Training The Lawyers Of The Future - KSA
Training The Lawyers Of The Future - KSA
Bridging the gap between legal theory and legal practice, a case for the introduction of a legal practice course in the KSA and Middle East.
With increasing economic diversification in the Middle East and KSA in particular spearheaded by Vision 2030, global businesses are looking to make greater inward investment into KSA. Demand for highly skilled workforce to support Vision 2030 is accelerating, legal profession is no different. The article will focus on the need to prepare the lawyers of tomorrow, today and the case of developing a Legal Practice Course for KSA in particular and Middle East in general.
Legal Practice – Legal Theory
The traditional law degrees equip a budding lawyer with theories, concepts, laws, rules and regulations, indeed in the case of England and Wales nostalgic maxim such as “He who seeks Equity, must do Equity” or fine “not exceeding forty shillings” for using abusive language in the library, or “being drunk whilst being in charge of cattle”. Nostalgia aside, and needless to say legal practice starts to lose academic romance.
Learning the theory and the law of tort, contract, criminal, constitutional, European laws etc. provided knowledge of what is the law, its principles, reasoning etc., rarely one is taught how to apply the theoretical knowledge in a practical setting. Fresh law graduates seeking to enter the job market and corporates, with their sights perennially fixed on ‘top line’, ‘bottom’ line, “value for money”, “ROI” are rightly looking for graduates to add value, carry out meaningful work, such an ask is ultimately in the interest of the graduate and the employer. Failure to equip law graduates with practical skills, such as drafting, research, interviewing, negotiation, advocacy hands on experience of legal work, significantly reduces the employment chances of law graduates. Indeed, many very capable graduates are lost to the profession as a result thereof.
Developing Practical skills
Under the English Legal System, certainly in the recent past, to qualify as a lawyer, it was a requirement that a prospective lawyer would complete a law degree followed by the legal practice course or commonly referred to as the LPC, now replaced by Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), followed by a two-year formal practical on the job learning under the supervision of training principal a ‘training contract’ with a Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) accredited firm, or in-house legal department.
Legal Practice Course - its Rationale
Personally, speaking the LPC, was akin to a crash course on how to become a solicitor in England and Wales, in the setting of a classroom. Under the supervision of qualified and experienced practitioners, law graduates would get into the nitty-gritty of the work of a solicitor. We learnt, albeit to a varying degree and I did not get a “distinction,’ how to draft basic legal documents such as statement of claim, defense, contract for sale of property, letters advice etc. as well as how to talk to clients, the art of negotiation and advocacy.
As a graduate of the course and indeed many graduates felt the intense training during the LPC prepared them well and gave a head start to their legal careers. So, what did the LPC contain, broadly speaking, it was split into three phases (a) “the ‘core’ or compulsory modules – typically, Criminal and civil Litigation, Business law, Property Law (b) “Elective modules which can vary from institution to institution, they can range from IP, Employment, Commercial, Medical, family law etc. and (c) practical legal skills, such as advocacy, interviewing, advisory, drafting, research, accounts, wills and administration, taxation.
LPC Graduate and the Employer
The graduate of the LPC, now equipped with basics of legal practice, supplementing the theoretical knowledge of their law degrees, and multitude of relevant skills learnt and practiced under the supervision of experienced, mostly practicing or formerly practicing lawyers is ready to enter the legal profession, with some degree of confidence.
The graduate would be able to hit the ground running, again to a varying degree, in law firms, in-house legal departments across the public and private sector. A straight choice between a law graduate and a LPC graduate would in most cases favor the LPC graduate, simply for the fact of additional training.
The employer is now ready to build on the theoretical legal skills of the law graduate with practical work, by training and supervising the legal work and advice. It meant that a ‘trainee” was adding value from the outset and would be given and would receive legal tasks which started to build the legal practice, which would be much more difficult or there would be a much steeper learning curve for the graduate with simply a bachelor’s in law.
The LPC will allow the transfer of knowledge and skills to take place, it will allow the future legal minds of the Middle East to be devoted to the legal profession and not be lost to other professions
A case for the LPC in the Middle East
For the many reasons mentioned above and the fact that legal practice is very much a skills-based profession embellishing legal theory and knowledge, with greater focus on direct practical legal skills would enhance and provide a great platform for the law graduates in the Middle East to thrive in the legal profession.
Arguably graduate trainees are the lifeblood of most firms and organizations, future partners, General Counsels, senior associates will come from a healthy talent pipeline, indeed experienced trainees allow law firms to offer more cohesive and attractive billing rates.
Handful of law firms in the Middle East have established or are beginning to establish in-house academies to address this issue, however it may not make economic sense for smaller firms, or in-house legal departments to create such academies, therefore a tailored LPC course addresses this issue, questions of funding and operating models are outside the scope of this article.
With the drive towards economic diversification, and knowledge-based economies, comes the need for a strong workforce, in all fields. The LPC will allow the transfer of knowledge and skills to take place, it will allow the future legal minds of the Middle East to be devoted to the legal profession and not be lost to other professions. It will provide greater competition for graduates and a strong selection mechanism to allow the very best of legal talent to enter, thrive and lead the legal profession.
Post LPC, continuing professional development, through ongoing annual requirement to undertake further training will only strengthen the legal profession. The opportunities for those looking to set up the LPC and post LPC are endless. For the employer, the LPC will provide a strong pool of candidates who will add real value to clients, law firms/ companies., fulfill corporate social responsibility ideals substantively, open doors to greater client base, make real investment in the local economy which would be appreciated by all those interested in developing local talent. For the students, an opportunity to practice theory in the classroom, greater employment opportunities to fulfill their dreams, acquire additional skills which will be useful even in a non-legal setting. For the country, the development of a highly skilled legal talent pool with foundations built on critical employment skills which will fuel and support the vision 2030 and beyond.
Disclaimer – The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author and are purely informative in nature and do not represent the views of any organization or body.
