A panel discussion on the theme Revisiting Legal Education and the Legal Profession in India was recently organised by the Co-Draft Academy of Law..Panellists at the event held last Saturday included Justices TS Sivagnanam and N Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court, Senior Advocates Arvind Datar and Guru Krishna Kumar, and Advocate Chitra Narayan..Academicians who spoke at the at the event included Dr Kamala Sankaran, Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu National Law School; Dr C Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of the Jindal Global Law University; Dr M Gandhi, Dean of VIT School of Law; and Padmanabha Ramanujam, Vice Dean of the AURO School of Law..Maheswari Mohan, founder of Co Draft Academy, welcomed the audience and explained the vision with which Co Draft was founded and the methods used to move towards that vision. She spoke of how there is a gap between the lessons learnt in law school and the actual skills required to practice law. Hence, a finishing school like Co Draft Academy, which bridges this gap, was the need of the hour, she said..In his keynote address, Dr Raj Kumar spoke of various salient issues that need to be looked into. The most important of them, he pointed out, was to weed out mediocrity in legal education and ensure that law schools had the resources to achieve world-class standards..The event comprised of two panel discussions. The first panel discussion dealt with evaluating legal education, which underscored the need for a legal finishing school. The second panel discussion was on the role of quality education and training for an effective judiciary..Senior Advocate Arvind Datar suggested closing mediocre colleges and enabling expert professionals to conduct lectures in specific fields. Allied views were expressed by Justice Kirubakaran, who strongly opined that all substandard law schools must be scrapped. In his characteristic candour, Justice Kirubakaran also talked about regulating parameters for entry into the legal field..Dr Kamala Sankaran pointed out how a good undergraduate degree will help law students gain mastery for any future course. Justice Sivagnanam made interesting observations on the difference in approach to legal education then and now..Senior Advocate Guru Krishna Kumar stressed on ethical standards in education and practice. He called for the need to encourage a value-based system of education..Advocate Chitra Narayan was of the view that people must disengage themselves from the thought that courts are the only answer to disputes. She suggested that alternative dispute resolution forums be relied on instead..Dr Ramanujam pointed out how autonomy must be given to colleges to conduct entrance exams and engage their choice of faculty. He also stressed on the importance of attracting the right kind of students..In this regard, he was seconded by Dr Gandhi, who also talked about the need to re-look at compensation structures of professors so as to attract the best minds to academia. Further, he was also vocal in his support for making available various electives which will enable students to choose the field they want to specialise in..The panel discussions were moderated by Hrishikesh Datar, founder of Vakilsearch.com. He observed that the need of the hour was not to evaluate but to ‘re-evaluate‘ education with a view to building a just and rules-driven society..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
A panel discussion on the theme Revisiting Legal Education and the Legal Profession in India was recently organised by the Co-Draft Academy of Law..Panellists at the event held last Saturday included Justices TS Sivagnanam and N Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court, Senior Advocates Arvind Datar and Guru Krishna Kumar, and Advocate Chitra Narayan..Academicians who spoke at the at the event included Dr Kamala Sankaran, Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu National Law School; Dr C Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of the Jindal Global Law University; Dr M Gandhi, Dean of VIT School of Law; and Padmanabha Ramanujam, Vice Dean of the AURO School of Law..Maheswari Mohan, founder of Co Draft Academy, welcomed the audience and explained the vision with which Co Draft was founded and the methods used to move towards that vision. She spoke of how there is a gap between the lessons learnt in law school and the actual skills required to practice law. Hence, a finishing school like Co Draft Academy, which bridges this gap, was the need of the hour, she said..In his keynote address, Dr Raj Kumar spoke of various salient issues that need to be looked into. The most important of them, he pointed out, was to weed out mediocrity in legal education and ensure that law schools had the resources to achieve world-class standards..The event comprised of two panel discussions. The first panel discussion dealt with evaluating legal education, which underscored the need for a legal finishing school. The second panel discussion was on the role of quality education and training for an effective judiciary..Senior Advocate Arvind Datar suggested closing mediocre colleges and enabling expert professionals to conduct lectures in specific fields. Allied views were expressed by Justice Kirubakaran, who strongly opined that all substandard law schools must be scrapped. In his characteristic candour, Justice Kirubakaran also talked about regulating parameters for entry into the legal field..Dr Kamala Sankaran pointed out how a good undergraduate degree will help law students gain mastery for any future course. Justice Sivagnanam made interesting observations on the difference in approach to legal education then and now..Senior Advocate Guru Krishna Kumar stressed on ethical standards in education and practice. He called for the need to encourage a value-based system of education..Advocate Chitra Narayan was of the view that people must disengage themselves from the thought that courts are the only answer to disputes. She suggested that alternative dispute resolution forums be relied on instead..Dr Ramanujam pointed out how autonomy must be given to colleges to conduct entrance exams and engage their choice of faculty. He also stressed on the importance of attracting the right kind of students..In this regard, he was seconded by Dr Gandhi, who also talked about the need to re-look at compensation structures of professors so as to attract the best minds to academia. Further, he was also vocal in his support for making available various electives which will enable students to choose the field they want to specialise in..The panel discussions were moderated by Hrishikesh Datar, founder of Vakilsearch.com. He observed that the need of the hour was not to evaluate but to ‘re-evaluate‘ education with a view to building a just and rules-driven society..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
