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My expensive legislation college students,
Often (thank God for that), I get this query from legislation college students: what’s the level of legislation faculty? Often, this query is from the senior years, when some sudden free time permits college students to think about such questions. I went by way of this part myself once I was within the fifth yr. It passes.
The query is just not totally pointless, as authorized training, particularly in the UK, was traditionally primarily based on internships with authorized practitioners fairly than by way of formal authorized training.
Even immediately, one doesn’t want a 3 yr legislation diploma in the UK to enter authorized observe. Nonetheless, I belong to the group that believes a 3 or a 5 yr authorized training is a perfect begin for a budding lawyer.
The purpose of legislation faculty is to push you to do stuff you suppose you aren’t able to doing. You may say it will occur in legislation observe anyway. You can be given work that you can find unimaginable to deal with to start with however will find yourself doing as a matter in fact. However actual life experiences ought to be studying experiences solely as a dessert, not as a principal course.
In addition to, your mentors at legislation practices have their major duties in the direction of their shoppers. The nice bosses will mentor you, however that’s not their day job. Your expertise improvement will occur, however will occur by the way, not because of a deliberate course of.
A great legislation faculty that’s severe about its legislation college students will push college students to train their creativeness and their creativity whereas additionally making them technically sound. This might be a precedence and by design, not an incidental impact of lessons and assessments.
This, I hasten so as to add, is just not primarily based on the American legislation faculty mannequin the place one sinks or swims and everyone seems to be judged by one commonplace and is measured on a curve. That’s a zero sum recreation and legislation faculty is the poorer for it. I imply a system the place the legislation faculty’s teachers and assessments, whereas conforming to some uniform patterns and rewarding college students for his or her efforts, make the legislation come alive for each scholar. I’ve mentioned how a legislation faculty can accomplish that elsewhere.
A great legislation faculty would require academics to push college students out of their consolation zones. We are going to ask you to learn the naked texts and case legislation by yourselves and reply questions. You may complain that you simply want a textbook. You don’t want a textbook; years of highschool training in India have conditioned you to suppose that you simply want a textbook for each proposition.
We are going to ask you to learn a authorized scholar’s article earlier than you come to class. You may push again stating that the article is just too theoretical. Nothing is just too theoretical for a lawyer. Each interpretation of a statute is predicated on a sure idea. We provides you with a number of and common assessments. You may say that we’re making legislation faculty all about assessments.
Fairly the opposite truly; we don’t need you to drive yourselves in the direction of one massive determinative evaluation on the finish, just like the board exams do.
The opposite thrilling side of legislation faculty is that it offers you a holistic context during which to review legislation. Cricket followers will bear in mind CLR James’ well-known quip: ‘what do they know of cricket who solely cricket know’? I ought to say the identical factor in regards to the legislation.
One can be taught extra in regards to the legislation by finding out areas aside from the legislation. We are going to ask you to be taught from historical past, sociology, economics and accounting. You may inform us that you simply studied science in senior highschool and don’t know something about historical past and political science.
We are going to say that’s splendid information. You’ll be taught new vistas anew and would be the higher for it. You may say accounting makes your head damage. We are going to say that’s precisely what accountants have been doing to everybody else for a very long time. It’s time to hitch their social gathering.
One last level, and stick with me right here, as a result of what I’m saying goes to sound bizarre to you. A great legislation faculty is supposed to indicate what an honourable life is supposed to be. You hear about attorneys disrupting court docket proceedings or making fallacious arguments and I received’t fault you for laughing or weeping at my assertion, relying in your disposition.
Hear me out for a little bit bit. Younger folks could make their careers in a wide range of professions like medication and engineering. Why hassle with the legislation? Cash alone can’t be the rationale, though I agree that the truth that some practices of legislation are profitable is a crucial think about becoming a member of the career. After I meet legislation aspirants, I at all times ask them this query: what do you suppose legislation faculty will do to you?
A few of them say maintain on, let me simply clear CLAT first, let’s fear about legislation faculty later. Some say it’s as a result of legislation will make them do one thing they haven’t carried out earlier than. Some others say they need their views expanded or modified, or they wish to suppose higher.
I discover these latter solutions actually compelling. To guide a honourable life is to at all times open your self to new concepts and to correcting outdated errors. There is no such thing as a larger honour than re-assessing rights and wrongs after deliberation. Solely (a very good) legislation faculty can educate you the way to try this, in a approach that enriches you and the group round you. Let the coders learn Python, you have got larger prey to swallow.
Notice: This letter has been reproduced after taking Professor Nuggehalli’s consent.
To learn extra from the collection on ‘Letter to Regulation College students’, you can take a look at Professor Nigam Nuggehalli’s LinkedIn web page right here. You can learn extra about Professor Nigam Nuggehalli right here.
If you happen to want to write for us, or share a narrative, please get in contact at umang.poddar@lawctopus.com.
Notice: This text was first revealed on June 6, 2022. Now we have republished it on March 21, 2024.
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