Canadian Lawyer 4Students

12 s p r i n g 2 0 1 4 C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4 s t u d e n t s S tudents enrolled in Lakehead University's new law program will be able to practise law aer completing just three years of law school. No need to article for a year or complete On- tario's experimental law practice programs. Lakehead's program was approved by the Law Society of Up- per Canada at the same time as the new LPP, but Lakehead Law Faculty dean Lee Steusser says its integrated practice curriculum was already headed in that direction before the law society's mark of approval. "is is something that for probably 20 years or more people have been saying, 'Look, we should be doing this — we should be integrating skills with legal education,'" says Steusser. "All that we've said is, 'Yeah, we agree with that, and you know what, we can do it.' Would we be doing this even if we didn't get the accreditation from the law society? e answer is, yes, we would." ere has long been discussion that legal edu- cation needs to be reformed, but slow to respond to the debate have been the bodies regulating law- yers, says Harry Arthurs, former Osgoode Hall Law School dean and former LSUC bencher. "I think they're completely on the wrong track, actu- ally," says Arthurs. "In fact, I don't think they know what track they're on." While provincial law societies are not direct- ly involved in law school curriculums, they are tasked with making sure applicants for admission to the bar have the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the tasks essential for the competent prac- tise of law. Law societies lack the information they ought to have and do not engage in informed speculation about where events are taking the profession, says Arthurs. By ZacHary PederSen The evoluTion legal education of everyone knows law schools have to change to meet the new requirements of the legal profession — but what changes are needed and are they happening too slowly? SéBaStien tHiBault

• Cover