Legal Education

The first step on the ladder – what this summer's batch of vacation scheme interns have learnt

By Legal Week | October 3, 2013

For aspiring lawyers, vacation schemes are an essential path to career progression. Grant Murgatroyd speaks to this summer's batch of interns and finds out that the chance to network and socialise with employers can be as vital as the actual work...

1 minute read

Field Fisher takes on first recruits for school leavers' legal career scheme

By Pui-Guan Man | October 2, 2013

Field Fisher Waterhouse has taken on the first five recruits for a programme aimed at giving non-university students the opportunity to pursue a career in law. The Step2Success scheme, launched in May in conjunction with CILEx Law School, allows post A-level students to qualify as chartered legal executives at the firm within five years of starting the programme, and without having to earn a degree.

1 minute read

CMS awards four social mobility bursaries in second annual round

By Pui-Guan Man | September 30, 2013

CMS Cameron McKenna (CMS) has awarded bursaries to four school-leavers in the second year of a competition designed to support aspiring lawyers from underprivileged backgrounds. The firm's annual bursary competition, which launched last year, provides bursaries worth £2,500 a year to Year 12 students to support their law degrees. Candidates are able to win bursaries if they in the first generation of their family to attend university, meet certain financial criteria and gain ABB grades or equivalent at A-level.

1 minute read

Dropping the jargon – why law firm training courses should focus less on the law and more on how to practise it

By Legal Week | September 26, 2013

Formal training courses aimed at developing the legal skills of lawyers are often not effective learning tools at all. In order to improve, law firms must invest more time and resources into designing training sessions that use case studies, simulation and experience sharing. It is also important that greater investment is made in the training of facilitators so that they are more effective in coaching participants during a session. Traditional training methods have too great a focus on the law itself, rather than how to practise it. To be good lawyers, fee earners must learn key skills such as how to apply and give legal advice that is relevant to the client and their business, as well as how to present to a client without bamboozling them with law jargon. Speaking in the language of the client is crucial. If a formal training framework is a pre-requisite, that alone is not sufficient. The most effective and beneficial method of learning professional practice – and lawyers are not so different from other professions such as auditors or consultants – comes from shadowing and being coached by more senior lawyers.

1 minute read

The school-leaver lawyers – how law firms are benefitting from taking on talented young apprentices

By Legal Week | September 26, 2013

Soaring university fees are proving to be a boon for some law firms, which are stepping in to offer apprentice jobs to talented youngsters barred from traditional degree-led routes into the profession...

1 minute read

CC looks to strengthen Africa ties by giving training to local lawyers

By Pui-Guan Man | September 26, 2013

Clifford Chance (CC) has kicked off a training scheme for African lawyers, allowing them to access magic circle-standards of legal training. The initiative, called the "Clifford Chance Africa Academy", aims to give junior and senior associates at CC's relationship firms access to a structured programme based on existing training courses developed by its global training arm, the Clifford Chance Academy, which provides technical and business skills training for its lawyers and business professionals.

1 minute read

Belt-tightening takes its toll as newly qualified recruits dip 6%

By Pui-Guan Man | September 19, 2013

The number of newly qualified (NQ) lawyers accepting roles at the UK's top 20 law firms has fallen 6% year-on-year as the effects of the uncertain market continue to be felt at the lower end of the profession. In total 672 NQs took up roles at the top 20 firms this year, a drop of 6.3% on the autumn 2012 qualifying round, in which 717 lawyers were recruited, according to research by Legal Week. The trend reflects a broader dip in the number of qualifying lawyers this year, with cutbacks in firms' graduate recruitment during the worst of the downturn now playing out further down the line. There was a total of 825 qualifying lawyers across the group this autumn, down 7% from last year's figure of 887, with firms including Eversheds, Herbert Smith Freehills and Simmons & Simmons all seeing a decrease in the number of NQs coming through the ranks this year.

1 minute read

Career Clinic: Should I switch from private practice to lecturing?

By Legal Week | August 8, 2013

"I made this change and it is a very rewarding career. However, you need to go into it with your eyes open. Not only will you take an enormous pay cut, but the hours are long..."

1 minute read

Eversheds takes advisory role as BPP gains full university status

By Legal Week | August 8, 2013

BPP has been granted full university status by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and will become BPP University as of 6 August this year. The move - which comes after the College of Law was granted university status last year and rebranded as the University of Law - has been confirmed by BIS after BPP met the criteria for full university title.

1 minute read

Government calls on law firms to offer non-graduate routes into profession

By Alex Newman | July 18, 2013

The Government has called on law firms to help grow the UK's legal sector by opening up the profession to school leavers via apprenticeship schemes. The proposal is one of the key recommendations in a report published last week by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) that aims to boost the competitiveness of the UK's professional and business services (PBS) sector. The strategy was developed by the PBS Council, which is made up of representatives from Government and the private sector, including Will Lawes, Robert Elliott and Chris Mullen, senior partners of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Pinsent Masons respectively. The PBS sector currently employs four million people and is worth more than £150bn to the UK economy each year, equivalent to 11% of GDP. The legal and accounting sector makes up 22% of this figure.

1 minute read

Law.com

Gibson Dunn Partner Named First Black Dean of Drake Law

By Christine Charnosky | January 23, 2024

"A Drake Law education is unique due to its focus on theory and practical learning," Roscoe Jones Jr. said in a statement. "I am humbled to lead a community committed to an unwavering collegiality and a singular mission to prepare students to promote justice, service and ethics."

6 minute read

Law.com

Lawyer Employment Outlook Looks Good, Though Bar Passage Rates Decline

By Christine Charnosky | January 23, 2024

The latest occupational outlook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects lawyer positions will have the second-largest increase in openings among positions requiring a graduate or professional degree from 2021 to 2031, with 80,200 new jobs projected for lawyers.

3 minute read

Delaware Law Weekly

DSBA to Hold Grief Coping CLE

By Victoria Pfefferle-Gillot | January 22, 2024

The Delaware State Bar Association (DSBA) and the Delaware Lawyers Assistance Program (DE-LAP) are scheduled to hold a hybrid CLE event titled "Behind the Cool Image: Coping with Loss and Navigating the Pathways of Grief."

2 minute read

Law.com

Law School Admissions Officers Report Concerns About Diversity

By Christine Charnosky | January 22, 2024

While the Kaplan survey found that, almost universally, law schools say that diversity is important to administrators and students alike, one admissions officer who participated warned that the court's decision will have a "chilling effect on applications."

4 minute read

Daily Business Review

Two Miami-Based Programs Offer Foreign Attorneys Training at Am Law 100 Firms, Boosting Cross-Border Practices

By Alexander Lugo | January 19, 2024

"One way to get closer with international firms and to expand the referral network between the firms and the connections between the firms is to bring in someone from that firm," co-chair of Greenberg Traurig's Latin America practice Antonio Peña said.

7 minute read

The Recorder

State Bar of California Board of Trustees Approves Reducing Bar Exam Testing Locations

By Christine Charnosky | January 18, 2024

The board of trustees in August approved reducing the number of facilities for the February bar exam, with a cost savings of $645,000. On Thursday, the board voted for the July 2024 bar exam to be administered in person at six approved sites, which is one fewer than the July 2023 bar exam.

3 minute read

Legaltech News

Legal Tech's Predictions for Legal Education, Lawyer Training & Evolving Legal Roles in 2024

By Stephanie Wilkins | January 18, 2024

The legal industry makes its predictions for what we can expect to see in terms of legal education, lawyer training and how legal roles will evolve in 2024.

9 minute read

New Jersey Law Journal

UBalt Law Dean Ronald Weich Named as Dean of Seton Hall Law

By Christine Charnosky | January 17, 2024

"It takes a special combination of strength, wisdom and humility to run a law school," UBalt President Kurt L. Schmoke, who served as dean of Howard University School of Law from 2003 to 2012, said in a statement. "The law is often subject to sweeping change, sometimes in the face of social disorder and systemic injustices."

4 minute read

Law.com

Northwestern Law Launches West Coast Initiative, Featuring Student Externships at OpenAI, Sony

By Christine Charnosky | January 17, 2024

"These innovative new programs will prepare our students to lead by giving them exposure to cutting-edge developments in technology, entertainment, media, sports and business."

4 minute read

Law.com

JD-Next Found Reliable With 'Multiple Cautions and Caveats,' ABA Council Seeks Comment

By Christine Charnosky | January 16, 2024

"I conclude that the JD-Next exam is a reliable and valid predictor of early law school grades but with multiple cautions and caveats that cannot be evaluated with the present data and may represent threats to its validity if used operationally for high stakes decisions," Nathan Kuncel wrote in his report.

5 minute read