Australian Legal Education in 2017: Taking Stock for an Uncertain Future
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This presentation was made to The Future of Legal Education Workshop hosted by Griffith University's Law Futures Centre on 1 November 2017. It suggests that Australian legal education research over the last decade has positioned us well for an uncertain future. While our Law Schools cannot afford to be complacent, especially given the increasing automation of legal work and the unbundling of legal services, the strong research and evidence base to which Australian legal educators may refer provides a degree of optimism for an uncertain future. Critically, this must be a joint endeavour that engages all branches of the legal profession and the Academy working together. Students and young lawyers in particular have a vital role to play in shaping the future of their professional education. In the absence of an #OLTphoenix, Australian legal education is well-placed to be self-sustaining and self-generating. The abstract for the session was as follows: In 2017, Australian legal education finds itself at a crossroads. In common with its disciplinary brethren, it is being impacted by the multitude challenges and volatile policy environment facing the Australian higher education sector more broadly. As for the rest of the Academy also, Law Schools are being squeezed on numerous fronts in their quest to fund pedagogical innovation. In the meantime, law students, who continue to bear a disproportionately high percentage of their degree costs, find themselves entering an extremely competitive job market with reduced employment opportunities. And of potentially even greater import, the disruptive innovation being felt in universities is also now impacting the legal services industry itself, so much so that the halcyon days of Priestley’s dead hand (or light hand, depending on your perspective) finally look to be drawing to a close. This presentation will review Australian legal education’s pedagogical progress over the last decade through a scholarship lens and ask how is legal education positioned in 2017 for an uncertain future? In the absence of a national body such as the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT), which was de-funded in mid-2016, is Australian legal education research and scholarship sufficiently mature to be self-sustaining and self-generating? At the risk of being overly optimistic, it will be suggested that, in an era of stackable credentials, the quality of Australian legal education generally ranks amongst the best in the world and is well-positioned to prepare its students to take their place, personally and professionally, as global citizens in complex and dynamic legal and other workplaces.
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Australian Legal Education in 2017: Taking Stock for an Uncertain Future
- 1. Australian Legal Education in 2017: Taking Stock for an Uncertain Future Professor Sally Kift PFHEA President, Australian Learning &Teaching Fellows Discipline Scholar: Law James Cook University @KiftSally
- 2. Taking Stock… • Context is everything • (Counterintuitively perhaps) Looking back to move forward • Harvesting a rich history • What else have we got? • What are the legal educ research opportunities: eg • Modelling disruptive pedagogy • How to bring the profession with us • Micro-credentialing • A more diverse profession • The career piece – Graduate Employability 2.0 • … • A couple of things to watch • Are the kids alright (per Fiona McLeod SC)?
- 3. There’s a bit of context going on! “Andrew Norton, Director of the Higher Education Program at the Grattan Institute, has analysed the department's data, which shows that while a social work student would pay only 38 per cent of their total course fee in 2017, a law student would pay 84 per cent.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/factcheck/2017-06-14/fact-check-do-taxpayers-subsidise-over-half-higher-education/8605406
- 5. http://cald.asn.au/assets/lists/Education/Factsheet-Law_Students_in_Australia.pdf Graduate Careers Australia data: 74% law graduates from law after 4 months earlier and available for employment were employed. National average for graduate employment little under 69%. Nov 2016
- 6. https://headspace.org.au/assets/Uploads/headspace-NUS-Publication-Digital.pdf https://www.headspace.org.au/news/majority-of-aussie-students-stressed-depressed/ [Mature Adults 59% vs 41%] [Mature Adults 32% accessed; 20% negative exp] [Mature Adults only 3.4%] [Mature Adults 53%] [Mature Adults 26% accessed; 9% negative exp] http://www.cald.asn.au/docs/Law%20Report%20Website%20version%204%20May%2009.pdf [For Mature Adults]
- 7. “The disruption under way in higher educations isn’t just about technology, though today’s students are increasingly “digital” in terms of how and where they prefer to learn. It’s also about students as customers who have clear expectations about what their university experience should be, and who are holding institutions to account when they fail to meet those expectations.” 1 November 2017 http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/productivity-review/report/productivity-review.pdfhttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education
- 8. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-10-05-more-colleges-are- offering-microcredentials-and-developing-them-the-way- businesses-make-new-products • Cheap, short programs to help workers “update their skills in fast-changing fields” (and to bring in new $$$ for providers) • EdX ‘now lists 40 “MicroMasters”’ • Couresa ‘has added 50 new “specializations”’ • Udacity ‘offers what it calls “nanodegrees” to students who pay $200 a month for access to the education service’. 5 October 2017
- 9. http://www.law.com/sites/americanlawyer/2017/10/12/ pwc-launches-on-demand-flexible-lawyering-service-for- clients/?slreturn=20170919033548 NewLaw https://legaltrek.com/newlaw-ebook/ October 12, 2017 E.g., PwC’s “Flexible Legal Resources” service
- 10. Unbundling the business of law: Lawyer Work cf Legal Work …strategy, creativity, judgment and empathy …those efforts cannot yet be automated. “What clients don’t want to pay for is any routine work...the trouble is that technology makes more and more work routine.” https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-future-of-the-professions-9780198713395?cc=au&lang=en& https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/19/technology/lawyers-artificial-intelligence.html 19 March 2017
- 11. http://legalmosaic.com/2017/09/28/who-will-train-tomorrows-lawyers-and-how-will-they-learn/# “The legal industry is an ecosystem; there’s an inter-dependency between and among its elements. So, for example, when clients sneeze, law firms catch a cold; law schools get the flu; and law students contract pneumonia.” September 28, 2017 The legal industry is an ecosystem… A recent American Lawyer article, “Pay for Associate Hours? More Companies Say ‘No Thanks’”… quoted from a speech by Mark Smolik, the general counsel of DHL Supply Chain Americas, saying he would no longer subsidize on-the-job-training of law firm associates… Mr. Smolik’s remark…is an indictment of the Academy for its failure to produce practice- ready graduates with required skillsets and a swipe at law firms for their failure to more fully invest in associate training to drive client value.
- 13. References a [US] model of legal education that has been superseded in Aust (to varying degrees) for some years now … • One summative (cf formative) assessment (final exam) • Lack of constant feedback • Only recent moves towards adopting learning outcomes & new methods of assessment (for and of learning). • Limited blended/online learning/modules. • Minimal practical training. https://www.christenseninstitute.org/publications/disrupting-law-school/ BUT no cause for complacency… Law schools have three possible paths: 1. Launch autonomous models to pioneer disruptions 2. Use online learning as a sustaining innovation to improve current practice 3. Specialize by creating programs that allow JD 2016
- 15. What themes emerge from all of this? • New knowledge, skills & attitudes • New(Law) professionalism (eg, ways of working, flexibility, more diversity) • Course architecture: • [More] Online/blended; modules/micro-credentials; specialization; core/elective • Focus on ethical standards & judgment, interpersonal skills, criticality, creativity… • Inter-disciplinarity (& collaboration to enable) • Resilience, mental health & wellbeing • Agentic career management • Practice-ready grads, in whom law firms must further invest • Reimagine accreditation requirements, including assuring CPE/CPD
- 16. (creative production) (self-actualising) (participating)(learning) (critical use) Digital capabilities: the 6 elements defined (JISC, 2015) Higher education institutions have a key part to play in supporting graduates to be able to interact with digital technologies in their professional and personal lives (Littlejohn et. al., 2012). http://digitalcapability.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2015/06 /1.-Digital-capabilities-6-elements.pdf Digital Capabilities/Literacies
- 17. How has our legal education research positioned us for an uncertain future?
- 21. https://www.qut.edu.au/research-all/research-projects/captsone-experiences-in-legal-education http://www.olt.gov.au/project-curriculum-renewal-legal-education-qut-2009 Integrative learning for practice-ready grads: Capstone Experiences
- 22. https://smartlawteacher.org/modules/ https://smartlawteacher.org/ Assuring legal education quality …
- 23. http://cald.asn.au/assets/lists/Resources/Promoting%20Law%20Student%20Well- Being%20Good%20Practice%20Guidelines%20for%20Law%20Schools%20March%202013%20and%20revised%20September%202014.pdf http://wellnessforlaw.com/http://www.tjmf.org.au/ https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B95-o3plGJYvWVF2ME5nZnB2cmc/view https://bond.edu.au/intl/profile/prof-rachael-field Courting the Blues: Mental Health & Well-Being for students AND staff
- 24. TLOs: Bachelor of Laws (and JD) Six (6) Threshold Learning Outcomes • Knowledge • Ethics & professional responsibility • Thinking Skills • Research Skills • Communication & collaboration • Self-management http://disciplinestandards.pbworks.com/w/page/52746378/Law TLO 1: Knowledge (LLB, JD) Graduates of the Bachelor of Laws will demonstrate an understanding of a coherent body of knowledge that includes: Graduates of the Juris Doctor will demonstrate an advanced and integrated understanding of a complex body of knowledge that includes: (a) the fundamental areas of legal knowledge, the Australian legal system, and underlying principles and concepts, including international and comparative contexts, (b) the broader contexts within which legal issues arise, and (c) the principles and values of justice and of ethical practice in lawyers’ roles, and (d) Contemporary developments in law, and its professional practice
- 30. https://sra.org.uk/home/hot-topics/Solicitors-Qualifying-Examination.page No law degree required: SQE will assess “necessary knowledge & skills to qualify” No PLT course required • Take SQE stage 1 before work-based experience; SQE stage 2 at end of work experience. No training contract required • Currently 2yr pre-admission training contract required; seen as “barrier”, “real block on numbers & diversity” • Replace with 2yr Qualifying Work Experience to “socialise candidates into the legal profession, expose them to ethical problems, and make sure that they have the opportunity to develop the competencies set out in the competency statement.” • Enables “equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)”
- 31. The Regulatory Risk… • Complexity; multiple layers; lack of harmonization & uniformity; agililty • Whither Priestley 11 (given FLIP et al)? • Core/Elective split if non-law areas? • Opportunity to specialise [& beyond… to be “techno-legals” who code; data scientists; legal solutions architects; & the like] • Need to be careful not to mis-step: is a SRA-type test the best response? • Too quickly dated? Stifle (rather than support) disruptive influences? • NewLaw knowledge, skills & values. LLB & JD TLOs good threshold starting point, especially given (1) harmonization & (2) need for flexibility re developments https://geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-24-at-8.58.11-AM-405x405.png
- 32. http://www.cald.asn.au/alssc 28 Law Schools have now received 5 year interim certification
- 33. http://www.academyoflaw.org.au/resources/Legal%20Education%20Conference%202017%20Final%20Papers/ ndford%20Clark%20-%20Regulating%20Admissions%20-%20Are%20we%20there%20yet.pdf Chairman, Law Admissions Consultative Committee (1) At 15
- 34. (2) At 15 cont Chairman, Law Admissions Consultative Committee http://www.academyoflaw.org.au/resources/Legal%20Education%20Conference%202017%20Final%20Papers/ ndford%20Clark%20-%20Regulating%20Admissions%20-%20Are%20we%20there%20yet.pdf
- 35. What else have we got?
- 38. https://www.collaw.edu.au/about/centre-for-legal-innovation http://www.lmhub.com.au/qa-terri-mottershead-lawyers-are-definitely-going-to-be-working- in-an-increasingly-multidisciplinary-environment/ https://www.cli.collaw.com/latest-on-legal-innovation/2017/10/25/highlights-of-the-inaugural- ai-in-legal-practice-summit “We’re going to see a commodification of wills, conveyancing, and family law matters,” said Professor Hunter. Essentially, simple legal services with often standard solutions were likely to be turned into products. “There will be cheaper servicing of people’s legal needs, including those who currently cannot afford lawyers. This means great outcomes for society, but not so great outcomes for lawyers in these fields.”
- 40. https://socialmediainlegaleducation.com/ (Social Media in Legal Education)
- 41. https://amicaecuriae.com/2013/09/27/its-more-than-the-vibe/ https://lawschoolvibe.wordpress.com/
- 42. ANU, Canberra City U., London Plymouth U. Northeastern U., Boston ANU, Canberra ANU, Canberra Deakin Uni, Melbourne The Law Teacher, Special Issue, 2016 http://www.tandfonline.com.elibrary.jcu. edu.au/toc/ralt20/50/1?nav=tocList
- 43. • Need for a more diverse/representative profession (SRA – “EDI”) However, Southgate (2017, 23-24): • Law [& Medical Studies] have poor LSES participation (in both UG & PG). • Law also has low participation rates for those from regional backgrounds. • Students from equity groups “far more likely to be enrolled in high-status degrees in less elite universities”. These students make up a “remarkably small percentage of their FoE cohort in Go8 universities in particular. From an equity perspective, such patterns of unequal distribution require concerted attention.” • Graduate numbers (7583 in 2015 (CALD, 2016)) & career development advice • LESS trad permanent staff; MORE non-trad & transient “Supertemps” • What about JD vs LLB??? • growth in JD numbers (from 10.8% of grads 2014 to 16.5% in 2017 (Carter, 2017)) • Good news story – esp re diversity and access to justice if a driver Other legal ed research possibilities: https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Southgate_Fair-connection-to-professional-careers.pdf
- 44. 46 Higher education, graduate employability and social networks http://www.graduateemployability2-0.com/ “Professional networks have a vital role to play in various aspects of career development, innovation and problem-solving processes, and socially-based learning.”
- 48. http://www.law.unsw.edu.au/form/Designing_Technology_Solutions_for_Access_to_Justice Assessment: • design skills (10%) • reflective notes (20%) • presentation of application (20%) • design of application (40%) • teamwork (10%).