Peter Williamson outlines the Law Society's vision of a profession equipped for the future

The Law Society has this week issued a second consultation paper in relation to a new training framework for solicitors.

It is very much a forward-looking document, which opens a vast array of possibilities that we hope will be considered carefully by those involved in the consultation process.

One example of the possibilities on the horizon is a framework that permits different pathways to qualification, which secures standards and enables innovation.

This second consultation paper is a significant step forward in an ongoing review of the training framework that began in 2001 with an initial consultation with stakeholders.

The paper sets out key principles to underpin the training framework and explores several innovative proposals for training solicitors.

Solicitors have always had to meet high standards of academic and vocational training to be admitted to the profession.

It is essential to build on these high standards if the profession is to continue to serve the interests of the public effectively.

In the ten years or so since the current training framework was introduced, we have witnessed significant developments in higher education and in the legal profession.

It is important that the solicitors of tomorrow are prepared for their important role in practice within a modern framework.

The Society has a statutory duty to regulate entry to the profession and determine the education and training that must be undertaken by those who wish to be admitted to the roll.

In exercising this duty, the Society needs to ensure that its regulatory requirements remain effective and appropriate and serve the public interest.

We must prepare for and manage change to ensure that the qualification scheme remains fit for its purpose.

It is imperative that solicitors are properly prepared for the challenges they face and that the public is aware that we are doing everything possible to ensure that this is the case.

During the course of the review, the government has published a White Paper on the 'Future of Higher Education'.

It has also announced a wide-ranging review of the regulation of legal services.

The legal market is changing rapidly.

It is important for us to recognise that the solicitors of tomorrow will practise in a different world with new demands on the way legal services are delivered.

Advances in information technology mean that clients have become accustomed to swift convenient customer service and to hi-tech, high-speed delivery.

If young solicitors are to be able to meet these new demands we must ensure that they are in tune with the needs and aspirations of their clients and are equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to deliver high quality legal services to the public.

Success as a solicitor is no longer demonstrated solely by academic achievement and high billing.

Solicitors need to demonstrate a host of skills including proficiency in IT, excellent communication, and the ability to develop and maintain a client base, as well as leadership and team-building skills.

Solicitors must be appropriately trained to ensure that they are able to deal positively with diversity in all aspects of their work and serve all members of society.

The review aims to identify the essential knowledge, skills and abilities that all solicitors must possess by the time they qualify.

The new training framework will focus on these required outcomes leaving scope in the qualification, scheme for training providers to address the many different areas of practice within which solicitors work.

We recognise that the one-size-fits-all approach is no longer appropriate in the modern legal market.

As a result, the Society will concentrate more on the standards that need to be achieved by students and trainees before they can qualify as solicitors, rather than on the process that they must follow.

It is our hope that the proposals will result in greater flexibility in how individuals prepare to qualify as solicitors, to accommodate the diverse needs of students and firms and to encourage innovation in teaching and assessment.

We hope, too, that students with different backgrounds and experiences will be provided with opportunities to explore alternative ways of qualifying to meet their own personal needs, but always with the same result - a demonstration of the high standards needed to practise in a demanding profession.

The training framework should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the different needs, expectations and aspirations of those wishing to qualify and practise as solicitors.

Although it is suggested that the training contract as it exists today might not be required in the future, there is no suggestion that a substantial period of work-based learning is obsolete.

The review focuses instead on how the period of work-based learning can be made as meaningful as possible and suggests a more formal and more rigorous assessment of the student's readiness for practice prior to admission than at present.

Solicitors have a vital and necessary role in an increasingly complex world.

The Law Society has a duty to ensure that educational standards in the profession are high and that the public has the utmost confidence in our delivery of legal services.

We want the training framework review to achieve this by preparing the profession for the future so that the solicitors of tomorrow can compete effectively in a global market where their qualifications are widely respected.

Peter Williamson is the Law Society President