British legal education needs updating

When the chairman of the Legal Services Board declares that the 'dialogue and interplay' between legal education and practice is not happening, we should take note. For there are changes in legal education taking place around the world that will have a considerable impact on the 'brand' of solicitor. There is an inexorable move in the world towards the Americanisation of legal education, in the form of the widespread adoption of the JD degree over the LLB. This shift is the result of three developments: globalisation and the rise of technology; the move to single routes of entry into the legal profession; and the changes in regulation of the profession.

Globalisation is important; we only have to observe the figures for English-qualified lawyers '“ more precisely solicitors '“ working overseas. The Statistical Report for 2010 informs us that over 6,000 are practising outside their home jurisdiction, out of just over 150,000 solicitors on the Roll and nearly 118,000 with practising certificates. This makes us one of the largest exporters of legal talent, if not the biggest, in the world. From this two things of importance emerge: that the UK legal profession is global and English-qualified lawyers are in demand outside the UK, and that UK-based legal education is respected elsewhere in the world. So, at one level we can ask is there anything amiss with English legal education? If not, is there any need to 'fix' it?

As David Edmonds says, it has been 40 years since legal education was reviewed and set on its present course, with the subsequent addition of the Legal Practice Course. In 40 years there has been massive change in the world, the professions, law and education. A review, therefore, is long overdue if our pedagogic model belongs to another age. But should legal education undergo radical change?

The UK is not the only country facing this question. Canada, France, India, Australia, China and the US, for example, are contemplating or instituting change in their legal education sectors. Would the UK be left behind if it failed to change? Does it matter if the UK lawyer is accepted globally? It does if the UK wishes to retain its hegemonic position alongside the US attorney.

Just as our lawyers are respected over the world, so is our education. Yet we are in competition with others. One of the fastest growing markets is the LLM. Many students arrive from China, India and Europe to learn common law techniques they can use back home. Unfortunately for our law schools the United States is proving a more popular destination for one simple reason: the combination of a home law degree and an American LLM enables a student to take the New York or California Bar Examination without apprenticeship or further training. They immediately become attorneys '“ a valuable commodity back home. Foreign students in the UK must take the LPC and find a training contract before they can call themselves a solicitor. British legal education is shooting itself in the foot.

The American way

What is more curious is the desire of other countries to adopt the American approach to legal education. In India, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea and China the LLB was the normal qualifying degree for the legal profession. Demand from the profession and justice ministries is for more practice-oriented candidates. The US JD law credential supplies that, which is why these countries are adopting it in various ways. And it is wise to remember that India is the home of competitive legal process outsourcing.

Take China, for example. In the 1970s China had no lawyers. From that period to now China has a profession of over 200,000 lawyers. The Ministry of Justice now estimates it needs more than a million lawyers to service a global economy. China's traditional LLB route is too academic, slow and doesn't impart useful skills. The answer? The Juris Master degree, which will speed up the production of lawyers and give them practical skills.

The English legal qualification is losing its attraction. Two moves are complicating the situation further. We now embrace many routes into the profession '“ law degrees, GDLs, becoming a legal executive, apprenticeships. These aren't bad in themselves: they just make the character of the lawyer harder to identify. The introduction of alternative business structures means that lawyers won't be in so much demand. Partially trained lay people can deliver legal services as long as a lawyer supervises them. It could take leverage to new levels not seen since the 19th century when one lawyer controlled 70 managing clerks.

English legal education needs bringing up to date. How the legal education and training review does this will be an interesting story to follow.