THE FUTURE OF LEGAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
BEING TEXT OF PRESENTATION MADE ON 25TH AUGUST, 2015
AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION
P R O F E S S O R O L A N R E W A J U . A . FA G B O H U N P H . D
C H I K E I D I G B E D I S T I N G U I S H E D P R O F E S S O R O F L A W & D I R E C T O R O F R E S E A R C H
N I G E R I A N I N S T I T U T E O F A D V A N C E D L E G A L S T U D I E SU N I V E R S I T Y O F L A G O S C A M P U S
A K O K A , L A G O S , N I G E R I A
F A G B O H U N @ E L R I - N G . O R G
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INTRODUCTORY REMARKS• Strident criticisms/call for reform of legal education:
- Leading lights of the profession;- Judicial officers;- Consumers/clients;- Outside constituencies;
• They all cannot be wrong – there is a “disconnect” and/or “gap”, thus, the clamour and the drumbeat of change;
• Drivers of the call for reform:- Unease with competence of a number of new wigs;- Globalization has internationalized the dynamics of the legal market
(meaningful transactions… global production systems);- Concern with the disproportion of new wigs vis-à-vis recognised job opportunities.
• The backlash from new wigs… “what have you done for me lately?”
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UNDERSTANDING THE CRITICISMS /CALL FOR REFORM
• Criticism of the Langdellian method of Socratic teaching as lacking practical training;
• Not sufficient to equip new wigs to make valuable contributions/meet the demands of a globalized legal market;
• Its about both pedagogical format and content ???
My thesis: beyond reviewing the deficiencies of current pedagogical format and content, there is a need for effective regulation of the legal education institutions.
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FOR SURE… THE LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED
• Increasing demands by clients for greater efficiency/precision in delivery of legal services;
• Increasing influence of technology on legal practice;
• Growth of alternatives to traditional litigation, and changes in court connected dispute resolution processes;
• Substantial unbundling of legal services [Decomposition: Litigation/Transactions];
• Increasing competition from non-lawyers;
• Globalizations of the law and legal practice… [complex legal work… greater competition]
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WHAT KNOWLEDGE BASE? WHAT SKILL SET?
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Synthetic
Knowledge
Collaborative
skill
“provide more-
for-less”
Ethics
“Integrity is all
you got…”
Communicati
on Skill In-depth
Specializati
on
Risk
Taking
Interactive
skill
Critical
thinking &
reasoning
Transcend
Geographical
Boundaries on
Best Practic
es
…Innovative, yet, affordable legal services
Confidence
& Passion
ACCEPTING THE BASICS• No law school can possibly provide a graduate with everything about being a
lawyer or surviving legal practice;- Not a chance!!! [… sprinboard/torch with which to find path]
• Legal profession is not necession-proof;
• 5,588 (Re-sit and Regular Students) sat for the 2015 Bar Examination, 1,805 failed… that’s only half the story;
• Serious crisis at the Primary and Secondary School levels- Last SSCE examination, 61% failed English and Mathematics;- Improvement on previous year when over 70% failed;
• Not a story to make you excited… product of several complex causes;
• Juxtapose with the “begging culture” and “abuse of discretion syndrome”
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BROAD GOALS OF NIGERIA LEGAL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
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Law Faculties Nigerian Law School
• Teaching of legal doctrine/analysis capable of providing basis for students to: - communicate substantive knowledge, - clarify legal problem into its
appropriate niche, and - know where to find the law (legal
research)
• Focus on procedural law; professional skills of communicating with client, negotiations; deepen problem solving skills; interviewing, counseling;
• Introduce them to the rubric of lawyering, leading to acting with responsibility for clients???
• Deepen the rubric of lawyering;- The soft skills of efficiency good
response time, client-friendly strategies???
• Identify values and dispositions consonant with the fundamental purpose of the legal profession???- Appearance, conduct etc ( in and
out of court)
• Play out those values and dispositions consonant with the fundamental purposes of the legal profession.- Appearance, Conduct etc (in
and out of court)
CURRENT FRAMEWORK OF DELIVERY
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Law Faculties Nigerian Law School
• Lecture and Tutorials. (Integration of theory with experiential learning).
• Problem based learning
• Reading materials ahead of time. • Case studies
• Moot court (Student Chambers). • Simulations (Moot Court)
• Well equipped legal research library.
• Well equipped legal research library.
• Public Lectures (by Distinguised Practitioners).
• Collaborative learning.
• Student organised Law Dinners. • Formal Law Dinners.
• Seminar presentations (more at the postgraduate level).
• Work integrated learning through placement or practicum.
TODAY’S NARRATIVE… LEARNING PROCESS DIMINISHED
• Recruitment – Admission process mismatch:- Incompetent Lecturers… Ill-equipped students…;
• Unfaithfulness to lecture contact hours;
• Tutorials are dead… [engine room of critical thinking, problem solving & interactive skills];
• Learning have failed to embrace technology [resistance to change];
e-Learning i-Tutorials (interactive, multi-media tools)
• Proliferation of Universities… dearth of qualified law trainers.
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VITAL DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL REFORMS• Standardized review of content from time to time:
- Infusion of ethics into University Curriculum from early stages.
- Emphasis is still on adversarial training to the neglect of emerging fields [ADR, non-adjudicatory transactional & facilitative dimensions]
- Insights on career path development [New Skills and Discipline];
• Embrace of technology in teaching innovations; Digital Library Solutions.
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Contract
adminis-
trator
Legal manage-
ment consul-tant
Legal Risk
Manager
Legal Project Manage
r
Legal Technolo
gist – Engineer
Legal Proce
ss Analy
st
Professional
Counseling
Negotiation and Conflict Resoluti
on
Law Firm
Manager
VITAL DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL REFORMS…
• Establishment of Governance/Regulatory Mechanism:- Mandate institutions to have implementable Internal Operational/Governance
Process Plan (that can be audited on regular basis);- Operational/Governance Process Plan must be clear on things like:
recruitment criteria; admission criteria; curriculum compliance; library facilities; faithfulness to approved pedagogical format etc;
- Annual Compliance Report by legal education institutions in a prescribed format;
- Regular Audit/Anonymous student feedback mechanism/Informal visitation.
• Mandatory continuing legal education for Faculty members/Practitioners in emerging fields;
• Create opportunities for affordable advanced studies in specialized areas [carve a niche…];
• Orientate younger colleagues on the importance of “Law Firm Pupillage” [deepen knowledge; structuring ;skills that brand].
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CONCLUSION• If the Universities complement the Law School as they should… our
legal education institutions will deliver on:
- Construction/application of knowledge that adds value;
- Desired social impact training (pro-bono/access to justice); and
• Younger colleagues do not despair… Nigeria is an emerging economy -
…you must be prepared to think innovatively outside the box in order to give the best legal services to clients; and amortise the opportunities that will continue to unfold;
…Law Office/Legal services of the future : death of solo practice; Collaboration is the name of the game.
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