Law students get ABS ready

Published: 20/07/2012

University degrees, previously worth their weight in gold, now seem two a penny with little relevance to a real life workplace. However a cutting edge project by Sheffield Hallam University is attempting to change this by helping law students develop new ideas for legal services in a post alternative business structures (ABS) world.

According to organisers at the department of law, criminology and community justice, the project, entitled LawSync, aims to promote “a better synchronisation between law as an academic discipline, professional practice, regulatory influences, and the expectations of consumers of legal services”.

Richard Whittle is a Law Lecturer and the creator of LawSync:

“In an era when you can get legal advice from your local WHSmith and find phone applications that can potentially avoid a trip to court, it is vital that students are at the forefront of leading the change.

“This project seeks to place Sheffield Hallam at the heart of the conversation between academia and business, with a view to ensuring that students can better respond to changing market dynamics and increase job prospects in a world where many of the old rules no longer apply.

“LawSync will help to produce graduates who are well placed to respond to the challenges in, and take advantage of, the opportunities that they will face in an evolving legal services market.”

Content correct at time of publication