Does academic success create good lawyers?

Students agonise over whether a First (or a 2:1) from a non-Russell Group university can match a 2:1 from a Russell Group university. This is evident from threads on a number of online careers sites and has the hallmarks of a bizarre game of academic poker. (Presumably the royal flush is a star first from Oxbridge.)

When I look back on my 11 years in practice, I can recall more than a handful of eminently skilled lawyers who left university with a 2:2 or worse. Those lawyers had what law firms cherish: commercial acumen. I continue to have conversations with colleagues in practice who bemoan the lack of any common sense or commercial awareness in their carefully selected Russell Group graduates. Some firms have lost all confidence in the training process (and its related cost) and plan to train school leavers to do specific tasks. Others have given up all together and rely on other firms to do the training for them.

To what extent are stellar academics necessary for a successful career in law? The consensus among recruiters is that strong academics do not necessarily create good lawyers. I have designed and delivered courses for newly qualified lawyers who have struggled to comprehend how their legal knowledge alone will not solve the client's problem. They have lacked the ability to see the problem from the client's point of view.

Soft skills

There is an increasing focus on employability skills. McDonald's UK estimates that 'soft skills' are worth £88bn and that many employees fail to make good progress due to a lack of these skills. This is reflected in the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR), which identified skills gaps in commercial awareness, legal research, writing, and drafting. The LETR acknowledged the importance of the qualifying law degree (QLD) as a foundation in professional training, but to what extent does the QLD enable students to develop key soft skills (communication skills, problem solving, critical thinking, and active listening)?

Nottingham Law School has risen to the employability challenge by embedding skills within the foundation modules. These include mooting, legal analysis, case analysis, problem solving, report writing, negotiation, and professional advice. In addition, commercial law is a compulsory module for all our students. Our law with business and business law courses enable students to develop their commercial awareness.

Employability is a continual thread running through personal tutorials, and we are seeking to provide more opportunity for placements beyond our well-respected 'sandwich' course. Students can hone their skills via a variety of pro bono activities, including the Legal Advice clinic, Streetlaw, the Free Representation Unit (the only one outside London), the Innocence Project, and a range of other voluntary organisations.

Path to professional practice

We have also introduced an innovative skills-based module into our offering in the final year: path to professional practice (PPP). To a student this looks like a deceptively easy module (and a good way to avoid a dissertation), but then we introduce them to the concept of commercial awareness and challenge their understanding of the legal marketplace. We present them with a typical 'in-tray' exercise and challenge their pre-conceived notions of providing advice to a client. We show them that the key part of any interview is listening. We demonstrate how to critically evaluate a set of facts in order to plan a negotiation, including drawing inferences. We watch as they struggle to translate their academic knowledge of law into the plain English that a client would understand. Finally, we introduce the concept of consistency and use of precedents in drafting.

The thread that runs through PPP is solicitor-tutors engaging students to reflect on their own skills. Law students place little value on non-law work experience, and yet it is in the retail and leisure industries that soft skills are developed. It is those skills which enable graduates to understand the client-centred approach required in order to become a truly great lawyer.

Helen Avis is a solicitor and senior lecturer at Nottingham Law School. Helen co-leads the path to professional practice module