Student professional practice in brighton business school Responding to the Legal Education &Training Review: Development of Communication Skills &Commercial Awareness Jeanette Ashton

Context for the study PG Cert in HE educational enquiry LETR 2013 – no overhaul of legal education & training but food for thought LETR identification of key skills gaps in communication skills & commercial awareness UoB law in the Business School Relationships with stakeholders e.g. local firms Context for the study

What are students’ motivations for participating in extra-curricular skills training? Implications for the wider law curriculum? LLB: compulsory skills module Year 1, compulsory mooting module Year 2 CPE / PG Dip Law: no compulsory skills module Aim of the study

64 students (LLB & CPE/PG Law) participating in skills programme Mixed method, purposive sampling (Cane &Kritzer,2010) Pre & post-programme questionnaire (motivation; perceived benefits; actual benefits; skills development; career aspirations; views on incorporation into curriculum) Follow up focus group Limitations – most motivated students, issue of transferability (Denscombe, 2007) Research methodology

The literature: experiential learning “When learning is conceived as a holistic adaptive process, it provides conceptual bridges across life situations such as school &work, portraying learning as a continuous, lifelong process” (Kolb, 1984) Strong case for ‘expanded practice-based experiential education’ which ‘will provide foundational learning for the successful transition from law student to law practice” (Tokarz et al, 2014) The literature: experiential learning

The data 1

The data 2: what was useful?

“The professionals coming in made me feel like a professional myself” “I had an interview – it was the first thing they asked about. It separates us from other law students – really relevant” “I would like it compulsory, but not in a separate module, instead put it into modules like Contract & Land” “We will all need these skills at some point” Qualitative data

Students feel they benefit considerably – skills development & employability Extra-curricular approach only captures a minority Need for coherent professional skills strategy pervading law curriculum Experiential learning promotes lifelong learning far more effectively than traditional broad coverage, ‘infusing passion and context’ (Maranville) Solicitors Qualifying Exam forthcoming – Stage 2 Practical Legal Skills implications

From law student to lawyer

Thanks for listening – any thoughts? Juliet Turner, Alison Bone & Jeanette Ashton (2016): Reasons why law students should have access to learning law through a skills-based approach, The Law Teacher, DOI: 10.1080/03069400.2016.1201739