Inaugural lecture Elaine Mak: The lawyer of the future: deeper or broader?
There is a tumultuous atmosphere between legal practice and the university. Fierce discussions are going on about the professional demands our society sets for (future) lawyers. The image of the ‘T-shaped lawyer’ has become leading in these discussions, which means: the lawyer who combines in-depth legal knowledge (the vertical bar of the T) with a broad knowledge of other disciplines and academic skills (the horizontal bar of the T). Mak traces the rise of this image and the implications it has for the arrangement of the university Law-degree programmes. Mak: “A firm legal layout is not sufficient. The knowledge and skills of lawyers need to meet the demands set by the current era.”
On Monday 19 June 2017, Prof Dr Elaine Mak held her inaugural lecture entitled ‘The T-shaped Lawyer and Beyond: rethinking legal professionalism and legal education for contemporary societies’.
Changing images of legal professionalism
In her inaugural lecture, Mak presents her vision to the question that is at the base of the discussions: which role do lawyers want to play in the society of today and tomorrow, and how can the university prepare students as good as possible for this? She applies her analysis to three specific legal professions: legal practice, the judicial power and legal science. For these professional groups, two crude tipping points can be pointed out. The first tipping point can be observed in the Netherlands in the final decades of the previous century. This period is characterised by the waning social authority of institutions and an increase of management thinking in professional organisations. The classical lawyer, an autonomous generalist with an eye for social interests, is then replaced with a modern professional: deployable as a specialist, transparent and of service to the client and society. The second tipping point is connected to the increased complexity of society, combined with a renewed autonomy in the professional actions of lawyers, judges and legal scientists. The modern-day lawyer functions in a complex environment, in which he or she has to be able to handle new technologies and ethical dilemmas and must compete with alternative forms of dispute settlement. A good individual sense of judgement, informed by relevant legal AND non-legal knowledge, is of essential importance to be able to function in this environment. In a more general sense, the connection with social developments and a (self-) critical look are crucial for the proper functioning of our constitutional state, in which the judicial power, the legal practice and legal science fulfil supporting roles after all. Thus, old and new aspects of legal professionalism meet in the image of the ‘T-shaped lawyer’.
Legal leaders for today and tomorrow
The developments in the image of legal professionalism influence the content and design of legal education at the university. In terms of content, the challenge is to transfer in-depth knowledge and expertise of one's own field of expertise, besides a broader acquaintance with other disciplines and a qualification in academic skills. From the perspective of legal professions, especially in legal practice, the focus is currently on the question for a firm legal interpretation of the law-degree programme for the attribution of the civil effect. Mak argues that three core elements must be present in the interpretation of future law education: room for diversity (generalists, specialists and interdisciplinary lawyers are all needed), teaching awareness of the surroundings and a critical attitude, and developing a reference for ethical reflection. She shows that the academic law programme can derive its value even more strongly from ‘research-based’ education, in which a critically and methodologically founded approach prepares soon-to-be lawyers for their future professional roles. Lecturers, students and university directors are challenged to arrange the university environment to this in a well-measured interaction with legal practice and society.
About Elaine Mak
Elaine Mak (1979) has been a Professor of Jurisprudence at Utrecht University since 1 June 2016. She participates in the Montaigne Centre for legal practice and conflict resolution, and in the strategic theme Institutions for Open Societies and she is a member of the Utrecht Young Academy. In 2016, she received an NWO Vidi grant for a five-year research project into the development of jurisprudence cultures within the European Union. More information can be found on Elaine Mak's profile page.