Transactional and Experiential Law Teaching Trends and Challenges - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transactional and Experiential Law Teaching – Trends and Challenges in the Asia Pacific Region Law and Society Conference 2016 Andrew Godwin Director, Transactional Law Melbourne Law School www.law.unimelb.edu.au

Outline of themes and issues • Creating practice-ready or practice-aware graduates • Incorporating transactional and experiential learning into the curriculum • The importance of developing professional skills • Two key issues: • Expectations of the profession/market • Skills and pathways to admission www.law.unimelb.edu.au

Expectations of the profession/market • Market drivers: – Cost constraints – Increased demands of lawyers, particularly in the context of the globalisation of the profession – The impact on law schools and admission requirements such as legal practice courses and bar examinations 3 www.law.unimelb.edu.au

Skills, curricula, pathways (and gatekeepers) to admission • ABA standards • Pathways: – Bar exam with a compulsory preparation course (e.g. Singapore) – Professional admission course that is subject to quotas and competitive enrolment (e.g. Hong Kong) – Legal practice (LPC) or practical legal training (PLT) courses that are available to all graduates (e.g. Australia and the UK) • Pre-admission or post-admission training 4 www.law.unimelb.edu.au

Skills, curricula, pathways (and gatekeepers) to admission • Hong Kong – PCLL as a skills-based program – The debate over the introduction of a common entrance examination (CEE): (1) quality concerns; (2) access concerns; (3) professional standards and the public interest • Singapore – Rajah Report 2007: ‘A second gatekeeper is…essential to ensure that the numbers entering the profession are responsive to market demands.’ – Law schools should provide ‘early preparation for the realities of practice’ • Australia – Trend towards incorporating clinics and skills into the curriculum 5 www.law.unimelb.edu.au

Skills, curricula, pathways (and gatekeepers) to admission • Questions: – Should there be a second gatekeeper or, instead, open admission to the profession? – What does the debate in Hong Kong reveal about the tensions pulling in both directions? – What do the issues generally reveal about the role of lawyers in society? Are they service providers or members of a special profession and what does this say about pathways to admission? • Publications: – Godwin, A., ‘Teaching Transactional Law: A Case Study from Australia with Reference to the US Experience’ (2015) 16(2) Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law 343 – Godwin, A., ‘Using Transactional and Experiential Techniques to Teach Corporations Law’ (2015) 25(1) Legal Education Review 221 – Godwin, A., ‘Barriers to practice by foreign lawyers in Asia: examining the role of lawyers in society’ (2015) 22(3) International Journal of the Legal Profession 299 6 www.law.unimelb.edu.au