In Online Courts and the Future of Justice, Richard Susskind’s invited us to reflect upon the extent to which there has been the ‘beginnings of’ a digital transformation in relation to ‘online judging,’ and how we can use the remarkable reach of the internet to help people understand and enforce their legal rights, whilst working more efficiently. Susskind argues that despite these changes and opportunities, Legal Education, particularly within the UK, still largely mirrors the approaches utilised decades ago.
However, in recent years UK Law Schools have had an unparalleled opportunity to reimagine their traditional ways of working, and consider new approaches towards delivering the ‘academic stage’ of training to become a barrister or solicitor in England and Wales. The development of the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE); a refocussing (and indeed revaluing) of skills and interpersonal development alongside substantive academic knowledge; as well as the opportunity to experiment with new technological innovations, via hybrid learning platforms, have afforded lawyers (both academics and professionals alike) an opportunity to: i) rethink the future; ii) make better use of technology; and iii) use technology to further increase the dialogue between those in academia with legal professionals.
This paper reflects upon evidence-based interventions for promoting dialogue, so as to better cast curriculum design around what the profession is looking for from law graduates of the future. With increasingly bleak statistics surrounding competition for securing training contracts or pupillage, this paper discusses ideas for creating a sense of collegiate community between practitioners (alumni) and those still completing their education/training as part of their Legal Skills development, at the academic stage of training. This paper details the author’s experiences of leading a community strategy that purposefully puts meaningful skills development at the centre of the student experience, whilst embedding employability within the curriculum.