‘Tell me what you want, what you really, really want’: spicing up legal education in Scotland

In 1999 the Law Society of Scotland was concerned that the existing assessment of trainee solicitors might not be sufficiently rigorous to ensure that all those completing the academic, vocational and trainee stages were fit to practise and commissioned an investigation into possible alternative additional measures to assess competence. After much deliberation over alternative assessments a Test of Professional Competence was devised but after running a pilot and receiving detailed feedback it was decided not to procced with the test at that time. In 2006 the Law Society of Scotland launched its biggest ever consultation exercise on the training and standards in the profession. Over a three month period the profession, students, and the general public were invited to comment on a range of suggestions which amounted to a root and branch review. Over 15,000 invitations to contribute were sent out and there was a huge amount of information contained in the responses which were analysed and fed into a working party. This paper discusses the implications of the consultation exercises both in terms of their possible impact on the shape and direction of training tomorrow’s solicitors and also how the Law Society addresses the competing views of the different stake holders.