First, a word about the two sessions that weren’t recorded, namely the demo interview with Alexis Callen as lawyer and Dana Mohr as SC, and the panel: Alexis, Dana, Joan Rilling.  Alexis did exceptionally well as a 1L lawyer, and Dana was first rate at enacting the client, and then switching into feedback mode with Alexis.  Very good illustration of the power of the method in action.  The panel was an opportunity for our participants to ask student and SCs about their experiences, which worked well. And so to the wrap-up session, which was a lot more lively than I thought it mig ..read more

The final presentation of the workshop, from Erica Green and Angela Yenssen.  For background, see PREP.  Erica gave us a short overview of the PREP model (spiral learning, TELL > SHOW > PRACTICE > PERFORM > REFLECT > DEMONSTRATE). SCs were introduced throughout the 4 phases of the program thus: Phase 1: Foundation Modules LSIA Multimedia.  Students watch real lawyers interview simulated clients (good/bad performances) and are shown excerpts of the sim client feedback to the good and poor performances Phase 2: Foundation Workshops:  Students are introduced to ..read more

John was the initiator of this radical bar program (running since 2005) in New Hampshire, working with the Supreme Court of NH to produce what has been a sigificant innovation in US legal education.  The graduates of the program achieve admission to the New Hampshire bar based upon demonstrated mastery of practical legal skills and substantive legal knowledge. Students create electronic portfolios of their work and meet repeatedly with bar examiners in what is a two-year, rather than two-day, bar examination. It is the only bar examination in the United States that uses standardized clien ..read more

In these two sessions we’re focusing on how things look from the (student) lawyer and SC perspectives.  In the interview, our student did a superb job with a difficult scenario, which didn’t have an obviously legal solution to it, and required a bit more information to understand what seemed to be a straightforward storyline.  Our SC gave her a lot of useful and detailed feedback, which was remarkable for its openness and detail.  It was a good example of how useful SCs can be in giving feedback based upon the eight global criteria. The panel was typical in its format – intros ..read more

Noel talked about his use of SCs at Windsor U Law JD program, in the Windsor Legal Practice Simulation (WLPS) which he directs.  It is a mandatory course for all 160 1L students. It takes place over 4 days in November, during which time the students have no other classes.  Simulated clients are an integral part of this experience, which is designed to teach dispute resolution, legal ethics, employment law, practice management, and other skills.   Students interview live simulated clients, and subsequently interact via email with instructors impersonating the same ..read more

It’s Friday 29 April, and our long-planned SC Workshop (SCW) is starting.  It’s hosted by Angela Yenssen and myself.  Angela is a Toronto lawyer, used to be my wonderful RA, and worked with me on many projects including SC projects at Osgoode.  She’ll be chairing most sessions, and I’ll be liveblogging the sessions where I can – except the session I’m doing with Shelley Kierstead of Osgoode.  Our slides are up on the SCW website here, along with those for other sessions.  Lots of other SC goodies there too, including training docs, research and much else. Our plenary i ..read more

For the last four years or so I’ve been working on a variety of projects with faculty in Osgoode Hall Law School & Osgoode Professional Development (OPD) and in Ontario more generally, and with regulators across Canada.  One project is the use of Sim Clients (SCs) in JD legal education, primary professional courses and CPD for lawyers. Much of this work will be summarised in a workshop being held on Friday 29 April.  The workshop is the third of three on the topic of SCs, the first two having been hosted at the City Law School, University of London (Gray’s Inns, London, 2016: see ..read more

This was a braw, brave conference.  James Griffin and Exeter were our hosts, and they did us proud with an ambitious hybrid format that was a first for a BILETA conference and that’s damn difficult to organise.  Kudos to all who organised and assisted.  The Oxford Abstracts conference software was so useful, again, as it was last year for the online conference; and ably organised by the incredibly-efficient digital assistant, Kirsty Melvin.  Some conferences have their share of shallow or badly thought-through papers.  BILETA, like any serious academic body, referees p ..read more

Post-lunch, and still motoring here, though battery levels dropping.  Final parallel paper session of the conference and I’m in on the Future Tech stream, hanging on to the coat-tails of presenters’ expertise across a dizzying array of topics and technologies.  Sitting in on sessions like these when it’s not your expert area sure soaks up brain power… But first up is Catherine Easton, now Head of Law School at Lancaster U Law School.  I remember her dynamic first paper at UKCLE, years back, on lecture clickers, and was really impressed.  Now she’s talking about ‘Embedding L ..read more

First up, yours truly giving the second keynote, on legal education.  Slides in the usual place at the Slides tab above, and can be downloaded from Slideshare.  More of that at a later date. In the paper sessions, it’s legal education time, and Claudy Op den Kamp (Bournemouth) is first up, on ‘”Collagementary” as a creative and (IP) learning tool’.  Based on the use of film in legal education, and the constructive side of narrative in IP.  Eg creative re-use of others’ footage.  It’s in a BA(Hons) Film, focusing on film industries, business and entrepreneurship in the ..read more