Jessica Guth

The Legal Education and Training Review: regulating socio-legal and liberal legal education?

The Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) which reported in June 2013 conceded that undergraduate law degrees are generally outside the remit of the review other than when there is a direct impact on the provision of legal services. On first glance therefore the review has few implications for those of us interested in delivering a liberal legal education and developing socio-legal approaches to law and legal study. However, on closer reading, the report contains a number of suggestions which, if taken up by the regulators, have significant potential to change law degrees, even if regulation remains “light touch”. This article explores those issues with a particular focus on the implications for liberal law degrees and socio-legal approaches to law teaching. In particular the article will explore issues around possible changes to foundation subjects; the creation of a framework of learning outcomes; the possible strengthening of legal writing and research in the curriculum and the opportunities offered for the introduction of more socio-legal material; and the trickle-down effect likely to be felt by providers of undergraduate law degrees of changes in regulation of legal services and as a result of student, employer and other stakeholder expectations.

The case for time turners – the practicalities of being a new law lecturer

A time-turner is the device used by Hermione Granger in JK Rowlings Harry Potter books to turn back time so she can attend more than one class at the same time. They should, I believe, be standard issue for new law lecturers. This paper examines the practical day to day activities and my attempt to balance teaching, research, administration, training courses and other activities as a new law lecturer as well as maintaining a private life that is not wholly dominated by work.

When is a Partner not a Partner? Conceptualisations of ‘family’ in EU Free Movement Law

This paper considers the definitions of spouse, civil partner and partner in European Union (EU) free movement of persons law in order to question the EUs heterocentric approach to defining ‘family’ in this context. It argues that the term ‘spouse’ should include same-sex married partners in order to ensure that there is no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. It further highlights the problems created by basing free movement rights of civil partners on host state recognition of such partnerships. This approach allows Member States to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and is therefore not compatible with EU equality law in others areas. The position of unmarried or unregistered partners is also considered; in particular, the paper examines the requirement of a duly-attested durable relationship and its impact on same-sex partners wishing to move from one Member State to another. The paper argues that it is time to reconsider the law in this area and bring it in line with the EUs commitment to eliminate discrimination on several grounds, including sexual orientation.

Reza Banakar and Max Travers, Law and Social Theory

those teaching a variety of areas of law. However, it will prove a particularly invaluable resource to those whose subjects touch upon issues such as gender, social welfare and human rights, and will be of more general relevance to those teaching legal theory. The book would be most accessible to postgraduate students who have some existing knowledge of such theory, and especially of Fineman’s earlier work. Notably, the book helps to move Fineman’s vulnerability thesis forward from that work, taking it out of its predominantly philosophical context and revealing its wider practical applicability. The collection should be recommended to students who are seeking to use vulnerability, facilitating as it does a deeper understanding of the concept’s exciting, and very real, potential to undermine the assumptions underpinning the liberal order.

A.T.H. Smith, Glanville Williams: Learning the Law

key facts rather than going into too much detail. In conclusion therefore, we think that the Nutshells and Nutcases series has the right level of information included for an exam-focused revision guide but that the information needs presenting and structuring in a different way – a way which acknowledges that what we want at this stage is bite size information which is easily memorised. We realise that the issues we raise here reflect our learning preferences and may differ from other students’ preferences. As each student’s learning process is different, others may consider the existence of handy hints unnecessary and the longer paragraphs ideal.

The evolution of European Union citizenship – where does Zambrano take us?

Prompted by the recent Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) decision in Gerardo Ruiz Zambrano v Office national de l’emploi,1 this article is intended to provide an overview of citizenship of the European Union (EU) and the associated rights of free movement and residence. The Zambrano decision is seen by some as a radical approach taken by the ECJ, a decision which tightens the European Court’s constitutional grip on the Member States.2 Alternatively it can be seen as a decision which brings us one step closer to EU citizenship becoming “ . . . the fundamental status of nationals of the member states”.3 Whichever view is taken, the decision presents a useful opportunity to take stock of EU citizenship and the free movement and residence rights afforded to EU citizens. This article begins with an explanation of the Zambrano case before considering the evolution of EU citizenship and the contribution the judgment makes to this area.

At the Edge of Law: Emergent and Divergent Models of Legal Professionalism

At the Edge of Law is a book about the legal profession, its professional values and the challenges faced by the profession in the twenty-first century. The book is based on quite extensive empirical research with those in traditional branches of the profession such as large corporate law firms and with those at the edge of law such as non-traditional law students, legal executives, legal activists and other professionals working in law-related areas. The book highlights how the legal profession and the professionalism and characteristics associated with “being a lawyer” are changing with the traditional core perhaps losing its firm grasp but with non-traditional occupations still remaining at the margin in most cases. I was looking forward to reading and reviewing this book. I am not sure what I was expecting but my initial reaction when I began reading was slight disappointment. The first two chapters were quite hard going. They were really interesting and perhaps just hard going because they detailed and discussed a number of theoretical ideas and concepts which I had not previously engaged with in any detail but there was something that made me feel a little uneasy and irritated by them. It was not until I got to the end of the book that I could put my finger on it: the book is about those at the margins of the legal profession; it is concerned with non-traditional lawyers and engages fully with a variety of ideas as to why particular groups might find themselves at the margins and yet it starts with two chapters which are highly theoretical and not the most accessible. This, to me, presents a tension. My concern is that many of those at the edge of law, including those of us teaching students at universities from which magic circle firms do not routinely recruit, might well view this book as something for those academics in research-intensive universities who have the luxury to engage with this book only as an interesting piece of research. If readers do not get past the first two chapters because they are put off by them, they are missing a great deal. Unfortunately, the first two chapters do little to convince me that the book is useful for me as a law teacher (even if it is a gem for me as a legal education researcher). Is there then a risk that exactly those law teachers and those legal professionals who might be able to address some of

Engaging new Law lecturers and reflections on the engagement

This paper reflects on the experience of two new law lecturers who took up their posts in August 2007. It considers the process of “getting the job” as well as the period of settling into a new institution and new career path. Further reflection on those engagements is then offered by the Head of School to provide a balanced picture of the appointment of new law lecturers.