Thoughts from a Law Lecturer - Caroline

About Caroline…

A university Lecturer of Law, Caroline qualified as a solicitor and practised law with a range of law firms before pursuing her passion for teaching. Caroline is able to draw on her extensive legal experience along with her TEfL training in her legal English lessons. She has acted as a mentor for new lawyers, and in her previous role as President of the Sheffield Junior Lawyers Division, worked to support graduates entering the profession. Here, Caroline shares with us her insights in to the profession, the key challenges faced by lawyers and law students alike along with her advice.

Can you tell us about what led you to teaching?

I spent many years working across law firms building up experience, but always had a passion for teaching. I had acted as a mentor to others in the legal profession, and through being President of the Junior Lawyers Division, found that I really enjoyed supporting new lawyers in their career. I had experience of some teaching previously (my parents were also both teachers - so it may be in the family!), and also had a TEfL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate, so it felt a very natural move for me. I then moved in to my role as a lecturer of law, and found that I really enjoyed it from the very start. Being able to have experience across the industry which I’ve built up over many years, and using that to support students with their learning has been really rewarding.

What have been the highlights of your legal career?

Qualifying! It took 7 years in total - I graduated with a Bachelors in History, took a conversion course, followed by a 2-year training contract and on-the-job training. It was an intense few years of studying and learning on the job, but a great experience, and I was delighted to qualify. The way of qualifying in England & Wales is currently changing, so there will be different options for students now.

What are the main challenges students face when studying law?

Students need to keep on top of changing legislation - as with any field, there are changes and developments, it is important for both teachers and students to keep up to date with the latest changes.

What are the future trends in legal English?

Large movement towards paperless. Years ago you’d be trudging files around in a suitcase, now you still have to take some paperwork but largely the legal operations in English are going paperless. Embracing technology. Case Management Systems / databases. Cloud based systems bring cyber security. Large threat to runing a law firm is security. It’s also better for the environment. Agile working / being paperless means you can work smarter not harder. Carrying paper around is quite archaic now. Started with large big law firms then filtered down. Makes it easier to move between locations. Globalisation is easy. Do your job at the touch of a fingerprint.

How can technology be used to improve the teaching and learning of legal English?

There is an ever increasing use of technology in lectures - most of our lectures are held on a database - this makes the lectures more accessible and allows people to access them at any time, from anywhere. There are some risks with this, I think you lose the in-person touch being remote, it is not always the best way to learn and is not a complete replacement for in-person teaching. Human beings are built to react to other human beings, the very nature of teaching is about interaction, when remote working you lose that element of human interaction that you can get in a classroom. You don’t get that same experience on a screen when peoples cameras are off.

What are the challenges for students learning legal English now?

We mustn’t forget the importance of building a network and close relationships with fellow students in the legal profession. Peer to peer relationships were some of the most important supports for me, many of the connections I made through my studies are still part of a strong support network for me. Those are the people you talk to day to day who are going to have the most effect on your development.

The virtual world can reduce the opportunities to have conversations, and if you don’t know how to talk to people in English, it will be difficult to succeed in the field. Unless you are working solely with AI (Artificial Intelligence) or technology, there will always be a need for good communication. The world is based on relationships, people work and socialise with people they like, and win work through being able to talk to people.

What are your thoughts on the growing trend towards the use of Artificial Intelligence?

Proceed with caution!

AI tools don’t yet have the specific knowledge to be fully accurate in complex areas. Relying solely on AI for legal advice can be dangerous, because it’s not developed enough. I would suggest treating AI in the same way that you would for other areas. For example, If you thought you had a serious disease, would you diagnose yourself through Chat GPT? Or, if you were building a house, would you ask Bard? The answer would likely be no, and it is the same for the legal profession.

The general view within the profession is that AI is there to be embraced, but with caution. We understand that tech is very important in the legal profession as well as in learning, but it needs to be built for purpose and at the moment I would say I don’t think anyone really knows what the purpose of this is going to be. We also of course need to be careful of students using AI-bots to complete essays! - but this can usually be spotted fairly easily by a teacher who is familiar with their students’ work.

That said, we do still need to embrace this new technology. There are huge opportunities - if developed correctly it can speed things up and be a really useful tool to help lawyers, but if it’s not used correctly it can cause expensive problems.

We have new and future generations growing up with technology and coding, and I’m sure further use of technology in the legal system will continue to develop in line with that.

Do you have any advice for legal English learners?

Keep going! It is important to keep focusing on improving and developing. Develop a good understanding of the jurisdiction in which you’re operating in, of the colloquialisms, of how the law works in that area (including structure). Always be ready to go back to basics, don’t jump ahead too soon, there is no substitution for learning the fundamentals.

Alongside this, I’ve found the benefits of being in-person and around other students, of building a network and interacting with others in the profession, to be hugely useful to developing legal English skills.

We hope you found these insights useful. Follow this blog to hear more from our discussions with lawyers, barristers and patent attorneys among others. Explore our legal English courses where you can hear more from Caroline, or contact us for a tailored course for your company.