Find in Library

Law as a discipline struggles as much as, or perhaps more than, any other discipline in its attempts to reconcile its close historic connections to professional practice with its current location in a university environment. Should law schools focus on producing graduates who are “practice-ready” or make available a broad, contextual education for their students in line with the academic standards of the wider university? The overarching issue in debates about legal education in Australia has been: “what is the nature of a ‘university’ legal education?” The key issue is: should law schools be driven by market requirements or by more idealistic educational values?