into a more consistent package and a light-touch move into authorisation.
Continuing Competence, ongoing development
The committee noted that there was support for the concepts raised in the consultation in relation to CPD, especially in light of the fact that there had been much less communication with the profession on these issues as the project was at an earlier stage. This perhaps showed itself in a very low level of dissent, with some indicating they had not got to the stage of forming an opinion. It was agreed to further explore all of the concepts in the consultation including changes to the length of the CPD cycle, a focus on ‘credits’ (with different values for different CPD activities), accreditation of providers of some types of CPD, the development of broad core competencies for solicitors to focus CPD activities on, and the idea that CPD requirements may be different at different career stages.
In all of these areas the committee has authorised the development of detailed project plans and further work with key individuals and partners (such as the universities and training firms) who are integral to any developments. Later this month we are meeting with other jurisdictions (UK and Ireland) to hear of their experiences and get their feedback, and we will also be presenting to the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), again to gain their input.
We are confident that the final proposal will represent a strong regulatory position as well as demonstrating best-practice gathered from multiple sources. We hope to have a final package for Council to debate towards the end of 2007.
We look forward to providing more information in the near future, but wanted to start to share this vision of a bold and exciting new future at the earliest possible stage.
Christine McLintock - Convenor, Education and Training Committee (incoming)
Liz Campbell - Director, Education and Training
Neil Alan Stevenson - Deputy Director, Education and Training
NEWS - Consultation endorsed by the Joint Standing Committee on Legal Education (JSC):
"The Joint Standing Committee on Legal Education for Scotland welcomes the very widescale Consultation exercise on legal education being launched today by the Law Society and hopes that the survey will attract a large number of responses from across the spectrum of opinion."
The JSC brings together representatives of the Universities, Diploma in Legal Practice providers, the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates, and the Justiciary
NEWS - Journal article updates profession, Council approve next phase of work
On 29th June the Council of the Society received a detailed presentation on the work undertaken to date and the outline policy direction which would define the next phase of work. The proposals so far were then debated, and authorisation for the next phase of work granted. The Council had particular interest in encouraging and ensuring the availability of trainees and in a regulatory structure that would be efficient both for firms and solicitors, and for the Society itself.
OTHER WORK On 27th June we met with the heads of the law schools in Scotland and those running Diploma units. The meeting was informal, opening with a presentation by the Society and with the remainder of the event involving discussion on initial reactions to what was proposed, and brainstorming on how the current providers would like to be involved in the future development work. The Society was delighted at the positive and constructive involvement of this group of key partners. It is not for us, of course, to summarise their views – but to us it seemed two key themes emerged:
Firstly, that while broad policy objectives have now been identified, the detail in many areas still has to be developed (or, ‘its all still a bit jelly like’, as one of our colleagues more succinctly phrased it!). We readily accept this. The aim of the meeting was to ensure that at the earliest stage of our thinking on the next phase of work key stakeholders were involved, but we look forward to putting the more detailed proposals into the public domain for discussion with both a ‘Green Paper’ (a stage we were delighted to include at the request of the universities) and a later ‘White Paper’ with final proposals for change
Secondly, that, subject to the above, the main policy intentions were positively received, with many seeing opportunities and benefits and none of the high-level policy being criticised. It was acknowledged that some may have reservations to express once the detail is available, but we look forward to a constructive dialogue at that time.
