Collaborate Project
Case Study : Virtual Law Firms, School of Law
Author : Nick Birbeck
Date : September, 2013
Introduction
The Collaborate Project’s aspirations towards the incorporation of more workintegrated assessments led members of the team to investigate the establishment of
Virtual Law Firms in the School of Law. The primary target of this investigation was to
evaluate the use of technologies among members of the teams.
A comprehensive description of the VLF initiative can be found in Appendix A (Virtual
Law Firms in the first year curriculum) written by Professor Sue Prince, Director of
Education at the School of Law and instigator of the proposal.
Brief Description of the Firms
All first year Students work together in the same group of approximately 10
students, prepare and attend all of their small group teaching across Year 1 modules:
Criminal Law, Contract, Legal Foundations and Constitutional & Administrative Law.
The aims of the firms are :1. To encourage the discussion and application of legal ideas and concepts
within a team in such a way that the development of knowledge benefits
each individual.
2. To encourage students to think about how a law firm operates in the 21st
Century.
3. To encourage the development of a professional approach to work / ability to
think about individual employability skills at an early stage of the degree
programme.
It is Aim 3 that particularly interests members of the Collaborate Project.
Case Study Methodology
The methodology used was straightforward. It involved interviews with a number of
members of staff to find out about the VLF initiative and to identify one group that
would be prepared to be observed by Nick Birbeck from the Collaborate Project. One
member of the group acted as coordinator and primary contact for the group. At the
time of writing, Nick had observed this group on four occasions and this report
concentrates on observations made. Two of these observations involved watching
the group prepare for a coursework presentation and two observations involved
watching the group do the presentation in front of an academic.
VLF - Chess and Jerallds
The observed group named their firm Chess and Jerallds (C and J) and this was part
of the required planning process in the beginning weeks. The group consisted of ten
first-year students. It included a number of international students and a mature
student, the latter finding it difficult to take a major part in the group’s activities
because of status and commitments.
The most noticeable factor in the group’s success and cohesion has been that all
members have got on with one another so well. They get together socially off and on
campus. On a number of occasions they suggested that they had been particularly
lucky in this respect. They reported that other groups had experienced more
problems with relationships among members.
An interview was conducted with one member of the team :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igoqhlR4AkA
Facilities in School of Law – ‘Pod’ Rooms
A number of observations of the Chess and Jerallds firm took place in the new
facilities within the School of Law. Firms were able to book ‘Pods’ small rooms
equipped with a range of technology facilities and emulating those one might find in
a law firm. Students found these convenient and the space was conducive to
interaction although students tended to use their own laptops rather than the
technology available in the room. Some firms invited their external mentors into
these facilities. Comments regarding the facilities were very positive.
The Virtual Board Room (VBR)
The VBR represented a virtual area where the firms maintained records of their
activities, posted their assignments and could engage in a number of on-line
discussion activities if they chose to do so. The VBR was not hosted on the
University’s Exeter Learning Environment (ELE), although it could have been, but on
a separate learning environment (ELG) provided by the e-learning team associated
with the College of Social Sciences. Students were registered on to the system
together with academics and external mentors and each firm had its own space. It
was the responsibility of the members of the firms to ensure that their VBR was up
to date, for example, minutes and action points from meetings they held were
posted.
Although the VBR provided a reasonably intuitive interface, it was clear that it was
not popular. Members of C and J found it clunky and lacking in the more aesthetic
nature and features of other social networking software. Moreover there was very
little evidence that academics and external mentors registered to join the VBR to
monitor firms’ activities. There was no compulsion to take part in on-line discussion.
In the case of Chess and Jerallds, however, and there was some evidence to suggest
that this happened with other firms, Facebook provided a much more popular
facility for maintaining on-line contact. C and J established their own Facebook page
within the first weeks of the academic year and within a short space of time it was
proving to be the most important mechanism for coordinating activity among the
group members. Academics and external mentors were not invited to become
members of the Facebook page although it was interesting that some members of
the firm would not have objected had they been so.
The main reason for using Facebook to liaise with firm members was simply that
members were ‘already on Facebook’ so that to form a Facebook page for the firm
was an obvious and natural extension.
Consequently the need to move things from Facebook to the VBR (for monitoring
purposes) became a source of some frustration.
!
The VLF initiative provides one more example of how the favoured social
networking facilities used by students need to be considered and evaluated for
assessment purposes. There are clearly challenges but institutions cannot
ignore the levels of ‘academic’ activity occurring increasingly in these media.
There are some serious question marks over the fate of the more traditionally
structured learning environments (Moodle, Blackboard, etc.)
External Mentors
Each Virtual law Firm was assigned an external mentor, most of whom work in local
law firms. The C and J members contacted their mentor (Ian Bond – Mitchelmores)
and a face-to-face meeting was arranged early on. Members reported a good
relationship with Ian although I was not aware of very regular contact through IT
mechanisms. The mentor was responsible for overseeing some of the reports each
group was responsible for submitting towards the end of the year. Some groups
invited their mentors on to the University campus for meetings. I understand that
some external mentors did not have extensive contact with their mentees.
!
One is aware that staff in modern law firms use a range of technologies to
maintain contact with clients and hold meetings with colleagues. It would be
good in future if external mentors talked about these methods of
communication to students and used them more to oversee the activities of
the firms.
General Group Dynamics
On those occasions when members of the firms were observed preparing for a class
presentation or assignment, it was interesting to note the dynamics of the group and
their use of IT. All members had their own laptops and these were used almost
exclusively rather than equipment supplied in the room itself. On occasions a
member of the group would connect his or her laptop into the room’s data
projector.
Firms usually divided themselves into smaller groups of two or three to work on a
specific aspect of the task. The initial perception of the observer was a situation of
some chaos and members of the sub-groups appeared easily distracted into
discussing issues not connected with the task. It was difficult to see how things were
going to take much shape. However, as time became more pressing, certain
members of the firm adopted a stronger leadership role and the ‘bits of the jigsaw
puzzle’ got assembled. By the end of the session members of the firm felt confident
of their role for the presentation.
!
The order out of chaos dynamics displayed among the group were fascinating
to observe but begged the question whether similar practices occurred in law
firms. This could be something external mentors could advise on and talk about
what software solutions were used in firms to deal with complex casework.
Use of IT among members of the VLF
Attempts were made in the study to assess the full range of technologies being used
by members of the firms. Reference has already been made to the use of the VBR
and the more popular Facebook. Use of conferencing software (e.g. Skype) was
minimal.
Members were clearly accessing a very wide range of legal websites to research their
assignments. Some of these (for example 6th Form Law http://sixthformlaw.info/ )
raised a few issues with a number of their academics who were of the opinion that
at their level they should have been accessing higher level materials. Members were
able to employ sophisticated search techniques to find material and were active in
distributing information to other members of the firm. There was an interesting
division of opinion on websites like Wikipedia.
Clearly Microsoft Office products were used consistently. On one observation
members used a piece of mind-mapping software to complete a task. This was done
with noticeable proficiency.
Virtual Law Firm of the Year Award
Chess and Jerallds were the winners of this award.
Applying the Collaborate Dimensions Model to the VLF Project
Time : Multiple Assessment Points
Score 4
Although members of the VLF were required to use the VBR to record and submit
data, there was no formal assessment of this activity. The potential however to
introduce a range of assessment around the facilities within the VBR (or within ELE if
that were chosen instead) is considerable. The assessment of activity within
Facebook, and there is evidence that this was used considerably, would pose a
number of issues. The introduction of the VLF initiative has been innovative but the
assessment of students has remained, predominantly, summative examinations at
the end of the year in those modules that make up the Law first year.
Varied Audiences
Score 6
The technologies (and especially the VBR) being used within the VLF initiative
provide very strong potential for a wide involvement for varied audiences and the
role of the external mentors was one that could take on more importance in future.
There was no doubt that the use of technologies (and especially Facebook) resulted
in more engagement among peers and reflective thinking. One would have liked to
see more use of videoconference-like facilities such as Skype.
Real World’ Problem / Data
Score 6
The VLF initiative scores highly in this category in its innovative aspirations to have
students consider legal issues brought up within the modules introduced in the first
year curriculum within the context of working in a legal office or business.
Observations suggested that students were constantly dealing with real world issues
and the use of technology among the students was an important tool for their
research. Students proved to be knowledgeable about the considerable on-line
resources available.
Collaborative Working
Score 6
Central to the VLF initiative is the aspiration to work collaboratively and in teams
improves their ability to negotiate and discuss, and develops their understanding of
team roles and role flexibility. Students were using Facebook particularly well to
liaise among themselves. The VBR was less successful.
Light Structure
Score 3
Although there was a need for work to be structured and tasks identified, there is, in
the observer’s opinion considerable potential and opportunity to have these
activities assessed more formally, especially using the range of technological tools
now available. However in the completion of group activities there were certainly
some interesting dynamics among the group when observed, notably as time
pressures caused members to focus on the task at hand.
Peer / Self Review
Score 3
Once again the potential to utilise the various technologies to have students perform
a set of peer or self-review activities is considerable. To a certain extent this was
being done in Facebook but not a very formal level. The level of activity (especially
on-line discussion) within the Virtual Board Room was disappointing.
Appendix A
Virtual Law Firms in the first year curriculum
Law School,
University of Exeter
Virtual Law Firms
The first year of the LLB degree programme at the University of Exeter has
traditionally been structured around the use of teamwork. All students work
together in the same group of approximately 10 students to plan, prepare and
attend all of their small group teaching across Year 1 modules: Criminal Law,
Contract, Legal Foundations and Constitutional & Administrative Law.
From 2012/13 the teamwork concept has been remodelled so that the groups will
remain the same in form but will also operate as a ‘virtual law firm’. A virtual law
firm is a modern concept based loosely upon the idea of alternative business
structures and invites students to think about how law is delivered in the post-Legal
Services Act age.
The aim of the virtual law firm is threefold –
•
•
•
To encourage the discussion and application of legal ideas and concepts within a
team in such a way that the development of knowledge benefits each individual.
To encourage students to think about how a law firm operates in the 21st
Century.
To encourage the development of a professional approach to work / ability to
think about individual employability skills at an early stage of the degree
programme.
Team Development Programme
Each group of students attend a team development programme together in the
second week of term and this programme is designed around the creation of a
virtual law firm identity. The students will be required to consider:
•
•
•
•
How a law firm operates to deliver its services
The different roles for people within the law firm and how this fits with the concept
of teamwork
How establishing an effective and efficient way of working may inform their own
academic work
How a professional approach can increase understanding of commercial acumen
and awareness of both the study and practice of law
The team development programme encourages the student groups to think about
these concepts within the context of the learning of law, through a combination of
practical exercises and reflection. It necessitates the students considering how they
will organise themselves as a team to work together successfully over the
forthcoming academic year. Challenges that are traditionally associated with group
work such as good communication, equal participation, democratic working, joint
goal-setting and adopting professional approaches are addressed strategically so
that students think about these not only in the context of their own academic
development but also as preparation for developing a more professional approach to
their own future employability.
The Virtual Law Firm in Operation
The students will create their own virtual law firm in the first couple of weeks of
term and will be required to submit an organisational plan detailing how they plan to
structure their firm, which will include the different roles that team members will
take in the firm. Firms will be given a virtual environment in which to work together
and will be required to plan meeting times around preparation for small group
workshops which take place in each core module at regular times across the term.
Firms can also book the ‘pod’ rooms in the new Law School (see below) to enable
them to prepare. Each of these pods is technology rich to enable the development
of presentation skills and the use of technology for research, etc.
The work of the firms themselves will be assessed directly as part of the Group
Project in Legal Foundations (LAW1022). One aspect of this project is a written
statement about how the group has organised itself to effectively complete the task.
The group project itself counts for 35 per cent of the overall mark for Legal
Foundations (65 per cent exam) and the written statement on group working is a
small element of this. Although the work of the firm is not assessed as part of the
other modules (Criminal, Contract and Constitutional & Administrative Law), it is
crucial that the firms use the opportunity to organise themselves for effective
preparation of their work for these modules. This is because the workshops are
based around the concept of ‘problem-based learning’. Students are encouraged to
find the answers to the work set in a real world framework. The workshop questions
are often open-ended with no fixed answer; as a consequence they require genuine
thought and enquiry. The workshops themselves are supported, in part, by a staff
facilitator. Workshops allow students to test and develop their own understanding of
law as they discuss their answers and research with their group and tutors.
Professional Approach
The LLB degree teaches students the principles and application of legal rules and
concepts. One aim of the virtual law firm is to instil in students an idea of what it
means to take a professional approach to work along with an understanding of why
this is important. Ideas such as commitment, dedication, clear communication,
ethical working and timeliness are not only applicable to a professional career but
also to a good academic approach. Students are not formally assessed on these
aspects as part of the degree but they are implicit throughout the degree through
important rules on, for example,
plagiarism, submission deadlines,
Assessment of students approach to
attendance and communication.
the work of the virtual law firm will
be made on the basis of a
judgement on five principles –
•
Commitment
•
Dedication
•
Good communication
•
Ethical working
Virtual law firms will be awarded
•
Timeliness
chargeable hours based upon the above
principles and there is an annual prize for
the firm which is credited with the most
hours.
Non-Executive Director Mentors
Non-executive director mentors (NEDM) will help to guide the professional direction
of the virtual law firms. Each firm will have the benefit of one NEDM. The aim is to
give students the opportunity to have some contact with a practitioner at an early
stage and for this person to act as a mentor purely in respect of how they should
operate professionally. A mentor is able to offer encouragement, support student
development, listen and provide advice from a professional perspective. The mentor
may be able to acquaint students with the following –
•
•
•
How a law firm functions;
How people work together as a team to achieve an end.
How a sense of commercial awareness can best enable the efficient work of
the virtual law firm.
Particular areas of focus for the NEDM:
•
Strategy - the role of the NEDM is to help the group to organise themselves
and to think about how to achieve their goals in terms of planning work,
assigning tasks, developing communication skills, etc. The NEDM might (but
•
not always) be able to provide a ‘real-world perspective’ on aspects of the
law covered in the curriculum.
Performance and people – The role of the NEDM is to help the group to
manage themselves and to give some suggestions if members are not pulling
their weight in task performance. It is not the role of the NEDM to micromanage the group.
Contacts between the VLF and the NEDM
The Law School will match students to mentors, who will be responsible for
contacting the mentor to arrange a date for a mentoring session.
Term 1 –October - The initial contact will be from the group co-ordinator who will
email the NEDM and introduce members of the group. The NEDM will have a
dialogue with the students (as convenient for the NEDM) - possibly through the coordinator’s email, via Skype or face-to-face - about the different roles people have in
a law firm and how those roles translate into teamwork and working effectively. The
aim of this is to build solid foundations for the year’s work.
There will be two other points of required contact over the academic year. The
members of the virtual law firm have to send a termly report to the NEDM in Term 1
and Term 2. These will be in early December, and March. The VLF will report on
their progress and receive general comments on their report from the mentor.
Timetable of formal contact between NEDM and VLF
w/c 15th October
w/c 3rd December
w/c 18th March
w/c 10th June
Initial contact to be made and
introductions
Autumn report to be submitted to NEDM
Spring report to be submitted to NEDM
Virtual Law Firm of the Year Award
Ceremony
The aim is for the virtual law firm members to feel a sense of professional
accountability external to their degree and to enable them to continually reflect on
their functioning as a team throughout the academic year. There will be clear limits
and channels of communication, which will be agreed in the initial meeting between
the NEDM and the students. The idea of the mentoring scheme is simply to give
students a taste of legal practice in real life. We are aware of the great pressures on
practitioners’ time; we believe the scheme is not onerous to mentors. It may be that
the NEDM can arrange for the virtual law firm members to attend at the mentor’s
place of work, at the mentor’s convenience, for a one hour meeting. Demands on
the mentor should be kept to an absolute minimum.
Chargeable Hours
Chargeable hours are hours that are billable to a client. This concept is not only
applicable to law firms but many client-centred businesses. The concept of
chargeable hours concerns any time which is devoted to generating income and so
focuses on the lawyer as a resource. In a similar way, law students can see this
concept as a realistic method of organising their own time to find means of
maximising productivity and presenting a professional approach to academic work.
Students will be rewarded with a specific number of chargeable hours for tasks
which contribute towards these goals. Chargeable hours are not a method of formal
assessment but a group achievement which leads to an informal prize at the end of
the academic year.
The NEDM will be given a pro forma to complete for the VLF to enable them to
provide feedback on the submitted report. The NEDM will also recommend a
number of chargeable hours to be credited to the firm as a result of the submission
of the report. Chargeable hours will also be given by the Law School to virtual law
firms for the following:
•
•
Whole group attendance at scheduled workshop sessions
Workshop performance and preparation / research skills
The number of chargeable hours accumulated will go towards a total which,
together with points from a summer mooting / client interviewing competition, will
provide the basis for the ‘Virtual Law Firm of the Year Award’.
Guidelines for NEDM
The role of the mentor is to act in the particular role detailed above and not for
specific careers advice or other academic activity.
•
•
•
•
•
At the first initial meeting (face-to-face, email or via Skype), the NEDM and the VLF
should confirm some ground rules for contact;
The NEDM and the VLF may agree other modes of contact but there are three
specific points detailed above which form the basis the relationship;
The VLF should respect the role of the NEDM at all times and not ask for additional
support or help unless this is first offered by the NEDM;
The mentoring relationship is for a period of nine months (October 2012 – June
2013), unless both parties agree to continue the mentoring relationship;
Where the NEDM has any concerns the main contact at the Law School will be the
Director of Education, Dr Sue Prince who will look into the matter and liaise with the
mentor.
Virtual Law Firm of the Year Award
Whilst there is limited formal assessment of the work of the Virtual Law Firm there
will be an opportunity to celebrate the informal chargeable hours accumulated by
firms. The period 3 June – 14 June 2013 will see the culmination of the work of the
individual groups into a ‘Virtual Law Firm of the Year’ competition which will enable
students to demonstrate the skills of mooting and client interviewing within their
law firm groups and enable opportunities for prizes and sponsorship, etc.
The Virtual Law Firm of the Year will be celebrated on the Law School website which
will name the members of the group and give details of their achievements.
Dr Sue Prince
Director of Education
Law School
August 2012
Appendix B
Virtual Law Firms – a new approach to the student experience in Law
The Law School intends to deepen students involvement in all aspects of their
learning through the integration of a distinctive business and employability focus
into the traditional law degree. This is a joined up approach combining all aspects
of the student experience and thus using learning technology, commercial
awareness, skills training, pedagogical innovation to really enhance the student
understanding of law and legal processes.
First year students work together in a ‘virtual law firm’ from their first weeks at
University, using facilities that recreate the professional environment of a law firm,
including boardrooms and a custom-built mock courtroom equipped with the latest
technology, such as high-spec video conferencing. These rooms provide a
professional environment emphasising the connections between a rigorous
academic education and the world of professional work. Students study for all of
their core modules as part of their ‘virtual law firm’, using these facilities, and each
firm has a particular case load to work through throughout the academic year (with
cases on various aspects of subjects being studied in the first year). This encourages
students to get a real sense of how law firms operate as well as developing
teamwork, research, organisational and time management skills as part of the study
of the law. The professional aspect of the pedagogical environment is enhanced
through the input of each firm’s own non-executive director: a mentor who is a
solicitor from a local law firm. Each virtual law firm has to meet its mentor and
prepare termly reports which focus on objective-setting, organisation and timeliness.
Mentors are able to advise students on professional ways of working as a group as
well as how to improve their approach to individual tasks. Additional support is
provided by an online ‘virtual boardroom’ which gives students the opportunity to
work together and prepare caseload work by researching tasks using specific legal
resources and the internet. Students are rewarded for their focus on professional
responsibility and awareness at the end of the academic through the ‘Virtual Law
Firm of the Year’ Awards.
This approach has been designed to enhance the student experience by making it
clear to students from their first days at University the skills that are needed to work
in a graduate-level profession. Solicitor mentors have already commented to
students on their use of grammar and spelling; their attitude to timeliness and
organisation and very positively on their enthusiasm and commitment. Students are
pleased to be able to have such personal contact with a lawyer and have been
invited into law firms to experience the environment and to understand how a law
firm works in practice. The aim is to continue to enhance this development through
encouraging virtual law firms to engage in more independent entrepreneurial
activities in Year 2.
School of Law Promotion
September 2012