Becoming a barrister remains highly competitive, new report shows – Bar Standards Board

Posted June 21st, 2017 in barristers, legal education, news, statistics by sally

‘The BSB has today published the third annual edition of its statistical information on student performance on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).’

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Bar Standards Board, 19th June 2017

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Bar aims to tackle pupillage crisis – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 21st, 2017 in legal education, news, pupillage, statistics by sally

‘More than 60% of students who completed the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) fail to get pupillage, statistics from the Bar Standards Board have shown as the regulator ponders reforms to training.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 20th June 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Law schools “trapped in the 1970s”, Susskind says – Legal Futures

Posted June 16th, 2017 in artificial intelligence, legal education, legal services, news by tracey

‘Many law schools are teaching law “as it was in the 1970s”, Professor Richard Susskind, IT adviser to the Lord Chancellor, has said.’

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Legal Futures, 16th June 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Nick Barber: The Legal Academic In the Internet Age – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted June 15th, 2017 in internet, legal education, news, publishing, universities by sally

‘I was contemplating my lectures for the coming academic year and I started to feel annoyed – I think the two were connected. Lecturing has started to seem a rather odd and inefficient way of communicating information about constitutional law to students. Though lectures can be fun to deliver, they are also a pain. For the lecturer, they consume a significant amount of time and energy, raising a sense of déjà vu, as last year’s insights and jokes are dusted off for a new audience. But things are worse for those who have to listen to the thing: dragged into a lecture that can last for an hour or more, a moment’s lack of concentration can mean important points are missed – and few in the audience will only suffer a moment’s inattention. It is becoming obvious that the opportunities presented by the Internet will change this over the coming few years; I would bet that the old-style lecture will only last little while longer (though there are strong forces of creaking institutional inertia protecting it). Putting to one side next year’s teaching, I began to speculate on the ways in which the Internet might change the ways in which we, as legal scholars, communicate our subject to students and to people more generally in the medium term. In this post, I will reflect on how I see legal academia developing over the next five or so years – I think we are on the cusp of a very exciting and largely positive shift in the way in which we operate.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 14th June 2017

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

BSB to review training role of Inns of Court – Legal Futures

Posted June 2nd, 2017 in barristers, inns of court, legal education, news by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is to review the role of the Inns of Court in the training of barristers, it has emerged.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd June 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

The Jill Poole Memorial Lecture by the Lord Chief Justice: Keeping commercial law up to date – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted May 19th, 2017 in contracts, judiciary, legal education, shipping law, speeches by tracey

‘The Jill Poole Memorial Lecture by the Lord Chief Justice: Keeping commercial law up to date.’

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 16th May 2017

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Lord Chief Justice emphasises vital role of law schools in face of education reforms – Legal Futures

Posted May 18th, 2017 in judges, legal education, news, speeches, universities by tracey

‘The Lord Chief Justice has signalled concerns about the impending reform to educating law students, saying that a “very broadly based legal education” and law schools “as the centres of excellence” must not be diluted.’

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Legal Futures, 18th May 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

BSB to launch plans for ‘barrister apprenticeships’ – Legal Futures

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is to launch a consultation this summer setting out the rule changes it needs to implement its fiercely contested training reforms, and among them will be a new route to qualification similar to solicitor apprenticeships.’

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Legal Futures, 4th April 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

BSB announces decision on the future of Bar training – Bar Standards board

‘At its Board meeting last night, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) decided that it will authorise a limited number of future training routes for prospective students to qualify as barristers. One of these is likely to be a new training course, which has been proposed by the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC) and the Bar Council. The Board also agreed a Policy Statement setting out its vision for the future of Bar training.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 24th March 2017

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

New CPD rules: how to implement them in your practice – The Future of Law

‘What is the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) new mandatory regime on continuing professional development (CPD) for solicitors? Nicola Jones, co-founder and director of Athena Professional and a learning for performance consultant, takes a look at the new rules and provides guidance on how firms can implement them into their practices.’

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The Future of Law, 16th February 2017

Source: www.blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk

UK legal academics urge PM to cancel Donald Trump’s state visit – The Guardian

Posted February 16th, 2017 in freedom of expression, legal education, news, rule of law, teachers, universities by sally

‘Theresa May has been urged by 250 legal academics to cancel Donald Trump’s state visit and scale back Britain’s support for the US until he reverses his positions on immigration, refugees, torture, climate change and judicial independence.’

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The Guardian, 15th February 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Criminal bar adds to regulator’s woes over training reform – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 7th, 2017 in barristers, consultations, legal education, news by sally

‘The Criminal Bar Association has added its voice to concerns over the Bar Standards Board proposals for training reform, suggesting vocational aspects should be given more ‘flexibility’.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 6th February 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Lord Woolf joins hundreds of barristers in condemning bar training shakeup – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 1st, 2017 in barristers, legal education, news by tracey

‘More than 500 barristers have signed an open letter opposing the Bar Standards Board’s proposals to shake up the training regime for would-be barristers. In a letter published today, the barristers, who include former master of the rolls and lord chief justice Lord Woolf, say the consultation is not “guided by a proper understanding” of the BSB’s objective of promoting and protecting the public interest ‘

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Law Society’s Gazette, 31st January 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Regulator urged to rethink bar training reforms – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 26th, 2017 in barristers, consultations, examinations, legal education, news by tracey

‘The Bar Council has criticised Bar Standards Board proposals for alternative ways of qualifying, claiming its consultation into future training at the bar misses a ‘long-awaited opportunity for reform’. It also dismisses the need for a central exam along the lines of the solicitors qualifying examination.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 25th January 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Law lecturers flay SQE plan for creating “inferior solicitors” – Legal Futures

Posted January 20th, 2017 in legal education, news, solicitors, Solicitors Regulation Authority by sally

‘The Bar will “truly be able to say that barristers are better educated in the law than solicitors” if the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) presses ahead with its reform of education, law lecturers have said in an excoriating response to the regulator’s consultation.’

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Legal Futures, 20th January 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Don’t let consultation fatigue saddle generations of future Bar students with more of the status quo: a hugely expensive course with low prospects of acquiring pupillage at the end, argues Guy Fetherstonaugh QC – Counsel

Posted January 17th, 2017 in barristers, consultations, legal education, news, universities by tracey

‘Consultation fatigue is a particular problem for the Bar, with its substantial cohort of busy and independently minded practitioners. But every once in a while, along comes a paper upon which we should all of us express a strong view: the Consultation on the Future of Training for the Bar: Further Routes to Authorisation – prominently the reform of the Bar professional training course (BPTC).’

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Counsel, January 2017

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

Review urges higher fees and mandatory training to combat “poor-quality” advice in Youth Courts – Legal Futures

Posted December 14th, 2016 in fees, legal aid, legal education, legal representation, news, youth courts by sally

‘The status and quality of legal representation for children before the Youth Court need to be raised first by an increase in legal aid rates and then by mandatory training for all solicitors and barristers appearing for them, a government-commissioned review has recommended.’

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Legal Futures, 14th December 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Oversupply of law graduates and growing number of LiPs are solution to each other’s problem, says MR – Legal Futures

‘The combination of an oversupply of law graduates shut out of the profession due to fewer training contracts or pupillages and the growing number of litigants in person (LiPs) offers an opportunity to enhance access to justice while helping students into practice, the Master of the Rolls has said.’

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Legal Futures, 7th December 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Lecture by Sir Terence Etherton, MR: LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards lecture 2016 – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

‘It is a real pleasure to have been asked to give this year’s LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards lecture. My subject is Access to Justice. I am not interested in it as a slogan. I am interested in it because access to justice lies at the heart of any society that aspires to call itself just, civilised, and committed to democracy and the rule of law.’

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 7th December 2016

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Bar Council and Inns: Cut training cost by allowing students to learn the law how they want – Legal Futures

Posted December 2nd, 2016 in barristers, inns of court, legal education, news by sally

‘A model of training barristers that would split the Bar professional training course (BPTC) into two – allowing students to learn procedure and evidence however they want before undergoing compulsory skills training – has been put forward by the Bar Council and Council of the Inns of Court (COIC) as another alternative to the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) current consultation on training reform.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd December 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk