1st Edition
Re-thinking Legal Education under the Civil and Common Law A Road Map for Constructive Change
Whilst educational theory has developed significantly in recent years, much of the law curriculum remains content-driven and delivered traditionally, predominantly through lecture format. Students are, in the main, treated as empty vessels to be filled by the eminent academics of the day. Re-thinking Legal Education under the Common and Civil Law draws on the experience of teachers, practitioners and students across the world who are committed to developing a more effective learning process.
Little attention has, historically, been paid to the importance of the application of theory, the role of reflective learning, the understanding and acquisition of lawyering skills and the development of professional responsibility and wider ethical values. With contributions from across the global north and south, this book examines the history of educating our lawyers, the influences and constraints that may shape the curriculum, the means of delivering it and the models that could be used to tackle current shortcomings. The whole is intended to represent what might be desirable and possible if we are to produce lawyers that are fit for purpose in the 21st century, be that in either in civil or common law jurisdictions.
This book will be of direct assistance to those who wish to understand the theory and practice of legal pedagogy in an experiential context. It will be essential reading for academics, researchers and teachers in the fields of law and education, particularly those concerned with curriculum design and developing interactive teaching methods. It is likely to be of interest to law students too – particularly those who value a more direct engagement in their learning.
Foreword Neil Gold
Opening thoughts Richard Grimes
A. Context and concepts
Introduction
1. Celebrating the difference - A U.S. educator’s perspective on legal education under the civil and common law Philip M. Genty
2. Experiential learning from the continental viewpoint: if the cap fits….. Cristina Amato
3. Experiential learning: just for ‘common lawyers’ - really? Richard Grimes and Anne-Lise Sibony
B. Content and careers
Introduction
4. Re-thinking the learning and teaching:
4.1. A case study from York Richard Hedlund
4.2. Clinic, employability, and educational need Meredith Daniel
4.3. Don’t talk at me, talk to me Tanya Walker
4.4. Shared potential despite the difference? David Roccaro
5. Ethics and professional responsibility
5.1. Teaching and learning legal ethics: what, how and why? Donald Nicolson
5.2. Teaching legal ethics under the civil law Jose Garcia Anon
5.3. Ethics, professionalism and the law Laura Bugatti
6. Regulation – universities, the legal profession and other employers
6.1. Of tribes and territories – an employer and regulator perspective on re-thinking legal education Chris Maguire
6.2. Degree apprenticeships – a way forward? Stephen Levett
7. Assessment in legal education: qualification or quantification? Jenny Gibbons
C. Case studies and countries: examples of re-thinking
Introduction
8. Birth, growth and reproduction of clinical legal education in Spain Pilar Fernández-Artiach, Jose García-Añón and Ruth M. Mestre i Mestre
9. Re-thinking legal education in Central and Eastern Europe Luba Krasnitskaya, Katarzyna Furman, Michal Urban
10. The same but different: What can we learn from Canadian attitudes to legal education? Sue Prince
11. The civil law tradition …but with clinics – a case study from Chile Juan P. Beca
12. Making a real change: legal education in Nigeria – partly re-imagined? Ernest Ojukwu
13. An agenda for Indian legal education Shuvro Prosun Sarker
14. Beyond the boom: prospects for Australian legal education Jeff Giddings
15. Re-thinking at the sharp end – examples of experiential teaching and learning practice
15.1. Mock-trials in an accusatorial and inquisitorial context David McQuoid-Mason
15.2. Teaching EU law in an experiential way Katarzyna Gromek-Broc
Final words Richard Grimes
Biography
Richard Grimes is a senior consultant with Les Deux Ltd, a training and development service specialising in access to justice and legal education.
‘This new contribution to the debate on legal education in general and experiential legal education in particular is all the more valuable because it spans both the common law and civil law world; the latter being too often neglected in previous literature.’ - Anthony Bradney, Professor of Law, Keele University, UK.
