Various Kinds of Diplomas in Legal Practice

The Diploma aims to build on the knowledge and skills acquired in the law degree. There are seven compulsory subjects and one option. The current compulsory subjects are accountancy, conveyancing, civil court practice, criminal court practice, finance taxation & investment, professional responsibility, wills trusts and executries and a choice of either formation & management of companies or public administration. Applications for the Diploma have to be submitted to the university where you are taking your degree by the end of February in each year. You can choose to study the Diploma at any university-it does not have to be the one from which you graduated. Once the applicants' degree results are known, the limited number of funded places is allocated, primarily on the basis of academic merit. At present there are around 300 funded places for a total student body which averages around 560. The figure of 300 was selected in the early 1990s on the basis of estimates made by the Law Society of Scotland of the number of trainees actually being offered places in law firms each year. There is no doubt that the number of students completing the Diploma in Legal Practice is higher than those entering training contracts, and accordingly each year there are a significant number of disappointed students. Recent estimates suggest though that there are more than 300 trainees being offered training places every year. The number appears to be closer to 330.

The future of funded places is uncertain. The Government is currently conducting a review of postgraduate education and there are fears that the funding of any places on the Diploma in Legal Practice course may cease. At present, students who receive funding are still means-tested, and even if awarded a grant, may only receive funding for fees and not maintenance. Most students find that they have to supplement their income to pay for their fees. Some find part-time work even while they are undertaking the full-time Diploma course, and some take out a career development loan which is funded through the major clearing banks and is a scheme operated in conjunction with the Department of Education and Employment.

Proposals for change

The consultation process which has resulted from the review of the Diploma has demonstrated that the single most important change which solicitors, trainees and universities wish to see is a further shift in emphasis from the teaching of substantive law to that of skills teaching. Employers of trainees (known as diplomats at the stage they emerge from university) and the diplomats themselves have sometimes complained that the training which the Diploma in Legal Practice gives them at university does not equip them as well as they would like for their entry to office life. While that is a feeling that those who deliver the Diploma at universities have had for many years, their hands have been tied in the way in which they can introduce changes to the Diploma, as the design and content have been prescribed by the Law Society of Scotland acting in conjunction with the Faculty of Advocates.

The universities, far from resisting change, are anxious to promote it. In recent years many teaching innovations have been introduced to the LL.B. and there is a wish to ensure that these innovations and new developments are extended to the Diploma. It is to be hoped that the new model Diploma will accommodate the criticisms of both the profession and the universities of the existing Diploma, and better equip graduates with practical legal skills.

The objectives of the new model Diploma are to be achieved by a reorganization of the material taught on the Diploma to ensure the focus is on skills, and a restructuring of the delivery of the course to facilitate and maximize the learning experience for the student. Some of the subjects currently taught as discrete courses such as accountancy and taxation are to be dispersed throughout the other courses and embedded within subjects which are being differently categorized. For example, aspects of taxation will be taught in regard to how they affect estate planning for private individuals and corporate liabilities of companies.

As far as the restructuring of the course is concerned, the main proposal is for there to be an initial four and a half month period of teaching at the universities, followed by a period of at least nine months in-office, concluding with a return to university for a block release of four weeks. This block release will be known as the Professional Competence Course (PCC). There is still some uncertainty within the profession about the workability of these proposals. The new Diploma will not be a proper "sandwich" course in the format followed by some professions such as the accountancy profession. To be effective, a sandwich course requires a much greater period of time back at the teaching institution than the four weeks currently proposed for the Diploma. Instead, that four-week period will be used to focus on the basic competencies which a trainee solicitor ought to have. The Professional Competence Course is intended to be offered at the four law schools delivering the first part of the Diploma, the core Diploma, and will likely run between May and September each year. It is intended that the course would run at least twice in Scotland each year giving trainees and their employers a certain flexibility and choice of timing and location.

The four week PCC will need to take account of the differing stages and experiences of the trainees who come on the course and this is anticipated to be one of the key challenges that will face the providers of the PCC. Some trainees will come from a background where they have perhaps concentrated on one area specifically, such as domestic conveyancing or commercial leasing. Some will come from a background where they have concentrated on criminal legal aid or the work of a local authority.

One other important consideration is the linkage between the PCC and a new Test of Professional Competence (TPC) also to be introduced at the conclusion of the Diploma review. This test is likely to be a formal written exam, though there is some discussion about designing a test that can also assess skills. Clearly, to make sense, the TPC will have to reflect the knowledge and skills emphasized in the delivery of the Professional Competence Course. Trainees taking the TPC will have a limited choice of options. They will not be tested on specialist areas in which they have not been trained. There will, however, be a compulsory element relating to professional ethical conduct. There must be successful completion of the TPC before a trainee can be considered for admission to the Law Society of Scotland. It is likely that there will be at least one and possibly more opportunities to resist the test in the event of an initial failure.

These are the latest proposals as at going to press but they may well be amended as the review process is concluded, and readers who wish to be sure of the current position are encouraged to contact the Law Society of Scotland or the universities. While the final outcome of the review process is uncertain, the momentum for change to the content and structure of the Diploma is definitely unstoppable and ought to result in greater emphasis in skills teaching. There are three reasons for this momentum. First, it would be foolish for the legal profession to remain out of step with the international trend in professional training and education which is recognizing the need to produce graduates with a high level of skills capability. Secondly, employers are increasingly demanding graduates who can "hit the ground running", and in a tightly competitive job market those able to demonstrate skills as well as basic knowledge and understanding will have the edge. Thirdly, as degree teaching itself becomes more finely tuned and focused on skills, it would be retrograde for the vocational component of the training to cling to traditional methods and turn away from innovative teaching initiatives. Graduates' expectations have already been raised by their experiences during their degree programs and it would not be acceptable for Diploma teaching to fail to move with the times.