The Future of Legal Education: Do Law Schools Have the Right to Be Conservative?

Abstract

This article explores how emerging technologies should shape legal studies, recognizing that the new technological era requires a new generation of tech-savvy lawyers who possess specific technology-related skills and knowledge. The article builds on analysis of the future of work through the lens of the International Labor Organization Centenary Declaration, followed by an analysis of the right to education, leading to the formation of a theoretical justification of the legal duty to adapt the legal education curriculum to a technology-driven future. This article exposes the existing state of the legal education curriculum with a systematic analysis of the existing Law & Tech master’s programs at leading universities worldwide. This research demonstrates that relatively few (9.8%) leading world universities offer specialized Law & Tech master’s programs. This clear underdevelopment of the Law & Tech curriculum suggests that deeply embedded conservatism in legal education might be violating the rights of future lawyers – the right to work and the right to education, in particular.

Master's Degree in Law - Per Aspera Ad Astra Baltic Approach

“…At the same time, it the opportunity for some citizens to gain a wider profile legal education, which includes the competencies required for civil service. Some Lithuanian authors defined this approach to legal studies as "conservative and traditional", emphasising that it has been "criticized for its inherent inability to recognize the need for a broader range of skills and competences necessary for a modern legal professional" (Pasvenskiene, Astromskis, 2020). While agreeing that the Constitutional court is legitimized to define the necessary qualification level of lawyers in order to ensure quality standards of the functioning of the state organs.…”

The Spirit of Modern Academic Legal Education: Towards Governing Principles

“…Doctrine is key but doctrine should not be the only thing. For instance, there is clearly great need to prepare our law graduates and curriculum to a technology driven future (Pasvenskienė and Astromskis, 2020). This can be achieved by adopting a more flexible type of teaching and learning strategies in legal education, such strategies being ones that would enable and offer interdisciplinary understandings of the law amongst other things.…”