The Liberal, the Vocational and Legal Education: A Legal History Review - from Blackstone to a Law Degree (1972). Law Teacher. 54:2, 2020, 285-299.
The recent debate concerning changes in the examination for entry to the solicitors’ profession have seen the law schools present themselves as being in a vulnerable position- victims of a controlling and regulatory legal profession. The debate has also revived concern about the dichotomy between teaching law as a liberal arts subject and teaching law as vocational training. This legal history review provides a snapshot of the discourses concerning academic legal education, what was perceived as desirable and whether this was achieved in practice. This review teaches us that academia has had greater power and control over the nature and role of legal education than it ever really wanted.
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