Are A-levels getting too easy? Is media studies a Mickey Mouse subject? Is a degree from the University of the North Circular worth the paper it is written on? The debate over how to allow greater access to higher education while maintaining quality is obviously not confined to the legal world. But if a prize could be awarded for hot air, the people attempting to shape the education and training debate at the Law Society would surely be contenders.
Last year saw the publication of consultation paper number three on a proposed new qualification framework for solicitors. A plan to abolish the requirement for would-be solicitors to attend the Legal Practice Course was quietly shelved after being met with almost universal hostility from the business law community. Now the Law Society’s new regulatory arm has got in on the act with its proposal to cut the training period for solicitors to a minimum of 16 months. The timing of the blueprint’s release – in the middle of August, when the City has closed down for the summer – appeared almost calculated to raise the hackles of senior lawyers.
