ALT CONFERENCE CARDIFF 2011

What is the “Q” for?Rebecca Huxley-Binns

Law Teacher of the Year 2010

THE LEGAL SERVICES SECTOR The “current economic

climate” BPTC qualified barristers vs

pupillages Training contracts vs

paralegals % of LLB graduates NOT

progressing into one of the two (main?) branches

% of trainees with a GDL/CPE not an LLB

Who isn’t/won’t be a ‘lawyer’? But we will still have some

reserved work

THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR Costs of degrees – loss of

institutional autonomy Competition – ‘uniqueness’ of

the degree GOLDEN RULE: Who is my audience? (we’re

not quite sure) What do they want? (Jobs! We

can make certain informed predictions)

How am I going to give it to them? (In this field, by making sure they come to me not you!)

WHAT IS THE LAW DEGREE FOR? Have we asked this before?

Fitness for what purpose? Liberal arts degree? Preparation as a solicitor? Preparation as a barrister? Preparation for paralegal

work? Preparation for professional

work? Something makes the

law degree unique – what is it?

QLD – QUALIFIED IN KNOWLEDGE Students should have acquired: Knowledge and understanding of the fundamental doctrines

and principles which underpin the law of England and Wales particularly in the Foundations of Legal Knowledge;

A basic knowledge of the sources of that law, and how it is made and developed; of the institutions within which that law is administered and the personnel who practice law;

The ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a wide range of legal concepts, values, principles and rules of English law and to explain the relationship between them in a number of particular areas;

The intellectual and practical skills needed to research and analyse the law from primary resources on specific matters; and to apply the findings of such work to the solution of legal problems; and

The ability to communicate these, both orally and in writing, appropriately to the needs of a variety of audiences.

QUALIFIED IN GENERAL TRANSFERABLE SKILLS Students should be able: To apply knowledge to complex situations; To recognise potential alternative conclusions for particular

situations, and provide supporting reasons for them; To select key relevant issues for research and to formulate

them with clarity; To use standard paper and electronic resources to produce up-

to-date information; To make a personal and reasoned judgement based on an

informed understanding of standard arguments in the area of law in question;

To use the English language and legal terminology with care and accuracy;

To conduct efficient searches of websites to locate relevant information; to exchange documents by email and manage information exchanges by email;

To produce word-processed text and to present it in an appropriate form.

QUALIFIED IN THE FOUNDATIONS OF LAW Qualifying if pass (ignoring

condonation/compensation issues):1. Public Law (including Constitutional Law,

Administrative Law and Human Rights);2. Law of the European Union;3. Criminal Law;4. Obligations including Contract, Restitution and

Tort;5. Property Law; and, (including)6. Equity and the Law of Trusts.

Appendix D JASB Handbook – indicative coverage (compare, e.g. Contract and Criminal law vs EU law ‘suggested’ coverage)

QLD CONTINUED Credit points Extract from the Joint Announcement “The study of legal subjects must be not less

than two years out of a three or four year course of study, ie 240 credits in a 360 or 480 credit degree programme. Some study of legal subjects must take place in the final year of the course. The coverage of the Foundation Subjects shall amount to not less than 180 credits”.

APPLICATION FORMS LPC

Legal and non-legal employment Further personal information e.g.

relevant experience, reasons for choosing law, career aspirations, hobbies, interests, etc.

BPTC Employment history, including, specifically:

“Where applicable, how did this post help you to develop skills relevant to practising as a barrister?”

Please provide specific examples of … your ability to quickly and accurately

analyse large amounts of written information.

when you have displayed exceptional communication and/or interpersonal skills.

how you have developed your advocacy and public speaking skills, preferably since the age of 18.

Please describe a time when you have been particularly under pressure and how you organised your work.

REFERENCES – WHAT WE ARE ASKED Personal characteristics (reliability, honesty) Approach to study (hardworking, preparation,

attitude, contribution in class etc). Research skills Communication skills Teamworking and leadership skills Problem-solving/creativity/initiative Legal knowledge (PhD/M level and the Law

Commission only!)

QLD IN THE MARKET A consistent currency Uniformity of knowledge and some skills at a

minimum ‘Core’ areas

BUT are these 7 subjects more ‘important’? Do they serve a genuine purpose?

Why, for example, is criminal law there? (asks a criminal lawyer and criminal law author)

A NEW Q Skills

DOG

TAIL

SOME NEW QS Credit point driven – linked to

intellectual and professional legal skills assessment not knowledge delivery

Skills which are linked to legal content (there are no skills that do not require knowledge) but without mandated knowledge

Cases: Case finding (research) Case-reading Case comprehension Case law development Case application to novel situations (problem

solving) Legislation

Parliamentary supremacy Legislative research Legislative language/literacies Legislative ‘mapping’ Statutory interpretation

SOME NEW QS

Ethics Team working Dispute resolution Legal theory Critical legal reasoning Legal writing Commerciality Litigation

SOME NEW QS

EXAMPLE – LLB EXEMPLAR 1 Year 1 - Negotiation with Contract and Employment law

Case law reasoning with Torts Critical legal reasoning with media/IP law Professional skills, including commerciality, with The

Legal Services Sector Year 2 - Mooting with Criminal Law

Legal Theory with Jurisprudence Ethics with Land Law Teamworking with the Law of Landlord and Tenant

Year 3 - Research with extended writing with project (student choice) Interviewing with Family law Legislative reasoning with Company law Advanced problem solving with Banking law

EXAMPLE – LLB EXEMPLAR 2 Year 1 - Drafting with Contract law

Interviewing and case law with Commercial law Critical legal reasoning with Information Technology

law Dispute resolution with Competition law

Year 2 - Legislative reasoning with Insolvency law Legal Theory with Public International law Ethics with Trusts Problem solving with Business law

Year 3 - Research with extended writing with project (student choice) Commerciality with Banking law Teamworking with Space law Advanced problem solving with European law

EXAMPLE – LLB EXEMPLAR 3 Year 1 - Drafting with Land law

Interviewing with Family law Critical legal reasoning with Public law Professional skills with English legal systems

Year 2 - Legislative reasoning with Sex and the law Legal Theory with Human Rights law Ethics with Criminal law and procedure Problem solving with International Child law

Year 3 - Research with extended writing with project (student choice) Dispute resolution with medical law Teamworking with Criminology and Penology Advanced problem solving with the Law of Evidence

EXAMPLE – LLB EXEMPLAR 4 – LAW MAJOR, EUROPEAN STUDIES MINOR

Year 1 – Case analysis with contract and employment Legislative analysis with EU and ECHR Critical legal reasoning and thinking torts Modern languages

Year 2 – Dispute resolution and team working with competition law Ethics and commerciality with land and trusts European politics Modern languages

Year 3 - Research with extended writing with project (student choice) International relations and politics International trade law Modern languages

Last words A law degree is a study of a particular literacy

informed by the culture of the legal system and prevailing legal philosophy (in our context the Western Common law tradition) involving sufficient understanding of doctrinal law to develop the skill to ‘think’ like a lawyer (comprehend complex data quickly and distil principle to apply to a novel problem), to ‘act’ like a lawyer (ethically, or at least aware of the ethics) with ‘lawyerly’ skills (use of language, the art of the argument, tactics for the battle, etc). In other words, the law degree is where the ‘what’ of legal knowledge joins the ‘what to do’ skills relating to the knowledge; and the ‘to do’ means those skills which are an integral part of ANY legal professional practice.