Today I am talking to Scott Slorach of The College of Law about the reform of legal education and his view on the need for useful learning.
In my last podcast the chief executive of The College of Law , Nigel Savage, he said that the law degree syllabus had not changed much since World War II – but this, of course, is not entirely accurate as most law degrees now offer a range of modern subjects including European law, Human Rights, Civil Liberties, Competition Law, Intellectual Property, to name but a few….
We focus on:
1. The need for useful learning: for students, employers, professions, consumers and society
Usefulness is defined by the ability to apply that learning to some benefit. Can we provide for the greatest good? Would this be assisted by different approaches in undergraduate learning. Yes – see below.
2. Who decided that academic and vocational are mutually exclusive?
3. The need for development in and therefore development of law degrees
4. Henry Ford’s customers would have asked for faster horses: what does the profession mean when it asks for “more black letter law”? Is this what it actually wants or needs?
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Other podcasts in this series on legal education
Lawcast 171: Nigel Savage, CEO of The College of Law
Lawcast 170: professor Richard Moorehead, Cardiff Law School, University of Cardiff
[…] Lawcast 172: On the reform of legal education with Scott Slorach, College of Law […]