‘Decolonisation can be described as a collection of repudiatory and resistant responses to the multifaceted inauguration of colonial ways of thinking, being, and doing in the world—this inauguration is often dated to the fifteenth century.’
OUP Blog, 16th August 2024
Source: blog.oup.com
‘Research on the experience of Black law students is hampered by a lack of trust in the legal academy by people of colour. Staff and students of colour have put emotional energy into responding to universities’ requests for feedback only for their views to be misrepresented or ignored; leading to an intergenerational distrust and therefore disengagement. This makes it difficult for law teachers to gain insight into how to decolonise the experiences of their students, leading to clumsy attempts that fail to recognise the vulnerability we demand of students. We give our law students assessments that require them to open themselves up to being judged, often including reflective exercises that reward students who expose their authentic (White) selves. We expect students to trust our assessment practices, despite there still being a considerable Black awarding gap. Black students are the least likely group to submit work – the response of law schools is to encourage Black students to submit, without addressing the underlying lack of trust. This deficit approach is inappropriate. It is our responsibility as legal educators to build trust and maintain it. This paper concludes by imagining an anti-racist law school, that deserves the trust of its Black students.’
The Law Teacher, 10th June 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘This article focusses on the development and current state of the relationship between the English legal profession and higher education institutions invested in the education and training of its members. A historiography in Parts 2 and 3 reveals the development of an originally unintended relationship that came about by chance and out of necessity and ultimately gave rise to a peculiar mix of practical legal training and university education that exist to this day. It is against this background and with reference to the Larson/Abel market control theory and Clark’s triangle heuristic, that the analysis in Part 4 explores how the English legal profession continues to exert control over its market by adopting the credentials of education institutions in the training and accreditation of its own members (control over the production of producers), and by also prescribing to its members the scope and nature of the services they may provide (control over the production by producers). The organisational alliance that has so been forged between the English legal profession and higher education institutions is critically reflected upon, also in terms of how higher education institutions can possibly consider more fundamentally their stake in the maintenance of this legal professional enterprise.’
The Law Teacher, 6th June 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘Students from minority groups have often experienced racism and teachers’ low expectations of their capabilities. They do not see themselves reflected in the staff teaching at law schools and universities. Their learning is affected by microaggressions and bias in the classroom. With their confidence and self-belief knocked, they find it harder than white students to get legal work or paid training – not helped by recruitment processes that focus on exam results without looking at the story behind the grades.’
Law Society's Gazette, 4th June 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘This paper delves into the transformative power of reflection in a postgraduate course focused on professional legal practice. With a dual focus on the learning and professional aspects of reflection, this paper sheds light on the advantages of incorporating reflective practices within legal education. Specifically, it explores the use of reflective writing for assessment purposes at King’s College London and examines the broader application of reflection within the MSc Law and Professional Practice course. Drawing on practical experiences and insights gained from the implementation of reflection, the paper offers valuable lessons and recommendations for educators seeking to leverage reflective learning in legal education.’
International Journal of the Legal Profession, 30th April 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority and SQE assessment provider Kaplan today apologised to 175 students who were wrongly told last month that they had failed their exam.’
Law Society's Gazette, 15th April 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘This article considers the place of EU law in the law curriculum. It explores and critically assesses the pre- and post-Brexit arguments which have been made for EU law as a distinct module on the law degree. A number of commentators have made the case for the desirability of keeping EU law as a core subject. This paper takes account of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 and the changes to the professional requirements for qualification. Three key arguments are made. The first is that Brexit is disordering in an unquantifiable way the legal systems of the UK and introducing new uncertainties. The second is that at the same time there is a disordering of legal education with consequential changes to the rules for qualification to practise. The third argument, which is premised on the first two, is that providers of law degrees must recognise the implications of these processes and other processes of change (which are identified in this article) and reappraise the purpose of EU law in the curriculum.’
The Law Teacher, 4th April 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘The doctrine of stare decisis is often explained in first-year law studies as synonymous with the doctrine of precedent and dichotomised into ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. This explanation of stare decisis is frequently supplemented by an exercise where the novice law student is provided with a case and directed to identify the ratio decidendi of the case, and to appreciate the distinction between ratio and obiter dicta in it, the latter being persuasive only. It is argued that this pedagogy is limited and unrealistic because stare decisis is a dynamic process whereby, applying the precepts of formal legal logic, legal principle evolves. This paper propounds that the fundamental precepts of formal legal logic should be harnessed as a dedicated pedagogy to teach students how principle evolves. The extant legal studies curriculum can readily be modified to accommodate these suggestions. Consistent with the proposition that stare decisis is ultimately a process, whether a statement in a case has the character of ratio decidendi or obiter dictum is itself determined as the outcome of that process.’
The Law Teacher, 1st March 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘This article explores how legal academics approach sensitive topics in human rights law, specifically how content is chosen, curated and discussed with students. It draws on data collected as part of a small pilot study which looked at how human rights academics approach “controversial” topics and how their views on controversy and sensitivity may be reflected in their curriculum. It focuses on the wider debate around trigger warnings in higher education and explores how academics use them. It concludes that, despite their negative reputation, “trigger warnings” can play a necessary and welcome role in navigating sensitive material.’
The Law Teacher, 1st March 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘Lawyers’ lack of interest in ethics may be fuelling an increase in rogue behaviour in the profession, an academic expert on the legal profession has suggested. Professor Richard Moorhead told a conference of lawyers yesterday that “apathy” and “ignorance” were a “root cause” of unethical behaviours that have manifested in issues such as the Post Office scandal.’
Law Society's Gazette, 8th March 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Law students and academics need guidance on how to discern whether AI applications “pass the smell test”. A roundtable in Leeds heard that a “massive education programme” is needed.’
Law Society's Gazette, 12th February 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2024