Education's Big Bang

As the fireworks go off on the night of 5 November, few people will notice changes taking place on the Law Society of Scotland’s website in preparation for the coming week – but some of the ideas and suggestions contained in the review of training and standards in the profession, and for those seeking to qualify into it, could well generate their own explosive reactions over the three-month consultation period.

The interactive website and online questionnaires are designed to challenge what it is to be a solicitor, and what you must undertake to achieve that “brand”. The Society is taking a radical new approach – with the Education and Training Committee deliberately choosing not to recommend a completed policy to the profession for endorsement, but to float a variety of sometimes provocative suggestions for comment. In this way, the Society is genuinely seeking to involve the profession, public and other “stakeholders” in shapingthe future.

On a grand scale

The scale and breadth of the project is huge. Over 15,000 invitations to contribute are being sent out – covering the profession, legal academics, students, public and client representative bodies, judiciary, advocates, commercial training providers, other professions and other jurisdictions; and with the entire project hosted online literally anyone can contribute. The areas covered range from undergraduate study through to CPD and ongoing fitness to practise – a fundamental cradle-to-grave rethink of what the education, training and standards at each stage of professional life should be.

The project team are convinced that it is relevant to every member of the profession and it is essential that they respond. Yet solicitors have traditionally taken less direct involvement in education of future solicitors than members of many other professions, so can the project team truly back up their contention? Will anyone log on and express constructive views?

No sacred cows

If in doubt, just read some of the ideas raised for feedback. Should practising solicitors be reassessed every three years to ensure they are still competent to practise? Do the “professional subjects” need to be taught in the context of an LLB, or might they be integrated into other programmes and even delivered by commercial providers? Should the Diploma be integrated into the traineeship? Do we even need a traineeship? And if we do, does it need to last two years? It’s not hard to see that solicitors, and indeed the public who use their services, will have strong reactions to many of the statements, and that no-one should run the risk of voter apathy leading to unrepresentative views. Link that with the Society’s commitment to take a “you-had-your-chance” approach to those who fail to engage, but then disagree with any outcomes of the project, and it is not hard to see why solicitors need to be alert to and become involved in the consultation.

The design of the consultation also deals with a traditional problem faced by those seeking feedback: the individuals who come back criticising a plan (often making wide generalisations with little reference to evidence or specific examples), without offering alternative solutions or proposals. The electronic system will give those who disagree with any of the proposals in the tick-box responses a direct chance to offer any alternatives or narrative comments – meaning that anyone who just disagrees and doesn’t offer positive alternatives runs the risk of having their views disregarded in favour of those who do provide detailed feedback.

Ahead of the debate

The profession must be aware of the need for a strong articulation of what it requires and expects. This is necessary to address a number of outside factors and drivers for change. However, the Society is not necessarily able to adopt ideas without careful thought. It must maintain the internationally recognised standards of Scottish legal training but also avoid imposing artificial barriers to entering the profession. At the same time, we have to ensure our approach meets the requirements of EU and domestic legislation (ranging from the free movement of persons to compliance with equality laws), and that the appropriate subjects and skills are cultivated for the full range of 21st century practice. With so many considerations at stake it is vital the profession’s voice is not lost.

What’s more, over the last few months we have seen significant debate in the Journal and the press over some stages of training (in particular the LLB and the Diploma), suggesting a growing interest in at least some of the issues – something which has caused a wry smile for the project team who knew many of the areas identified and discussed were due to be addressed in the consultation. David Preston, a former President of the Society and current convener of the Education and Training Committee, Liz Campbell, Director of Education and Training, and Neil Alan Stevenson, Deputy Director are all passionately committed to the project and hope in particular that the whole profession, rather than the vocal few, do take this opportunity to contribute prior to what might be a significant package of change.

Responding made simple

So what does the consultation website involve?  Logging onto the homepage, you will find a simple four-page summary of the key issues and a questionnaire that takes you through every stage of training. This comprises tick-box answers and free-text responses. The average respondent in the pilot took around 20 minutes. The team acknowledge that the average solicitor is not sitting looking for ways to fill their working day, but have designed this rapid response technique to try to ensure that as many people as possible are able to contribute. The focus of the questions progresses from the core values of professional training, through the basic stages of training that might be required, to professional and vocational courses, supervised workplace practice, and ends with where CPD might go in the future.

There is also the opportunity to complete separate questionnaires on the detail of some of the key stages – for example, suggested “outcomes statements” (i.e. indications of what students should be capable of at the end of a particular stage) can be accessed and commented on, in areas from client care through to how much the typical solicitor needs to know of, for example unjustified enrichment, or the accounts rules.

The website also allows a huge amount of background information to be accessed – with sections dedicated to describing the current arrangements, the research and discussions that underpin the suggestions made in the consultation, details of all the work undertaken to this point, and of what will happen after the close of the consultation. This is part of making sure the whole process is transparent and accessible to all – be they a solicitor of 40 years’ experience, a first year law student recovering from their freshers’ week or a member of the public who wants to comment in light of their experience as a client. An “update” section will ensure that throughout the consultation period a progress report, initial headline data and press releases are all available to everyone who wishes to access them.

Anyone’s guess

The consultation will close in early February, and with such a volume of data it is likely it will take some time to process. The Education and Training Committee will be meeting in a series of detailed discussion sessions and will continue to liaise with other organisations with a particular interest. Throughout this period updated information will be available from the website, and no doubt there will be reporting in the Journal and other media. Being more definite is difficult simply because there is such a genuine commitment to responding to whatever issues, concerns, and ideas are raised in the consultation – essentially we don’t know what we are doing next because you haven’t yet told us what you want to happen next!

So as the fireworks go up on that Sunday night please “remember, remember the ninth of November” and log on to  www.lawscot.org.uk/training/consult

David Preston, Convener, Education and Training Committee
Liz Campbell, Director, Education and Training
Neil Alan Stevenson, Deputy Director, Education and Training

What they said: comments from the outside

“The Education and Training Committee seem determined to bring legal education and training into the 21st century.  Their aim is ambitious, but its fulfilment is essential to meet the needs of both the profession and the public in contemporary Scotland.”

Professor Kenneth Norrie, Head of Strathclyde Law School

“I am delighted to see such a genuinely novel way of engaging the profession, and public alike, in this consultation. The need for a strong legal profession is undoubted and it can only be hoped that the profession and public take this opportunity to throw in their tuppence-worth in order that the future profession reflects the needs of all who have an interest.”

Richard Pugh, President, Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association

“When you visit other jurisdictions – the USA is a case in point – you are reminded that there are many things about our system that are admired elsewhere. At the very least, it makes you think when you hear our traineeship held up as exemplary at the very time when here its existence is questioned. On the other hand, Scotland has a reputation for innovation in these matters and we must ensure we stay ahead. Our own plans for The Signet Accreditation anticipate the need for continuing, post-qualification assessment.”

Robert Pirrie, Chief Executive, The WS Society

“Quantum valeat, my own opinion is that there appears to be an increasing discouragement of original thought in the university curriculum. If that is the backdrop, how can the law develop? Legal practice doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It ia a means of resolving the conflicts of day to day life. I would like to see more investment in looking outwith the strict confines of technical subjects so that the next generation of lawyers has an understanding of ethics, economics, politics and jurisprudence. And I would like to see students encouraged to engage in active debate on these issues rather than merely analysing them.”

Philip Rodney, Chairman, Burness LLP

“This consultation is to be warmly welcomed. There is much that is good about Scottish legal education, but there is no room for complacency. The profession seems to think that legal education is too divorced from practice, and much of academia seems to feel little responsibility towards the legal profession most of its students enter. It needn’t be like this, and it shouldn’t be like this. The study of law and the practice of law should always walk hand in hand. This consultation should make that happen.”

Nicholas Grier, Deputy Head, Centre for Law, Napier University

“It is time lawyers, like other professions, took control of the training of prospective entrants. We did this for centuries before the LLB was created – we are perfectly capable of doing it again. The profession should not be partner with the law schools, but a difficult and demanding client – requiring the law schools to teach to the standards needed in the modern world.”

Alistair Bonnington, Solicitor, BBC Scotland

“I will be making a contribution to every section of the consultation. Change the degree radically, scrap the Diploma, insist on accreditation in every field for qualified solicitors... I hope there’s plenty of space on the website for all I have to say.”

Brian Allingham, solicitor and management consultant