Necessary Requirements for Training of Experienced Lawyers and Strategic Lawyering

1. Abstract

The concept of lawyering is not a new method to help people in order to navigate legal systems evolving their life. A professional team is dedicated to providing them with excellent and legal advice and even helping them through complex transactions and difficult times. Therefore, they are responsible to ensure that any clients that come through their door receive the best advice and guidance when they are facing a difficult and complex process bothering them. It has been clarified by lawyers and academics that it is vital to plan a more realistic law practice training. This is an actual need requested by people as well. The ABA’s MacCrate Report, for example, challenged law schools and bar associations to develop a core curriculum to better train lawyers in the fundamental skills of lawyering.[1] Hence, a lawyering skills program at law faculties focuses on precisely mentioned attitude. Its ingredients are a carefully designed, skill-based curriculum, a strong partnership between the law school and the practicing bar. It also excuses this manner to achieve predefined targets and cooperate with a collaborated group of upper-level law students or lawyers who are motivated to learn whatever law practice dictating them. It is really more like than what is needed necessarily to succeed in practice.

1. Course Information & Background

In a distinguishing view, the knowledge of law is differently categorized from lawyering. Consequently, a lawyering skill course is planned in an upper-level and a long program integrating whatever students and lawyers have learned throughout law school with the core skills needed for practically effective law practice. It emphasizes the skills needed in the early years of practice. As a result, the lawyering skills course is truly law in action. Undoubtedly, a comprehensive course has been taught by practitioners. In addition, a lawyering skill course obviously unfolds and brilliantly presents the day-to-day work of practicing lawyers. Legal literature review points out that it is obvious that such a course is a serious part of Wisconsin’s law school curriculum since 1948.[2] It may be the first discovered attitude to define a new innovation that was proposed to serve people legally and better. The main target and discoverable mission are to develop a skills-based course containing instructions and concepts providing students and under training lawyers the opportunity to practice and learn fundamental lawyering skills.

1. Objectives

At the conclusion of courses, students should be able to demonstrate skills and techniques including client interviewing and counseling, drafting, negotiating, participating in mediation, planning and processing case files. It also includes problem-solving, organizing and managing legal work and networking. In addition to the skills and techniques that are essential to law practice, students should also learn to recognize and respond to basic, recurring issues in multiple areas of law. Of course, a successful lawyer needs to work in a confidently approach about their legal matters or client issues. They should communicate professionally and collegially with other classmates and practicing lawyers. A succinct approach should meet lawyers’ requirements to seek, receive, and participate in a process professional feedback. No one can overlook their skills about approach practice and ethical issues assisting them directly and successfully. Also, a reliable access for practice resources, preparation of a list of professional contacts to use in the early years of practice and the ability of making realistic decisions about law as a career are fundamental for lawyers to work professionally.

1. D) Curriculum

 A unique feature of the lawyering skills course can be categorized by the broad scope of legal practice areas covered in a single semester. Students and lawyers will enjoy a serious opportunity teaching them some practical conducts including a variety of substantive legal areas that lawyers currently are working in those areas. Some students as well as lawyers will be engaged by the sort of exposure to different practice areas helping them to crystalize necessary processes resulting in whatever they want to take their own legal career. As mentioned by Wisconsin[3], lawyering skills curriculum focuses on the following nine distinct practice areas:

1. Local Government Proceedings;
2. Criminal Proceedings;
3. Residential Real Estate Transactions;
4. Divorce Proceedings;
5. Representing the Small Business Client;
6. Landlord-Tenant Proceedings;
7. Estate Planning & Probate;
8. Preparing a Case for Civil Trial;
9. Managing the Early Years of Practice.

Additionally, practical workshops about the lawyering skills are proposed by academics. These may vary from year-to-year, while they generally deal with client counseling and interviewing, negotiations, practice resources, time management, and lifetime learning.

1. E) Learning by Doing

A practice real-world lawyering skill should include written assignments and simulated role playing. Assignments are mentioned as a method to help students to learn about how to identify and evaluate a client’s legal problem, devise workable solutions, and translate solutions into action on behalf of their clients. Courses have been designed for students and under training lawyers as well as paralegals to prepare them in order to draft a portion of a will, write a client letter, negotiate a marital settlement agreement, or even interview a client. Of course, they should be skilled to review written assignments and provide next-day written feedback. Therefore, they will be ready to receive a quick and meaningful evaluation about their written work. Moreover, they obtain a preparation for guidance and instruction. It is a fantastic strategy to teach them to work professionally in order to serve as role models for their coworkers and paralegals who are proposed to practice law as a career.

1. F) Conclusion

The lawyering skills course is unique in how practicing lawyers participate in teaching the course. Bar associations are advised to involve a course focusing on mentoring and training younger lawyers. Consequently, many skilled, experienced, and enthusiastic lawyers are available and willing to teach the course. Many lawyers have taught the course several times. However, a continuing effort is made to identify and recruit new teachers. Each part of the course is usually taught by a combination of lawyers, judges and new teachers as an interwoven group. This is a new industry serving people as well as lawyers to live better and work more successfully.

References

[1] – Jonathan Rose, The MacCrate Report’s Restatement of Legal Education: The Need for Reflection and Horse Sense, Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 44, No. 4 (December 1994), pp. 548-565 (18 pages), Published By: Association of American Law Schools.

[2] – Wisconsin. State Aeronautics Commission, Annual Report of the Wisconsin State Aeronautics Commission, The Commission, 1956, the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Oct 29, 2010, p.31.

[3] – Ibid., p.31.