Feature
New UK Study Asks: What Are Lawyers Made Of? By Todd Schultz According to a report published in The National Law Journal on Friday, would-be lawyers are likely to be facing a revised approach to their legal training.
The Bar Standards Board sent out a press release that ‘’will look at the likely shape and demands of the legal industry in 2020, as well as technological changes.’’ Legal education has suffered across the world, in countries such as India, Japan, and Uganda. Law school graduates are not only outweighing the number of lawyer positions available, but the quality of lawyer is lagging as well. In an effort to improve the quality of lawyer, the UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Institute of Legal Executives Professional Standards, and the Bar Standards Board are banding together to launch an investigation into the qualifications of the incoming generations of lawyers. According to Local Government Lawyer, the group will review the following: (1) the educational requirements placed upon individuals entering the sector and their regulatory function;
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(2) What is required for persons and entities to continue with a legal education, which includes the process by which they become accredited and any other method of quality assurance; (3) and what is required of legal educators by educational institutions. Antony Townsend, the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, ‘’Ensuring that solicitors and others delivering legal services are properly educated and trained is just as important as making sure that firms and individuals conduct their business properly. The two areas of regulatory work are interdependent.’’ The Bar Standards Board additionally stated that the review would assess the demand for ‘’high quality, competitive legal services and education and training providers and high ethical standards for lawyers and legal services entities.’’
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