Answers to Questions in
the Second Consultation on a New Training Framework for Solicitors issued by
the Law Society September 2003
Question 1: Page
10 key principles underpinning the proposals
(a) Are these
principles appropriate to underpin any qualification scheme?
(b) Are there any
other principles that should be reflected in a scheme?
Answer
(a) These principles are sound but their value
will depend in practice on the fair, rigorous and consistent testing of
standards. The principles need to be capable
of enforcement.
(b) There should be a statement to the effect
that any new scheme maintains high ethical standards.
Question 2: Page
11 high level statement of what solicitors should be able to
do on
qualification
(a) Does this
statement capture at a high level the essential requirements for a
solicitor at the
point of their qualification?
(b) Is there
anything you would wish to see added to, or deleted from, this
statement?
Answer
(a) The statement reflects the objectives of
solicitors in serving their clients, the Profession and the Public Interest.
(b) No.
Question 3: Page
11 categorisation of high level outcomes
(a) Is this
categorisation helpful?
(b) How might it
be modified?
Answer
(a) This categorisation is constructive.
(b) It is suggested that the following are
expressly mentioned to make the categories more specific -
Academic
knowledge of Law, knowledge of procedures and evidence, practical skills (e.g.
drafting, negotiating and advocacy), organisational skills (e.g. file
management, client care and practice management) and related Business skills
(e.g. accounts and balance sheet analysis).
Question 4: Page
14 required outcomes
(a) Do these
requirements capture what a solicitor should know, understand and
be able to do at
the point of admission?
(b) Should the
requirements be modified? If so, how?
Answer
(a) Yes, but the statements are very generally
worded so they will require careful implementation. A solicitor needs a thorough academic
knowledge of Law and the practical ability to apply the Law.
(b) Litigation and private client work are not
specifically mentioned and arguably should be.
Question 5: Page
14 level of detail required
Should the Law
Society specify in greater detail:
(a) The content
expected to be covered and assessed in each knowledge area?
(b) The essential
competencies involved in each skill?
(c) The essential
component parts of the required transactions?
Answer
(a) The Law Society should specify in much
greater detail the content expected to be covered and assessed in each
knowledge area.
(b) It will be much more difficult to specify
accurately the essential competencies involved in each skill and (c) the
essential component parts of the required transactions without creating complex
assessment difficulties.
However, the Law
Society should maintain higher standards by -
(a) Setting out
more detailed syllabuses for the 7 Foundation legal subjects covered in law
degrees and the Common Professional Examination. By setting more rigorous syllabuses for
those subjects students would start the Legal Practice Course better
prepared.
(b) Prescribing in more detail the knowledge of
procedures in subjects in the Legal Practice Course.
(c) prescribing a much greater element of unseen
testing of knowledge of law and procedures in the 7 Foundation legal subjects
and the compulsory legal subjects in the Legal Practice Course.
(d) encouraging to a far greater degree than at
present the use of checklists for about half a dozen common transactions in
each of the main areas of legal practice so that during the training contract
trainees and their supervising solicitors would be able to monitor more closely
the practical acquisition of legal skills.
Question 6: Page
14 level of detail required
(a) More detailed
specification could provide greater consistency between the
courses. Is this
desirable?
(b) Or should the
Law Society offer guidance on the issues, considering at the
stage of
course/pathway accreditation whether the overall outcomes would be
achieved? Would
the greater flexibility and innovation that this would allow
be desirable?
Answer
(a) Yes.
Detailed but flexible syllabuses for the seven Foundation subjects in
law degrees, the Common Professional Examination and the Legal Practice Course
would help to maintain more consistent standards. The aim of such training should be to ensure
that trainee solicitors have acquired a thorough knowledge of research skills,
academic Law and procedures before the start of their training contracts. The
development of effective practical legal skills is still often best learnt
during a training contract. The Law
Society should adjust its accreditation role so that more rigorous standards of
knowledge of academic Law and procedures are acquired prior to the training
contract. If well designed checklists of
common transactions were to be more widely used during training contracts it
should be possible to avoid the need for expensive and complicated Competence
tests and assessments.
(b) Guidance from the Law Society about
specification of these matters would provide too much flexibility for course
providers and would make it more difficult to maintain high standards.
Question 7: Page
15 objective justifications of competence requirements
Could the draft
outcomes be justified objectively as a necessary indication of capacity
and competence to
practise as a solicitor?
Answer
The draft
outcomes although desirable are very ambitious if they are to be genuinely and
accurately assessed. There is a risk
that very generally worded statements of objectives could be difficult to
implement fairly in practice. If tests
of competence are imposed, they need to examine specific knowledge applied in a
practical context.
Question 8: Page
17 monitoring requirements
What checks would
need to be in place to provide confidence that outcomes were
being achieved
and that standards were consistent?
Answer
The most
consistent way of assessing or examining candidates is still timed examinations
which are professionally marked and overseen by external examiners. The development of part time courses for
professional examinations is consistent with the maintenance of high standards
but the delegation of syllabuses and assessment of students to teaching institutions
has led to greater variation in standards.
The Law Society should consider giving a special commended authorisation
to those University Law Departments and Common Professional Examination
providers who teach and examine the seven Foundation legal subjects to a
particularly high standard.
Question 9: Page
17 assessment requirements
(a) Should the
Law Society specify a minimum assessment regime?
(b) If so, what
should be the features of the regime?
Answer
(a) The Law
Society should specify a minimum assessment regime.
(b) The minimum
syllabuses for the 7 Foundation legal subjects (in a law degree or studied as
part of the Common Professional Examination) should be specified in more detail
and should require a high proportion of the assessment to be made by timed
examination. There is a case that each
of the compulsory legal elements of the Legal Practice Course should include
passing at least one externally set and marked examination paper.
Question 10: Page
18 work-based learning
Do you agree that
some of the outcomes suggested could only be achieved in the
environment of a
legal practice? If so, which ones?
Answer
The training
contract should be retained. There would
be some arguments for increasing the length of the training contract from two
to three years and that would probably do more to raise standards of newly
qualified solicitors than new Competence assessments or tests. It is important that the individuals who
supervise trainee solicitors are
themselves solicitors. There is a case
for allowing a maximum of six months experience outside a training contract to
count towards the period of the training contract if that experience contains
sufficient practical legal training;
there would need to be published criteria to enable this concession to
operate in appropriate circumstances.
Question 11: Page
18 work-based learning
(a) Should a
period of work-based learning be an essential requirement of any
pathway to
qualification? If so, why?
(b) What period
of work-based learning should be undertaken by the typical
person before
qualification?
Answer
(a) A period of work based learning should be an
essential requirement of qualifying as a solicitor. Forms of apprenticeship have been found to
be the best method of training those practising trades and professions. Those occupations which have dispensed with
requirements for apprenticeships have often found it difficult to maintain high
standards amongst practitioners.
(b) As has already been mentioned, a training
contract of two or three years is needed.
As Law becomes more complex, there is a strong argument for increasing
the training contract to three years as there is so much to learn.
Question 12: Page
19 suitable training establishments and supervision
arrangements
(a) Should the
current training establishment scheme be retained, whereby
organisations
wishing to employ trainee solicitors have to be authorised by
the Law Society?
(b) If the
authorisation requirement was retained, should it be possible for
individuals to be
able to demonstrate that they had, outside of an authorised
organisation,
achieved the required outcomes?
(c) Would the new
draft rule on client relations and business operations be
sufficient to
ensure that trainees would be properly supervised and
supported?
Answer
(a) The current training establishment scheme
should be retained. It helps the Law
Society in maintaining standards of training that organisations wishing to
employ trainee solicitors have to be authorised by the Law Society.
(b) Subject to a possible concession for a
maximum of six months experience outside a training contract to be counted
towards the training contract requirements it should not be possible for
training of solicitors to take place except by solicitors authorised by the Law
Society. With very limited exceptions (e.g. experienced Barristers or Legal
Executives), it should be necessary for nearly all new entrants to the
Profession to serve the standard period of a training contract.
(c) It would not be a sufficient safeguard for
the new draft rule on client relations and business operations to be relied on
to ensure that trainees are properly supervised and supported.
Question 13: Page
20 obligations towards trainees
(a) Should a
training contract, as a means of regulating the period of learning
under the
supervision of a solicitor, remain an essential requirement of any
pathway to
qualification?
(b) Should
solicitors employing trainees have obligations towards trainees that
are greater than
those afforded to their other employees? If so, why, and
what should these
be?
Answer
(a) The training contract continues to provide a
valuable part of the preparation for prospective solicitors and needs to be
retained. The safeguards provided by the
training contract help to prevent trainees being treated by employers as short
term labour.
(b) Solicitors employing trainees should have
training obligations towards trainees which are greater than those given to
their other employees.
Question 14: Page
21 learning logs
Do you agree that
a requirement on an individual to maintain a learning log,
recording and
evidencing their progress towards and achievement of the learning
outcomes, could
add to the value of the period of work-based learning?
Answer
The use of summary
learning logs could be a useful aid to development of practical legal skills if
that was linked to a series of checklists of common transactions in areas of
legal practice. However, any such
procedures must not become convoluted and bureaucratic to administer.
Question 15: Page
22 compulsory course and assessment in professional
responsibilities,
ethics, values and client care
(a) Do you agree
that there should be a compulsory course covering professional
responsibilities,
ethics, values and client care?
(b) Do you agree
that there should be a formal assessment at the end of the
course?
(c) Do you agree
that, to ensure full benefit from the course, it should not be
undertaken until,
and unless, the individual had reasonable exposure to the
profession in
practice?
(d) What are your
views on the form of the assessment that should be used?
Answer
(a) There should
be a short compulsory course during the training contract covering professional
responsibilities, ethics, values and client care.
(b) It is
recommended that there should be a formal assessment at the end of the course.
(c) It is
suggested that trainee solicitors should not undertake the course until they
have completed at least six months of their training contract.
(d) The assessment
should consist of practical written exercises and be based on knowledge of
relevant law and procedures. There would
need to be a system to enable candidates to retake the end of course assessment
if they failed so that they could still subsequently qualify as
solicitors. There would be an issue
about how often the assessment could be retaken and what appeal mechanisms were
put in place.
Question 16: Page
23 - confirming readiness to practise
(a) Do you agree
that there should be a new approach to determining an
individuals
readiness for practice, to come at the end of the qualification
period?
(b) Who should be
responsible for the final decision that an individual has
achieved all of
the required learning outcomes and is ready for practice?
(c) Should there
always be some contribution to the decision about readiness for
practice from an
external person, i.e. someone who has not been involved
with the
individuals learning and who has no direct interest in the outcome of
the decision?
Answer
(a) No.
Establishing a new system of Competence assessments and tests at the end
of the training contract could be costly to introduce and administer. Consideration would need to be given to an
appeals system from the assessments or tests with the opportunity for
re-testing. Practising solicitors would
have to be trained, assessed and
monitored in carrying out such roles and it could deter them from taking so
many trainee solicitors in the future.
The Law Society would be better advised to concentrate on seeking to
raise the standard of some law degrees and trying to ensure consistency of
standards on the various Legal Practice Courses. Many firms of solicitors provide an excellent
all round training for trainee solicitors and it is therefore probably better
if guidance and check lists were introduced rather than formal
assessments. If standards on law
degrees, the Common Professional Examination and the Legal Practice Course are
sufficiently rigorous, there should not be a need for additional assessment or
examination hurdles during training contracts.
(b) and (c) would
only apply if new Competence assessments and tests were introduced. There is a case that those for whom a trainee
solicitor has worked are best able to assess his competence to practise as a
solicitor. However, if the Law Society
decides to introduce new Competence assessments they should consider carefully
the procedures used by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in the
Assessment of Professional Competence of trainee surveyors at the end of their
training period.
Question 17: Page
27 possible pathways
(a) Are any of
the illustrative pathways outlined above particularly attractive?
(b) What other
pathways might be explored?
(c) Would you
oppose any of the illustrative pathways?
Answer
(a) Although the current options for
qualification as a solicitor should be continued, it would be beneficial if the
number of exempting law degrees was increased.
Currently Northumbria University (Newcastle) teaches a four year law degree
which includes the Legal Practice Course.
The increased availability of part time law degree, CPE and LPC courses
could help to broaden the intake of the profession and to reduce the debts of
trainee solicitors.
(b) In the past non graduates could take Parts I
and 2 of the Law Societys examinations as part of five years articles; that option should be introduced again.
(c) We would oppose pathways which broke up the
training of solicitors into a very large number of different modules. Too much flexibility could lead to a
fragmented training.
Question 18: Page
27 choice and complexity offered by different pathways
(a) Would the
availability of different pathways to qualification be a positive
feature of a new
qualification framework?
(b) Or would the
choice and complexity be an undesirable feature.
Answer
(a) A lot of flexibility could be achieved by
ensuring that the existing courses were widely available on a part time basis
in the evenings and at weekends as well as during the week.
(b) It could be confusing to provide excessive
flexibility in the routes to qualification as a solicitor and it would make it
more difficult for the Law Society to maintain consistent standards across the
board.
Final Questions -
19: Page 27 security standards
(a) Do you see in
these proposals any unacceptable threat to the standards of
education and
training of solicitors? If so, what are these threats?
(b) Do you see in
the proposals any opportunities to enhance the quality of the
solicitors qualification
or to secure its standard? If so, what opportunities do
you see arising ?
Answer
(a) Becoming a
Solicitor continues to be a popular professional qualification but it is
important for the Law Society to take seriously its role of maintaining high
professional standards whilst ensuring that the supply of solicitors meets
likely demands by employers. The Law
Society needs to avoid the risk of providing excessive choice and flexibility
to students thereby inadvertently undermining the standard of professional
competence of newly qualified practitioners.
Many solicitors would be content for reforms to be carried forward if
they were assured that newly qualified solicitors would have a first rate
knowledge of the 7 Foundation legal subjects and a thorough grounding in the
relevant procedures in the main areas of legal practice.
(b) There is more
scope for the provision of part time law degrees, Common Professional
Examination courses and the Legal Practice Course whilst maintaining rigorous
methods of assessment.
Name:
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Firm/Organisation/Institution:
City of
Westminster and Holborn Law
Society.
.
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representative
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teaching on a law degree, on an LPC or the PSC
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practitioner
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more than 25 partners
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behalf of:
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