Professor Deveral Capps

Lawyering skills are increasingly part of the curriculum, whether on undergraduate law degrees, on joint honours degrees, on the ... This book is intended as a practical guide to the development of certain core lawyering skills for all students ...

There is a lack of research in this area but many academics report that they found it easier to move up the career ladder by moving institutions and others provide anecdotal evidence that promotions have been gained by securing job offers ...

Following the Legal Education and Training Review, the Bar Standards Board instigated ‘Future Bar Training’. This programme of regulatory change moves towards outcomes-focussed regulation, enables a number of pathways to qualification and ensures barristers are equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet the requirements of the Professional Statement for barristers. At the start of the programme four pillars were identified upon which Future Bar Training would stand, namely high standards, flexibility, accessibility and affordability. Future Bar Training was divided into a number of groups, each looking at a particular aspect of the change process. They include projects examining the authorisation framework, pupillage, the role of the Inns of Court and a curriculum and assessments review. This paper will outline the work and findings of the Curriculum and Assessments Review Group (CAR), whose tasks included ensuring training for the bar aligned with the Professional Statement for Barristers and developing a new Curriculum and Assessment strategy for Bar training so as to foster innovation and meet the four pillars listed above. CAR’s recommendations for change were approved by the Bar Standards Board on 17th May 2018, though are, of course, subject to Legal Services Board approval processes relating to the rules governing FBT reforms.

The text also considers the professional and ethical context of legal practice, provides an insight into the legal services landscape as well as offering valuable careers advice.

On 25th June 2013, the Legal Education and Training Review published its report on the legal education landscape and made 26 recommendations for change. Over the past 5 years the legal regulators have considered these recommendations and developed and consulted on new education and training pathways and assessment strategies. This article focusses on the Bar Standards Board’s Future Bar Training Programme and provides commentary, explanation and a rationale for training for the Bar from 2020.