SRA considers ditching skills testing from first part of SQE – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is considering whether to abandon the skills element of the first stage of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), meaning it would consist entirely of multiple-choice questions.’

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Legal Futures, 31st July 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Inns of Court to be first provider of new Bar training course – Legal Futures

Posted July 12th, 2019 in barristers, inns of court, legal education, news, universities by sally

‘The Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) is set to be the first organisation approved to run the new Bar training course, which it is doing on a not-for-profit basis.’

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Legal Futures, 12th July 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

White students still way out ahead in race for pupillages – Legal Futures

‘White students are significantly more likely to obtain pupillage than those from BAME backgrounds, with the gap widest among those who have not achieved the highest results, new figures have shown.’

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Legal Futures, 4th July 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Blog: what our new Bar qualification rules could mean for you – Bar Standards Board

Posted June 20th, 2019 in barristers, diversity, legal education, press releases, universities by tracey

‘Having spent several years working in a university and managing training for professionals before being called to the Bar in 2007, I know first-hand the importance of high-quality education and training. The organisation I lead, the Bar Standards Board, has for the past few years been reviewing how barristers qualify in England and Wales, and I’m delighted that our new Bar qualification rules have now been launched.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 18th June 2019

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

‘We want to make it more accessible’: a guide to the new-look bar course – The Guardian

Posted May 15th, 2019 in barristers, fees, inns of court, internet, legal education, news, statistics by sally

‘The exam for barrister trainees could be about to change. Here’s all students need to know about the planned new course.’

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The Guardian, 14th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Inns of Court to re-enter training market with new Bar course – Legal Futures

Posted May 10th, 2019 in barristers, budgets, inns of court, legal education, news by sally

‘The Inns of Court are to re-enter the student training market and have today become the first to unveil plans to deliver the new Bar training course.’

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The Guardian, 10th May 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

More universities are teaching lawtech – but is it just a gimmick? – The Guardian

Posted April 15th, 2019 in artificial intelligence, legal education, legal services, news, universities by michael

‘Eager to be ahead of the curve, universities have started to offer specialist modules. Should lawyers believe the hype?’

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The Guardian, 12th April 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

New edition of BSB Handbook introduces new Bar qualification rules – Bar Standards Board

Posted April 2nd, 2019 in barristers, codes of practice, legal education, licensing, press releases by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published a new edition of its Handbook which sees new Bar qualification rules come into force.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 1st April 2019

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

BSB signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Inns of Court – Bar Standards Board

Posted March 28th, 2019 in barristers, inns of court, legal education, press releases by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) last night signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Inns of Court. It recognises the vital role that the Inns will continue to have in the education, training and qualification of barristers in England and Wales when new Bar qualification rules go live next week.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 28th March 2019

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org

Pupil recruitment system “not virtue signalling”, QC says – Legal Futures

Posted March 27th, 2019 in barristers, diversity, equality, legal education, news, pupillage by sally

‘The first chambers to use a recruitment system which provides ‘contextual’ information to improve diversity is not “virtue signalling”, the head of its pupillage committee has said.’

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Legal Futures, 27th March 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barrister apprentices on way as training reforms are approved – Legal Futures

Posted March 4th, 2019 in barristers, legal education, news, pupillage by sally

‘The Legal Services Board (LSB) has approved the new training regime for barristers that will open up four routes to qualification, including an apprenticeship.’

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Legal Futures, 1st March 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

LSB gives green light to bar training reforms – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Oversight regulator the Legal Services Board (LSB) has approved the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) proposals for changing the training regime for aspiring barristers, which includes reforms to pupillage but retains the roll of the Inns of Court.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 28th February 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

SQE does “violence to law” as academic discipline – Legal Futures

Posted December 11th, 2018 in legal education, news, solicitors, Solicitors Regulation Authority by sally

‘The introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) does “significant violence to law as an academic discipline and to our colleagues and students”, law lecturers have argued.’

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Legal Futures, 11th December 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

BSB seeks views on how to recover costs for overseeing new Bar training rules – Bar Standards Board

Posted December 7th, 2018 in barristers, consultations, costs, fees, legal education, press releases, pupillage by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today launched a consultation seeking views on the charging model it proposes to introduce for organisations providing Bar training. These organisations are known as Authorised Education and Training Organisations (AETOs).’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 6th December 2018

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org

Environmental Law and the core of legal learning: framing the future of environmental lawyers – OUP Blog

Posted October 16th, 2018 in environmental protection, legal education, news, solicitors, universities by sally

‘Environmental law has not been taught or seen as a ‘core’ legal subject, giving environmental law academics freedom to teach the subject in many different ways. This structural sidelining, however, belies important questions about how teaching environmental law relates to the core of legal learning. We are not suggesting that there is a core of environmental law knowledge that every student should learn (although there is lots to learn), but that it is important to reflect on whether there are core legal concepts, reasoning processes and skills that all environmental lawyers should have. This issue is now particularly pertinent as the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales is ‘releasing’ the LLB from its conventional structure of core legal subjects, so that existing assumptions about how environmental law relates to the core of (undergraduate) legal learning are up for grabs.’

Full Story

OUP Blog, 15th October 2018

Source: blog.oup.com

Bar considers responses on future of pupillage – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 3rd, 2018 in barristers, consultations, legal education, news, pupillage by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is to assess the future of pupillage after the deadline for chambers to respond to a consultation on reforms passed on Sunday.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 1st October 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘Don’t swell the ranks with solicitors’ – bar fights training reforms – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 20th, 2018 in barristers, legal education, legal profession, news, solicitor advocates, solicitors by tracey

‘Proposed reforms to barristers’ training would “unacceptably dilute” the bar’s standards by giving solicitors an easy route to entry, the Bar Council has said. In its response to proposals for reforming the education and training requirements for barristers, the representative body says that exempting solicitor advocates from parts of the qualification process would “be attractive to solicitors who regard admission to the bar as a badge of achievement, and who will recognise that this route to that badge is fundamentally less arduous than the route barristers currently take.”‘

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Law Society's Gazette, 19th September 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Learn for Free: Law Courses & Lectures Online

Posted August 9th, 2018 in legal education, news by sally

We have curated a list of over 250 free legal education resources, including MOOCs, courseware, lecture collections and podcasts, covering a range of topics and jurisdictions.

We are still adding to this list. If you have any suggestions for inclusion please contact smclaren@innertemple.org.uk

BSB seeks views on draft of new Bar training rules – Bar Standards Board

Posted July 20th, 2018 in barristers, legal education, press releases by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today launched a consultation to seek views as to whether their proposed new rules for the training and qualification of barristers provide the right framework to give effect to the new policies announced recently by the regulator as part of its Future Bar Training (FBT) programme.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 19th July 2018

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

University pioneers legal tech course for law degree students – Legal Futures

Posted June 11th, 2018 in computer programs, legal education, news, universities by sally

‘Manchester University has launched what is understood to be the first legal technology course for law degree students in England and Wales.’

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Legal Futures, 7th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk