Take part in developing the future route to qualification as a solicitor

Solicitors and academics have the opportunity to feed into a review of legal education and the future of the route to qualification.

The Law Society of Scotland is examining the professional requirements of the LLB, the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP) and the traineeship to ensure that outcomes are delivering the appropriate skills for solicitors of the future. The review will also include the current ‘alternative route’ involving in-office experience and Law Society exams.

Rob Marrs, head of education said: “The current system on the whole produces high quality solicitors and we’re not looking at the route to qualification with a view of starting from scratch or making major changes. There are undoubtedly some improvements that can be made however, and we want to ensure that the universities and the profession have an opportunity to feed in their thoughts on what works currently and where change would be beneficial.

“One of the key purposes is to look ahead, and consider what sort of skills solicitors might need in the coming decades – and to ask, if these skills are identifiable, is it possible or desirable to build these into the current route to qualification?”

The roundtable events will be held in May and June. They will look at the teaching of:

• Tax law – this was taught during the LLB before moving to the DPLP following the large scale review in 2011. Should it be taught at degree level, during the DPLP or both?
• Legal technology - there is at present a ‘use of technology'’ outcome across both Professional Education and Training (PEAT) stages, the DPLP and traineeship. Given technological advances since the 2011 review, what skills can we anticipate that solicitors will need in the next decade? Should this be taught at university or be part of a solicitor’s ongoing training once qualified?
• Critical non-black letter law skills - the PEAT outcomes focus on skills such as advocacy, interviewing, negotiation, but are there other skills that solicitors need to learn during the PEAT stages, for example project management?
• Commercial awareness – should this begin at university or wait until the traineeship?
• European Union law post-Brexit - as we move towards exiting the EU, should there be an increased focus on language skills and those areas of law affected such as trade law, international arbitration or private international law?

Marrs added: “The review will also include the alternative route that currently exists and we are looking at the possibility of making it a proper apprenticeship route. This will require approval from Skills Development Scotland to go ahead and is in the very early stages of discussion.”

The Law Society is organising a series of roundtable events for a cross section of LLB providers, DPLP providers and solicitors from different practice areas, including larger commercial firms, high street, criminal defence and in-house.

To find out more and take part in the roundtable discussions please contact the Law Society at legaleduc@lawscot.org.uk indicating which workshop you'd like to be a part of. (Tax Law, Legal Technology, Commercial Awareness, Non-Black Letter Law Skills, EU Law)