Category: legal education

Education without walls – Legal Week

Posted July 21st, 2011 in legal education, news by sally

“The new media age has created a generation of law students well versed in digital communication and technologies. A host of social media tools and free-to-use communication platforms have become second nature to the lawyers of tomorrow. As legal practice becomes increasingly globalised and law firms explore the cost-effective and collaborative benefits of virtual technologies, how should legal education keep pace?”

Full story

Legal Week, 21st July 2011

Source: www.legalweek.com

Battle for students as LPC take-up dwindles – The Lawyer

Posted July 4th, 2011 in legal education, news by sally

“Enrolments on the LPC have plummeted across the market, with the University of Huddersfield ­seeing a 68 per cent drop in student numbers for the 2010-11 academic year.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 4th July 2011

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Bar regulator sets up centralised examinations team – Bar Standards Board

Posted July 1st, 2011 in barristers, examinations, legal education, press releases by tracey

“A newly formed team of legal practitioners and academics has been appointed by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), as examiners for the new centralised examinations initiative. The new centralised exams will form part of the assessment of students undertaking the vocational stage of barristers’ training, known as the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).”

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 30th June 2011

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Lawcast 185: Gary Slapper, Director Open University Law School – Charon QC

Posted June 28th, 2011 in cross-examination, legal aid, legal education, podcasts, witnesses by sally

“Today I am talking to Professor Gary Slapper, Director of the Law School at The Open University. We look at the relentless march towards privatisation in legal education, the Legal Aid reforms and briefly examine the criticism of Jeffrey Samuels QC in the Dowler case.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 28th June 2011

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Law firms are opening up to non-graduates – The Guardian

Posted June 27th, 2011 in law firms, legal education, legal executives, news by sally

“A new mood of egalitarianism is sweeping the profession just as higher tuition fees are likely to reduce social mobility.”

Full story

The Guardian, 24th June 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

LSB publishes aptitude testing research – Legal Services Board

Posted June 21st, 2011 in legal education, news, reports by sally

“The LSB is today publishing research into aptitude testing and the legal profession. The report, commissioned from Dr Chris Dewberry, Department of Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck College, University of London reviews the academic evidence for the effectiveness of aptitude testing. The review captures and summarises evidence from a wide range of studies charting the history of their development, their reliability and criteria for assessing effectiveness. The report concludes by setting out twelve recommendations any organisation seeking to use aptitude testing in legal services should consider.”

Full story

Legal Services Board, 21st June 2011

Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk

Legal profession needs more than an aptitude test to cut graduate surplus – The Guardian

Posted June 21st, 2011 in legal education, news, reports, solicitors by sally

“With not enough training contracts for all its students, the legal practice course needs to find ways of reducing its intake.”

Full story

The Guardian, 21st June 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Legal ‘near-sourcing’ threatens to widen status gap between London and regions – The Guardian

Posted June 16th, 2011 in law firms, legal education, London, news by sally

“It’s not just the BBC moving north. The big corporate law firms that have accounted for much of the legal profession’s recent growth are shrinking their pricey London hubs and expanding in the regions, too.”

Full story

The Guardian, 16th June 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

CPD Review publishes its report – Bar Standards Board

Posted May 23rd, 2011 in barristers, legal education, news by sally

“A review of CPD for barristers, commissioned by the Bar Standards Board as the regulator of barristers in England and Wales, has recommended major revisions of the system.”

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 20th May 2011

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Bar Standards Board reviews barristers’ CPD requirements – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 23rd, 2011 in barristers, legal education, news by sally

“The Bar Standards Board has announced a review of the continuing professional development (CPD) requirements for barristers.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 20th May 2011

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Breaking the myth of the barristers’ dinner – The Guardian

Posted May 17th, 2011 in barristers, inns of court, legal education, news by sally

“The focus on medieval ritual and indulgence does not paint a fair picture of the inns of courts’ qualifying sessions.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th May 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Student Perception of BPTC Survey – Bar Standards Board

Posted May 11th, 2011 in barristers, legal education, news by sally

“The Student Perception of Course Survey has been published and is available for all students completing the BPTC in 2011. Students views are sought on all areas of their BPTC experience which will feed into analysis and review of the course. Any submissions are entirely confidential.”

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 10th May 2011

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Legal education’s oversupply is unethical – The Lawyer

Posted April 26th, 2011 in legal education, news, solicitors by sally

“Too many people are looking to become solicitors in England and Wales. This is not an opinion, it is a fact based on the most recent annual report from the Law Society.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 25th April 2011

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Prisoners sign up for law degrees – The Guardian

Posted April 26th, 2011 in legal education, news, rehabilitation, solicitors by sally

“Legal degrees are proving popular with prisoners and ex-convicts – but can they ever become solicitors?”

Full story

The Guardian, 25th April 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Lawcast 182: Emily Allbon, Law Librarian at City Law School on research skills, law resources and social media – Charon QC

Posted April 14th, 2011 in continuing professional development, internet, legal education, podcasts by sally

“Today I am talking to Emily Allbon, law Librarian at City University and the editor of the excellent Lawbore resource website. Research skills lie at the root of all legal work, whether in academe or practice, so we are going to look at the skills needed and resources available to law students and lawyers in the modern era. We may even have time to look at the value of legal blogging and social media for younger lawyers and not so young lawyers.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 14th April 2011

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Profession helps law schools to step up pro bono advice – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 11th, 2011 in legal education, news, pro bono work by sally

“The number of law schools offering pro bono legal advice has risen significantly thanks to a boost in support from solicitors, a report published this week has found.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 8th April 2011

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Lawcast 181: Baroness Deech, Chair of The Bar Standards Board on legal education and the regulation of the profession – Charon QC

Posted April 11th, 2011 in barristers, legal education, podcasts by sally

“Today I am talking to Baroness Deech, an academic lawyer, former Principal of St Anne’s College Oxford, and a bioethicist. Most noted for chairing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), from 1994 to 2002, Lady Deech sits as a Crossbench peer in the House of Lords (since 2005) and, since 2009, Chair of The Bar Standards Board ”

Podcast

Charon QC, 8th April 2011

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Possible changes to the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) regulations – Bar Standards Board

Posted March 28th, 2011 in barristers, legal education, news by sally

“The SRA Board has approved changes to the QLTS Regulations which, if approved by the Legal Services Board, will put part-time students who began their BVC in 2009 in the same position as full-time 2009 BVC students, with regard to qualifying via the QLTR.”

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 24th March 2011

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Become a Barrister: Bar Council and Inns of Court Launch New Careers Website – The Bar Council

Posted March 22nd, 2011 in barristers, inns of court, internet, legal education, news by sally

“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, along with the four Inns of Court, has today launched a new careers website to provide a range of accessible information to school and university students. ‘Become a barrister’ (www.become-a-barrister.com) is a new portal for anyone interested in a career at the Bar and includes a series of films and case studies aimed at demystifying entry to the profession.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 22nd March 2011

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Oxford exam-fail law student loses compensation bid – BBC News

Posted March 21st, 2011 in examinations, legal education, negligence, news, universities by sally

“An Oxford graduate who sued a law college after failing her exams has lost a bid for damages and was told her own lack of aptitude was to blame.”

Full story

BBC News, 18th March 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk