Practical Legal Training in Legal Education: Law Students’ Perceptions

Abstract

This research paper is an excerpt from an ongoing research project entitled Teaching and Learning in Legal Education: A Paradigm Shift from Theory to Legal Practical Training (600-IRMI/DANA 5/3/ARAS (0100/2016) generously funded and managed by the Institute of Research Management & Innovation (IRMI), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). We would like to express our gratitude to those who, directly or indirectly, involved throughout the initial findings stage.

Abstract

Many legal practitioners believed that law schools have two educational objectives: to prepare their students for admission to the bar and to equip students with effective, ethical, and responsible participation as members of the legal profession. Recently, there has been much concern of members of the legal profession over some law schools producing students who lacked with day-to-day lawyering skills. They viewed that the law schools have placed their focus more on the solid grounding in the traditional areas of legal theory and lack of the practical legal training. As a result, law graduates are primarily unprepared for the necessary lawyering skills to face the real life as advocates and solicitors. The objectives of this research were to determine whether the law schools have adequately prepared their students with sufficient practical legal skills, particularly the lawyering skills and whether the legal educators’ professional legal background plays significant roles in the practical legal education. Applying a quantitative method, this research seeks the perception of the final year law students and law graduates who are currently working in the legal profession to meet its objectives. The findings revealed that while the practical legal training, particularly the lawyering skills are deemed to be essential tools to meet the educational objectives, these skills would only be effective and beneficial to the students if they are delivered by experienced legal educators with their qualified professional legal background. If these aspects are given due attention, the law schools should get a credit for applying the efficient practical legal training approach and evidently prepare their graduates to meet the demand and expectation of “the real world” of law practice.

Keywords: teaching, practical legal training, professional background, legal educators

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-5-10

Publication date: February 29^th 2020