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American friends struggling with the bar exam nightmare #barpocalypse: There is a better alternative than either forcing law graduates to do the bar exam (useless at the best of times, criminally negligent now) or sending them into the practice of law with nothing but a J.D. 1/11
Law grads don't need to be re-tested on what they learned in law school (or if they do, then the regulator needs to de-accredit the school). They've got the substantive law knowledge. What they need are the skills, supports, and structures to become working legal professionals.
Here are two programs from Canada that address this need.
In Ontario, the Law Practice Program includes a 17-week Training Component, centred around a virtual "simulated law firm" that provides activities and assignments to help develop lawyer skills. https://lpp.ryerson.ca/prospective-candidates
In Ontario, the Law Practice Program includes a 17-week Training Component, centred around a virtual "simulated law firm" that provides activities and assignments to help develop lawyer skills. https://lpp.ryerson.ca/prospective-candidates
This infographic about the Training Component at Ryerson University's LPP in Toronto illustrates what the program delivers. https://lpp.ryerson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/LPP-Overview-June52019-1.jpg (A French-language LPP is based at the University of Ottawa.)
Ontario still requires bar applicants to pass barrister and solicitor licensing examinations ( https://lso.ca/becoming-licensed/lawyer-licensing-process/licensing-examinations/guide-to-licensing-examinations). But completing the LPP allows the applicant to skip the one-year articling term, and provides much more structured practice skills development than articling.
In Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia, articling remains a requirement, but the "bar exam" is being replaced by the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP) provided by the Canadian Center for Professional Legal Education (CPLED). https://cpled.ca/students/cpled-prep/
Check out this one-page outline and schedule for PREP's offerings and requirements for June 2020: https://cpled.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PREP-June-2020-Schedule-for-Website_Updated.pdf. How much better prepared would we all have been to practise law had we gone through a program like this before our call to the bar?
Note that PREP, like the LPP, offers a virtual "simulated law firm" where bar applicants can do run-throughs of client service in a legal work environment. Simulated firms can't entirely substitute for the real thing, but they can allow aspiring lawyers to practice and prepare.
These are not just interesting theories. These are real programs being used right now by real bar applicants. You don't have to invent the wheel -- the wheel is right there. I'm sure LPP and CPLED would be more than happy to speak with you about their insights and models.
Forget bar exams (in-person or online) and diploma privilege. Give bar applicants the training, tools, skills, and practical knowledge they need to serve clients, run legal businesses, and manage their lives. All it takes is the determination to say, "Enough. Time to change."
American friends in legal education and bar admission: You can decide today to make that change. You can save future generations of aspiring lawyers from the nightmare that the Class of 2020 is enduring. You have the opportunity, right now. //
