Steven Vaughan, Cardiff Law School, has been appointed to the Education and Training Committee (ETC) of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The Committee forms part of the extensive and controversial review of legal education and training announced in November last year.
Described as the most significant appraisal of legal education and training in the last four decades, the review will aim to ensure that the ethical standards and competence of those delivering legal services in regulated law firms are sufficient, both for their clients and the wider public.
The review will be conducted jointly by the three biggest legal regulators: the SRA, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and the Institute of Legal Executives Professional Standards (IPS), and will have considerable implications for those delivering legal education. It is also likely to be extremely controversial, with Chair of the Legal Services Board David Edmonds, stating that many educationalists and practitioners feel the current framework is “simply not fit for purpose.”
The review will consider the implications of the Legal Services Act 2007 and address the increasing concern surrounding career development. It will also look at how the expected changes to higher education funding will impact on accessibility and diversity in legal education and services.
Steven Vaughan, who is the City Solicitors Educational Trust Lecturer in Obligations at Cardiff and a practising solicitor with Latham & Watkins, said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to this important Committee. The review of legal education, pre and post-admission, is extremely challenging and important and I very much look forward to working with the other Committee members.”
The Committee will begin its review in February 2011 and is expected to produce significant findings before its conclusion.
