The Gazette 1981

MARCH 1981

GAZETTE

Education — A Student's View by

John Fahy Students' Representative on the Fourth Professional Course

(Written in conjunction with a representative cross-section of Students)

This new system envisaged the apprentice spending an introductory period in the master's office, followed by a six month course in the Law School at Blackhall Place. The objective of this course was stated to be the learning by the apprentice of "the skills needed and procedures followed by solicitors in the initial years of their profes- sional lives". The next stage involved the apprentice returning to his/her master's office for a period of eighteen months, during which period it would be the master's duty to give the apprentice as much experience as possible of the broad spectrum of the solicitor's work. Finally, the apprentice would complete his training by a final course, dealing with more advanced topics than the previous one. A Practice-Orientated Course The initial six-month course is a "practice-orientated" one and a list of the subjects covered can be found in the Appendix to this article. Extensive reliance is placed on Professor Gullickson's belief that "skills can only be acquired through performance", and the course is fashioned around this belief. To this end, a learning-by- doing approach is adopted, which puts the emphasis on "doing by the students, with a subsequent appraisal and correction by the course consultants and tutors". Aspects of legal procedure are demonstrated by the consultants through use of hand-outs, audio-visual aids and practical exercises in which all the students parti- cipate. Each student's progress is monitored continually and failure to achieve the required standard in assess- ments may result in the student having to repeat that particular part of the course. Punctuality and attendance are also taken into account in assessments. Appraisal While the theory behind the course appears basically sound, this is not to say that in practice the course works ideally. For a start, while the students benefit greatly from the experience of the one hundred and fifty practitioners acting as consultants and tutors, it is a fact of life that not all good practitioners possess the ability to communicate their particular subjcct. Indeed it must be said that, in a small number of cases, students detected a distinct lack of preparation on the part of certain tutors.

On Tuesday, 14 October 1980, ninety-six apprentices entered upon the Law Society's Fourth Professional Course in Blackhall Place. For each of them this marked a new departure in their careers. The academic side of their training over, they were now to be introduced to the law in practice. However, it was to prove an introduction at a price, the approximate cost of the course being £1,000. For most of the apprentices this involved obtain- ing a bank loan, which they will have to repay with interest over the next few years. In April 1981 the apprentices having completed the course will enter their respective master's offices. This is possibly where the most crucial part of their training will begin, for it is here that they should become acquainted with the day to day work of a solicitor. While, for most apprentices this period proves most beneficial, both from their own and their master's point of view, unfortunately this may not be true of all apprenticeships. For some, this period consists of a long series of frustrations, in which the apprentice is continually relegated to the most menial and least educational work in the office. Perhaps if more masters understood the training which apprentices receive prior to entering their offices, such frustration for the apprentice could be avoided. . It is the purpose of this article, therefore, to outline the new training scheme, with particular emphasis on the initial six month course. The Development of the New Training Scheme In 1971 the training of lawyers in England was investi- gated by the Ormrod Committee and suggestions designed to improve training were put forward. The Committee recommended that legal education for the profession be divided into two parts; the academic and the vocational. The former it was recognised could best be provided in the university law schools, the latter in voca- tional law schools. In 1974 the Incorporated Law Society announced its decision to revise the system of legal education by which solicitors were trained. To this end, they accepted sub- stantially the recommendations of the Ormrod Report. After consultations with many practitioners, a new system, to accommodate the vocational side of the apprentice's training was designed.

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