From Roll on Friday 08/06/12:
Michael Todd QC, chairman of the Bar Council, claimed on Wednesday that over-recruitment of students wasn't doing the profession, the students or social mobility any favours. Todd said it was a "great concern" that law schools were pumping out a hefty oversupply of grads with "no realistic prospect of pupillage". And he worried about those chucking £16,000 at a qualification which, for those who fail to obtain pupillage, adds little to employability.
Shhhh! Shhhh!
Michael, just because something’s painfully true and glaringly obvious, doesn’t mean it should be said out loud. Yes, there is a massive disparity between the number of students studying on the BVC (ahem) BPTC and LPC compared to the number of pupillages and training contracts available. Oh my GENTLE JESUS – are lawyers a dying breed?
But why the sudden fuss? We’ve had this sorry state of affairs for years and years now. Surely law schools haven’t suddenly grown a conscience overnight?
What happened to the ol’ chestnuts, “it’s a worthwhile qualification in its own right” or “the experience will prove invaluable regardless of your future career (if any)”. Can’t they be dragged out and polished up a bit?
Plus, can’t we just accept that students study law for a variety of reasons (however misguided some might be) and that qualifying as a solicitor or barrister might never be on the agenda of many? There are plenty of warnings out there now. If students are still going ahead and enrolling, maybe they just damn well want to.
Or perhaps it is because homo sapiens is a stupid creature that will not cease pursuing a course of action even after it has long become futile. One only has to look at the state of the environment to see an example...
ReplyDeleteYep... or that! ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cowgirl! I do try and publish half-decent content every now and then! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'd spoil you all if I did it all the time tho'! And we don't want that... :p
As I wrote about recently ... we need to remember that these college of law need to make money (even though the College of Law is a registered charity). If they refused students it would be like a restaurant closing its doors in the middle of the dinner rush.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment these students have the right to decide whether to take the LPC or not; they're not being forced!