The Law Society has called for law degrees to include a greater focus on ethics and for a more robust system of ensuring the quality of institutions which provide legal education and training.

This follows the joint review of legal services education and training announced this week by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board and Institute of Legal Executives.

Chancery Lane welcomed the emphasis placed by the regulators on the need to ensure the ethical standards of those delivering legal services in the post-Legal Services Act market, but said teaching on ethics to would-be lawyers should also be strengthened.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said: ‘The legal services market is changing and the challenge for the solicitors’ profession is to secure its standards in the face of these changes.

‘The Law Society sees a robust education and training system as an essential tool to meet this challenge. Any assessment of legal education and training needs to ask the question "What does it mean to be a solicitor in the post-Legal Services Act environment?" The system must be sufficiently robust to support solicitors working in this new market.’

Hudson added that the review must take into account the need to ensure social mobility and diversity, and said he was pleased that the regulators recognised the importance of looking at legal education as a whole, rather than taking a piecemeal approach.