ROBERT VERKAIK ASKS WHETHER THE MODIFIED LEGAL PRACTICE COURSE NOW MEETS THE DEMANDS OF THE LARGE COMMERCIAL LAW FIRMSCity practices will be watching their seasonal crop of trainees even more closely this year.

They will be the first to have benefited from the modified legal practice course (LPC) which, following a Law Society review last year, has been designed to accommodate commercial law firm concerns that the course was producing lawyers fit solely for high street practice.Debrah Ball, chair of the legal education training group and director of professional development at Lovell White Durrant, says the jury is still out as to what the improvements will mean to lawyers who want to work in the City.

It is only in the last three weeks that the new intakes have joined their firms.

But the raw statistics tell at least one story: fewer students took the course last year -- 6,559 in total, down 332 on the previous year.Ms Ball says the course providers asked City firms to trust them to put the changes in place.

'The difficulty we are in now is that we have trusted them but we don't have access to the information which we would need to ascertain at this early stage whether the changes have been more apparent than real,' she says.

Her personal view is that even with the changes, the LPC trainees are inadequately prepared for City practice.

'It remains a difficult transition,' says Ms Ball, 'for people to come off the LPC and start in practice.

What is daunting is the sheer volume of information and the amount of detail they have to get to grips with.'Roger Smith, the newly installed director of legal eductio n at the Law Society, is spearheading a 'comprehensive review' of all legal education issues.

He suggests: 'If there are issues that people want to raise about the LPC, the professional skills course (PSC) or training, this is a good moment to get in touch.

But he adds: 'One of the things the Society can congratulate itself about is the success of the LPC.' And he candidly admits that it would not be 'prudent' to make any changes to the LPC until Paulene Collins, the Law Society's former chief training officer, has been replaced.

In a gamekeeper-turned-poacher switch, Ms Collins has joined the College of Law as professor and head of staff development and training.But the sort of fundamental change advocated by the Trainee Solicitors Group (TSG) -- in which the LPC would become a part-time course taken by trainees during their training contracts -- is something to which Mr Smith is opposed.The TSG argues that only if the basic structure of the LPC is changed -- so that all trainees are effectively sponsored by firms during their training contract -- will student debt be eradicated.Counters Mr Smith: 'That's a rather odd position to take.

It seems to me that students should be able to take this course full-time or part-time.

There are lots of people who can get the funding from their prospective employers and it would be outrageous to stop them.' However, he accepts that student debt is a 'major issue'.As far as the TSG is concerned, the new LPC changes -- focusing on substantive commercial law and taxation and the transfer of solicitors' accounts from the PSC to the LPC -- have been broadly welcomed.

TSG chairman Nick Armstrong says: 'We have not heard any complaints about the course.

It always seemed eminently sensible to put the solicitors' accounts back on the LPC because in the PSC you spin it out over about four months.'Nigel Savage, dean of the College of Law, maintains that the greater emphasis of business law has 'gone down well' with the firms.

He says that students' opinions of the course are less important than those of firms.

He maintains that providers must take account of what an increasingly diverse profession needs, not what appeals to students.'All our research suggests that we are not just preparing students for Linklaters, we are preparing people for ten- or 15-partner firms in the provinces and they need commercial law just as much,' says Mr Savage.However, Mr Savage has detected complaints from providers that there is too much business law contained in the new LPC.

'Some of these law schools have not come out of the dark ages and they're there just for the pleasure of the staff and the intellectual joy of teaching immigration law to four people,' he says, adding that the real world can be summarised in two words -- 'commercial and litigation'.In fact, Mr Savage would like to return to the days when the College of Law had a monopoly on educating solicitors.

'I'd like to have it back by winning it in the market place,' he says.The College of Law is now working on the 'second generation LPC'.

This, explains Mr Savage, embraces the wider use of technology.

(see below).

The college has developed CD ROMs, onto which the lectures have been integrated.

These are currently being piloted on the LPC elective on employment law in the Chester branch.

'Next year, we are extending the pilot to certain parts of business and litigation,' says Mr Savage.The College of Law has also developed a teaching 'package' of advocacy training which will help trainee lawyers take up their new rights of audience.

Says Mr Sava ge: 'The LPC is predominantly non-contentious, therefore there's a case for saying that there needs to be a little more advocacy and civil procedure in the course.' This, he suggests, could be an elective or form part of the training contract.According to Ms Ball, many firms would like to know more about how the 30 or so providers are planning to deal with these issues.

She says there is still 'serious concern' at the 'inexorable rise' in fees charged by the providers.

She claims fees have increased 11% on average this year, compared to a 6% increase last year.This raises the question as to whether City law firms which fund trainees, are getting value for money.

Again Ms Ball says it is still a case of 'wait and see'.However, Ms Ball claims: 'There are concerns about the quality of the teaching at some of the educational institutions.'She argues that it would benefit firms and trainees if the legal practice course board permitted access to its detailed reports on how providers are performing.

'There are apparently four excellent ones and the rest are good ones,' she says.

'That's all the information we or prospective trainees get.' Ms Ball adds that 'with better information, City firms could then direct their funded trainees to the most suitable providers'.Says Mr Smith: 'While there are still two dominant providers, Nottingham and the College of Law, I think the Law Society has correctly maintained a situation where there is a wide choice.'WITH THE COST OF QUALIFYING BEING A MAJOR DETERRENT TO PROSPECTIVE SOLICITORS, PAUL ROGERS LOOKS AT THE FUNDING AVAILABLERecent headlines in the national press about lawyers earning millions of pounds will have encouraged people to think about entering the solicitors' profession.But for many of those potential new recruits, the move would be a financial mistake.

While a few top partners take home thick pay packets, most have a much more modest income.

And the cost of gaining their qualifications can leave them mired in debt.'I have a friend in a bigger firm whose loans all kicked in at the same time,' says Nick Armstrong, chairman of the Trainee Solicitors Group.

'She's trying to live on £100 a month.

Another friend of mine made partner recently and has only just paid off all his loans.'The average debt on completion of the legal practice course (LPC) is £7,000, says Mr Armstrong, but that figure disguises the fact that many newly qualified lawyers are carrying debt loads of up to £20,000.The route to qualification is long and the fact that university students must now pay some tuition fees is an added burden.The tuition fees for an undergraduate law degree vary by institution.

At the University of East London, for example, they are £1,000 a year for three years plus up to £100 a year for books plus living expenses.

Some Training and Enterprise Councils will now sponsor law students and the Law Society helps about ten students a year with special needs.

However, the main source of funding is through student loans.If a prospective lawyer's first degree is not in law, they must fund themselves through the CPE, which at the College of Law costs £4,600 for 36 weeks.

Only rarely will firms cover the cost of the CPE and the main source of funding for this course is through commercial loans.All students must then take the LPC, which costs £6,400 for 36 weeks at the College of Law.

Again, the main source of funding is through commercial career development loans, which typically carry a higher interest rate and shorter repayment periods than student loans.

Set against thes e costs, the minimum wage paid to trainee solicitors pales -- £10,850 a year outside London and £12,150 in the capital.'People get the wrong idea about what they're going to be earning,' says Mr Armstrong.

'They go to their bank manager and say: "It's OK, I'm going to be a lawyer, I'm going to be rich." But the mean salary for a solicitor with several years qualification is £24,000.

And that drops if more than a quarter of the firm's business comes from legal aid or if they're a woman.'Around two thousand people gain their LPC qualification each year but are unable to find jobs.

It could be argued that the low pay and high debt loads will discourage this excess in applicants, but Mr Armstrong argues that this is a crude way to clear the market: 'Bankrupting young professionals is a severe way of teaching them a lesson in economics.'According to the Year Four Report of the Law Student Cohort Study, published by the Policy Studies Institute, only 26% of students taking the LPC had sponsorship from a law firm.

Another 38% were funded by their parents, while 32% had to take out commercial loans, although these two groups may have supplemented their funds by working between terms.

Only 3% were funded by bursaries and grants.The Law Society has a number of small funds, totalling about £30,000, left by 'the great and the good,' says Ann North, the Society's bursary administrator.

'Our current policy is that, rather than give everybody 5p, we help a few students sufficiently to make a difference -- normally about ten students, covering 50% of their costs.' Applicants have to show that they have exceptional need, above and beyond that of average students.For Mr Armstrong, the level of support available from the Society is in sharp contrast to the profit that the organisation makes from fees charged to LPC students.

Last year, he calculates, it took in about £200,000 more than the cost of administering the course.

If that money went into the bursary fund, far more aspiring lawyers could be helped.But even if that were to happen, the majority of students would still be left getting themselves into financial difficulties.The Trainee Solicitors Group, in its final submission to the training contract review group, which is scheduled to report early in 1999, argued that the LPC should be incorporated into training contracts, so that the costs would be covered by established law firms.

'It's that extra killer year,' says Mr Armstrong.

'You're looking at up to £10,000.

That knocks them over the edge.' To make matters worse, loans for taking the LPC are commercial and carry stiffer terms than the student loans available to fund undergraduate degrees.Roger Smith, director of legal education and training at the Law Society, is less sure of the wisdom of combining the LPC with the training programme: 'If the trainees were to take the course by day release it might lessen its cost, but I'd be doubtful whether the profession outside the City would be willing or able to take it over.

You might end up with a dramatic reduction in the number of trainees.' And some lawyers worry that it might hit poorer students, women and those from ethnic minority groups, who are more likely to get their training contracts with high street solicitors rather than big City firms.Other options are also available to reduce the impact of the LPC year.

The University of Northumbria runs an integrated law degree, including the LPC, but the government, realising the potential cost, pulled the curtain down on that innovation so that other institutions are not a llowed to copy it.

Another way is to qualify on a part-time basis while working in a non-professional capacity at a law firm.

'At the moment there's a low take up and I have no idea why,' says Mr Armstrong.Mr Smith says the number taking the LPC part-time is growing, although he admits it is still seen as being the second class route.

The option of levying funds from law firms for a central pot is also under consideration by the training contract review group.However, Mr Armstrong is not optimistic about getting an early solution to the problem: 'This is a cautious profession,' he notes, 'and what we're proposing is a radical change.'LEGAL EDUCATORS ARE WORKING HARD TO MAKE IT TRAINING AN INTEGRAL PART OF LEGAL PRACTICE COURSES, WRITES DAN BINDMANThat the solicitor of the 21st century will need to be highly literate in information technology (IT) is no longer a matter for conjecture.

The IT revolution has changed the landscape of legal practice forever and there will be no return to the days when pen and ink, a row of legal textbooks, and an imposing desk were all the tools you needed start a career in the law.Legal educators are under no illusions about this reality.

Most have worked hard to make IT training an integral part of law courses.

However, some of the 8,000 graduates beginning their legal practice course (LPC) this academic year can expect to fare better than others.According to the Law Society's training experts, while many LPC providers have risen to the IT challenge, others have been slower to commit the necessary resources.At a national level, there is a consensus on the importance to students of IT training.

In July 1997, the inquiry into higher education chaired by Sir Ron Dearing identified the use of IT as 'one of the four skills that are key to the future success of graduates whatever they intend to do in later life'.Legal trainers have known this for years.

Back in 1991 the British & Irish Legal Education Technology Association reported an 'increasing level of expectation' in the profession that 'law graduates must have information technology skills' both for research purposes and for 'the efficient running of the legal office'.

In a second report in 1996, the association concluded: 'The study of law can no longer be considered a "talk and chalk" discipline.

The skills associated with new technology are of such importance that proficiency in this field must now be viewed as an integral element in the education and skills development of all undergraduate and postgraduate lawyers.'The degree to which LPC providers -- 27 altogether across 31 education centres -- have taken this advice varies greatly, says the Law Society's chief training officer Paul Bradbury, who is soon to leave the Society to set up a training consultancy.Although, in general, the use of IT in the LPC has 'improved considerably' in recent years, there is 'much scope for development' and 'an enormous amount of work to be done', Mr Bradbury says.

In his annual report on the LPC, currently being prepared, Mr Bradbury will include the following conclusion regarding IT provision: 'There remains a wide disparity between the quality of experience gained by students on different courses.' One explanation for slow IT development, Mr Bradbury suggests, has been the revamping of the LPC over the past year.

At some colleges, work on improving IT took a back seat whilethey adapted courses to the new specification, he says.However, some LPC providers have neglected to give priority to IT training because they doubt its usefulness to stud ents, says Mr Bradbury: 'There is still a reluctance on the part of some providers because they say: "When they [LPC graduates] start working at their firms, they will be using different [computer] systems."' The argument is short-sighted, he says, because learning basic IT skills brings lasting benefits to graduates: 'We are training them to practise for the next 20 to 30 years, not just for the short-term.' The difference in the level of IT training given by the best LPC providers -- such as those which provide easy access to a range of electronic legal resources and to the Internet -- and the rest is striking, says Mr Bradbury.

It is often the larger providers who are lagging behind their smaller counterparts, he observes.One measure of how seriously a teaching institution takes IT training is the ratio of students to computers.

The Dearing report recommends that by 2000/2001 all students should have open access to a networked computer and by 2005/2006 all students should have their own portable computer.The Law Society has actively encouraged LPC providers to aspire to a ten students to one computer ratio, but has stopped short of insisting on it, says Mr Bradbury.

He points out that, as a measure of commitment to IT, a good ratio is only meaningful if the computers are well equipped with the right software and if the hardware is well used.Some LPC providers have bettered the Society's hardware target.

In Cardiff, for example, just five students share one computer.

The College of Law (CoL), the leading LPC provider, says it has a ratio of 10:1, down from about 12:1 in 1997.According to Nick Galt, the CoL's IT manager, the college's computers are 'used heavily for research', with students enjoying access to key CD-ROM based and on-line resources.

The CoL -- which has an annual IT budget of around £750,000 -- also hopes to make Internet access widely available to students by the end of this year, although Mr Galt was quick to admit that there are 'often delays' in IT projects.Another ongoing project involves enabling students, particularly part-time LPC students, to access the college's network from home, which is currently ruled out because of network security concerns, says Mr Galt.Meanwhile, the CoL has developed a unique 'virtual' lecture book on CD-ROM, aimed at LPC students.

The disk combines lectures in text and audio/visual format that draws on material from Legal Network Television (LNTV) programme footage.

At its launch, CoL chief executive Nigel Savage described the product as a 'revolutionary training concept'.One of the objectives underlying the CoL's self-study lecture book, according to its developer, LNTV director Peter Reekie, is that it will help to free up classroom space required by conventional lectures.

However, he insists that 'no more than a third of lecture teaching will be delivered in this form' and that it would merely augment traditional teaching methods.Mr Reekie's caution is echoed by law academics Stephen Migdal, of the University of the West of England, and Martin Cartwright, of Wolverhampton University.

At a recent British & Irish Legal Education Technology Association conference, they warned: 'Computers cannot recreate the teacher/student learning experience of campus-based students.'DAN HAYES TALKS TO STUDENTS STARTING OUT ON THIS YEAR'S LEGAL PRACTICE COURSE ABOUT THEIR ASPIRATIONS AND MOTIVATIONSFew feelings can be worse than the realisation that thousands of pounds have been invested in something that could turn out to be worthless.

This is not simply a philosophical musing about the state of Asia's stock markets or the merits of having a punt on the 2.30pm at Newmarket.

It may be a plausible worst-case scenario for hundreds of students currently in the first few weeks of their legal practice course (LPC).Of course, many others will be sleeping more soundly in their beds knowing they have already secured a training contract and sponsorship.Gemma Lippiat, who is studying at Nottingham Trent University's Law School having been signed up by City firm Wilde Sapte, says: 'It was a great weight off my mind to secure a training contract.'And her colleague Sarah Branton, who is destined for City counterpart Norton Rose, adds: 'Without a training contract, I would not be here.

After four years at university, I have a student loan and an overdraft to pay off and I think it would be terrifying to begin a professional career £15,000 in debt.'This feeling is echoed by Wayne Nash, who is doing the LPC at Chester Law School and has a training contract with Stoke-based Kent Jones Done.

'I was conscientious about making sure I had something to go on to,' he says and adds that his level of post-university debt was one of his prime motivations for this.

But, he adds, not every student is as single-minded.

'In my experience, some of the people without training contracts do not seem to have a great sense of urgency,' he says.

'To be honest, I cannot understand why not.

I think people have the idea that something is just going to come up.'Maybe fears of missing out are offset by the lucrative rewards of success.

Ehasam Mitra, who is studying at the College of Law in London before taking up a training contract at City firm Linklaters, says: 'I think the financial rewards are important to most people because you have to dedicate four years of academic study followed by two years training during which time you are not earning much.' While most students probably agree with these sentiments, few point to money as a prime motivation for a career in the law.

Alexander Jenkins, also at the College of Law in London, says: 'Remuneration is probably quite important because you are dedicating a lot of time to your profession,' but, he adds that holding a respected place in the community is also important to him, as is working in an area he finds stimulating.Mr Jenkins has a training contract with London-based Holman Fenwick & Willan and much of his motivation comes from the work he is likely to be doing when he joins the firm.

'I think that my mind is turned on by re-insurance and shipping law,' he says.

'I find the issues involved fascinating.' Mr Jenkins was also impressed by time he spent in work experience at a law firm -- a motivational experience listed by many LPC students.Says Ms Branton: 'The people I met who were working in the profession really fired my interest.

They were extremely inspirational and there was a dynamic atmosphere about them.

Everybody had so much enthusiasm for what they were doing.' Mr Nash agrees: 'I was always interested in the law, then when I went on a work placement I saw a extremely intellectually stimulating environment.

I had worked in dead-end temporary jobs and I know how frustrating they are.

I want to be working in something where I can stretch myself.'Motivations also depend on the type of firm to which the students will be going.

Saleem Somjee, who is studying at the College of Law in London and has a training contract lined up with Tonbridge high-street firm Berry & Berry, says: 'I am looking forward to working more personally with clients than I might in a larger pra ctice.' He adds that the environment of a smaller firm may also help him develop legal skills quicker.At the other end of the spectrum, Ms Lippiat points to the attractions of a career in one of the big City firms: 'I think it provides a range of opportunities that you don't have in high street practices -- such as international and European work.'But what about using the law to force change and help others? Bob White, LPC course director at Nottingham Law School, says this provides motivation for certain individuals: 'Some students are idealistic and want to change the world.

Anyone who is 21 has those kinds of ideas.

I think it is legitimate at that age.

We have some students with high-class degrees from good-quality universities who are not sponsored, are paying their own way and intend to find places with the more radical firms during the course of the year.

I have a lot of respect for them.'It seems such people may be in a minority.

Says Mr Nash: 'I do not think there is much ideological motivation around.

I am not sure anyone sees the law as a means of bringing about drastic change.' Other students go farther -- using words such as 'naive' to describe such ideas.

But wherever a student's particular area of interest and motivation lies, the LPC itself and the attitude of both tutors and sponsoring firms, seem to win general approval.Monica Macheng, who is taking the tough route of a part-time LPC at Nottingham combined with a full-time job as a case-worker at the Law Society, says: 'The tuition has been excellent, although I would have to say that doing the course as well as the job means you have to be able to absorb a lot of information.' She adds that most of her course colleagues are working in the law in some capacity.

The knowledge of the profession that they already have makes all the difference between a tolerable and an excessive workload.And her full-time counterparts agree that the LPC is difficult.

Says Ms Branton: 'It does not feel like the last year as a student but like the first year as a professional.

At university, you can apply the same methods of working and research to all the subjects you do; you can use a formula, the LPC is a bit more of an unknown.'But workload does not seem to be a cause for complaint.

Mr Somjee says: 'I love the course, it is extremely practical and hands on, and we are given very direct material.' Mr Jenkins agrees: 'I am enjoying it.It appears that the tutors' first priority is the students which is different to what I experienced at university where we seemed to come second to the staff's own academic work.' And confidence in tuition means most students, even those without a training contract, do not seem to fear that worst-case scenario.

Says one: 'Obviously failing to secure a training contract is a fear, but I am not really worried.

I am sending out applications every week.

We get a lot of help from the staff here and I am hopeful that I will have something lined up pretty soon.

If not at least I'll be free to concentrate on my exams.'