The Gazette 1971

(9) There should be a standing Advisory Committee on Legal Education to act as a link between the univer- sities and the professions. (10) Consideration should be given to the establish- ment of an Institute of Professional Legal Studies to co-ordinate, organise and promote projects in all fields of continuing training for the legal profession. The recommendations of the Report have much in common with the proposals put forward by your Council. It differs, nevertheless, in two significant features, namely : (a) the recommendation that the vocational courses should be provided at universities or colleges of higher education, and (b) the abolition of apprenticeship and the substi- tution of a limited practising certificate after completion of the vocational stage. The first is, however, only a majority recommendation, and may conceivably give rise to some difference of opinion amongst members of the profession in England. We will watch the outcome with interest. Objectives of Academic and Professional Stages With regard to the content of the several stages, the Report comments as follows. (a) The objectives of the academic stage should be to provide the student with : (i) a basic knowledge of the law, which involves covering certain "core" subjects, and acquiring a sound grasp of legal principles and the ability to discover for himself the law on any subject which he is likely to be called on to deal with in his early years of practice; (11) an understanding of the relationship of law to the social and economic environment in which it operates; and (iii) the intellectual training necessary to enable him to handle facts and apply abstract concepts to them. (b) The objectives of the professional stage are to enable the student to adapt the legal knowledge and the intellectual skills acquired at the academic stage to the problems of legal practice, and to lay the founda- tions for the continuing development of professional skills and techniques throughout his career; the amount of substantive law to be studied should be kept to the minimum. The vocational course should include : (i) practical exercises in professional problems and procedures; (ii) some additional law subjects of a "practical" nature; and (iii) some introduction to certain non-legal subjects, especially elementary behavioural science and busi- ness finance. (c) The area of greatest potential growth in legal education is that of continuing education after quali- fication, both in the early years and throughout the professional career. The field suggested is divided into five broad sections, namely, (i) courses in judicial duties; (ii) refresher courses for practitioners; (iii) courses in new legislation; (iv) specialist courses (including foreign and Com- mon Market law); (v) inter-disciplinary courses. The items to which I would like to draw your atten- tion are : (a) in the academic stage—an understanding of the relationship of law to the social and economic environ- ment in which it operates; (b) in the vocational stage—some introduction to certain non-legal subjects, especially elementary behav- 35

for concern in that regard. The Council will receive from Irish Underwriting Agencies a report on the finances of the scheme for the first complete year with suggestions arising from claims, experience to date and how losses can be minimised. This is a professional enter- prise initiated with the assistance of the Society's insur- ance brokers and it is obviously in the interests of all members to adopt safeguards and business methods which will keep losses to a minimum because the insur- ance premiums payable must in the short or long run be governed by claims experience. The "Gazette" Members in recent months will have noticed the improvements to the Society's Gazette. Mr. Gavan- Duffy, the Editor, is anxious to receive suitable contri- butions from members. The cover and form of the Gazette has been changed, beginning with the May issue. This will cost more but it is hoped to offset a considerable part of the expenses by advertising. Legal Education In the field of legal education, the item of current interest in the recently-published Report of the Com- mittee on Legal Education in England presided over by the Hon. Mr. Justice Ormrod. The publication of this Report comes at a critical point of time. The pro- posals submitted by your Council to the Minister for Justice in June 1969 have been examined and com- mented upon by the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education, and are now back with our own Minister for his consideration. The Minister has already commented upon the Ormrod Report, and there is little doubt but that it will have some influence upon his views. It therefore behoves us to study the Report carefully and endeavour to anticipate the features that are likely to appeal to the authorities with whom we have to deal. Ormrod Report on Legal Education The main conclusions and recommendations of the Report are: (1) Academic and vocational legal training should as far as possible be integrated. (2) Legal education should be planned in three stages, (i) academic; (ii) professional or vocational; (iii) con- tinuing after qualification and throughout the lawyer's professional career. (3) The obtaining of a law degree should be the normal mode of entry. (4) Certain non-graduates and graduates with degrees which do not qualify as law degrees should be entitled to complete the academic stage by taking a two-year course at university level and passing an examination. (5) The professional or vocational stage should last for one year and should consist of 'courses strongly orientated towards practice provided in universities or colleges of higher education. (6) The obtaining of a certificate or diploma granted as a result of attending these courses together with a law degree or its equivalent would establish qualification for practice. (7) Apprenticeship should be abolished instead of which there should be a period of three years after admission during which a solicitor would, as a condition of being granted a full practising certificate at the end of that period, practise with a limited certificate as an assistant solicitor. (8) Transfer between the branches of the profession should be possible without examination, the only require- ment being an appropriate period of pupillage or limited practice.