Down to brass tacks

As the New Year arrives, it seems an appropriate time to look forward to what 2008 may deliver in education and training.

In the Journal, June 2007, 26 we outlined the policy direction being proposed by the Society’s Education and Training Committee following the large scale consultation on the future shape of solicitors’ education and training. We announced our intention to produce a “white paper” style document, setting out key policy considerations and the detail of proposals for each stage. That document, appropriately entitled Discussing the Detail, will be circulated before the end of January.

To whet the appetite for responses to the consultation, we have asked the project leads to introduce themselves and comment on the work in progress.

Foundation stage – content

Project leads: Margaret Ross and Donna McKenzie Skene

Margaret qualified as solicitor in 1981 and from 1980 tutored part time in the LLB and Diploma before being appointed to a full time academic position at Aberdeen University in 1992. She remained a consultant until 2006 and still holds a full practising certificate. A trained mediator with a certificate in teaching of advocacy skills, Margaret has taught in all levels of the LLB degree in Evidence, Procedure, Professional Ethics and Dispute Resolution, has been Director of the Diploma and is currently chair of the Law School’s exam boards for LLB, Diploma and LLM. She has been a member and convener of the Society’s board of examiners and an external examiner in many universities.

Donna qualified as a solicitor and in 1992 took up a lectureship at Aberdeen University.

A senior lecturer since 1999, she teaches mainly in insolvency and related fields at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and in legal argument at undergraduate level. She remains a non-practising solicitor and has maintained many links with the profession, including through the Law School’s employer liaison committee and as Director of the Diploma. She sits on the Society’s Insolvency Solicitors Committee and has been the Society’s examiner in commercial law since 2000. She currently convenes the board of examiners. Donna chaired the Law School’s curriculum review in 2001 and was a member of the Society’s Professional Subjects Working Party preceding the current consultation.

What they say about the project:

“In consultation there was very constructive support for the broad themes set out for the foundation stage of legal education. Building upon that support, we are working to translate that strong commitment to knowledge, skills and values into an educational backbone fit for purpose for the lawyers of the future.”

Foundation stage – accreditation framework

Project lead: Alison Bone

Alison is a principal lecturer at Brighton Business School, University of Brighton and is course leader of the Postgraduate Diploma in Law/Common Professional Examination. She is a chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research focuses on assessment and its impact on the student learning experience. She has acted as a consultant for the Society for a number of years, drawing on her accreditation experience with other professional bodies.

What she says about the project:

“I am delighted to be working again for the Law Society of Scotland and looking forward to building on one of the most wide-ranging consultation exercises that has ever taken place. My role as leader of the Foundation framework project is to ensure that the accreditation process of the Foundation programme addresses all the key issues whilst being flexible enough to allow any potential training provider to apply for accreditation.”

Professional Education and Training stage 1

Project lead: Paul Maharg (working closely with Jim Moser)

Paul is a professor of law in the Glasgow Graduate School of Law (GGSL), University of Strathclyde. He is co-director of Legal Practice courses, and director of the Innovative Learning Technologies Development Unit at the GGSL. He is the author of Transforming Legal Education: Learning and Teaching the Law in the Early Twenty-first Century and has published widely in the fields of legal education and professional learning design. His specialisms include interdisciplinary educational design, and the use of ICT at all levels of legal education.

What he says about the project:

“The Law Society’s consultation could result in the most significant changes in Scottish legal education since the introduction of the Diploma over 25 years ago. It gives us the opportunity to refit legal education for the early 21st century, and beyond. PEAT stage 1 is being constructed in close collaboration with the Foundation and PEAT stage 2. Taking the consultation responses and much else into account, the learning outcomes that were written by the Diploma Working Party are being redrafted, and are embedded in an assessment framework that sets the standards of benchmark achievement and capability. In addition the accreditation guidelines are being rewritten to allow for a much more flexible and professional programme of study.”

Professional Education and Training stage 2

Project lead: Jim Moser (working closely with Paul Maharg)

Jim was appointed head of training at Dundas & Wilson in 2005, having joined the firm in 1997. He is responsible for all the training and development requirements of over 600 people in the firm. Jim trained at Paull & Williamsons, qualifying in 1983, and has worked at Burness and Bird Semple Fyfe Ireland. For many years, he combined his work as a commercial property lawyer with various training and development roles. He worked as a trainer with Andersen Legal throughout Europe from 1998-2001, being director of Andersen Legal’s Real Estate School in 2001; and tutored on the Diploma at Glasgow University from 1995 to 1997.

What he says about the project:

“I see this work as being vital and essential to the future of the Scottish profession. Our only resources are our lawyers and their quality and expertise, which develop from a young age when the basic skills must be built. If we fail to do this well, we fail overall.”

Continuing Competence, Ongoing Development

Project lead: Fiona Westwood

From 1987-1993 Fiona was an equity partner in a large firm, where she was a member of the management team and business development partner. In 1994 Fiona established Westwood Associates as a management and training consultancy specialising in strategic planning and management development for professional firms. Author of Achieving Best Practice – Shaping Professionals for Success, and Accelerated Best Practice – Implementing Success in Professional Firms, she writes for business and professional publications, including this Journal. Since 2000 she has been involved in legal education as a part-time tutor and senior lecturer in legal practice at GGSL. She completed research into the Diploma on behalf of the Society in 2003, has served as a co-opted member of the Practice Management and Client Care Committees, and is currently a member of the Standards Working Party.

What she says about the project:

“This is an important project for the profession as a whole. Any definition of a professional includes a reference to acquiring and then maintaining a distinct body of knowledge and related skills. As a professional body, we should seek ways to recognise that commitment from our members. In addition, we have a duty to ensure that our members continue to maintain the currency of their knowledge and skills to an acceptable level. Facing the new system of external regulation, any new process must ensure that we are able to demonstrate this robustly. Our members currently operate under considerable regulation. Any changes proposed therefore should seek to capture the learning that individual members achieve in such a way that adds value to that learning.”

Discussing the detail…

We hope that this taster will encourage readers to respond to the Discussing the Detail paper later this month. The consultation will be based on wide questions, with an opportunity for free text response. As always, regular updates will appear on the website (www.lawscot.org.uk/training/consult) and constructive

views and feedback are welcome to: lizcampbell@lawscot.org.uk Education and Training Project Team