Education_BH: Innovation and Excellence celebrates the remarkable innovations implemented in Bahrain’s schools and universities. We learned about these innovations, the process, the challenges, and the lessons learned from some of the leading educational institutions in the Kingdom.
Read all about the Judicial & Legal Studies Institute‘s innovation below.
Professional Legal Practice Certificate (PLPC)
JLSI’s Professional Legal Practice Certificate bridges the gap between law graduates and employers by providing industry-led training. Developed collaboratively with law firms, this six-month programme equips graduates with practical legal skills, resulting in over 100 successful graduates across five cohorts since 2017.
Please share a brief background of your innovation.
In 2017, we noticed that we were receiving two conflicting messages from our stakeholders on the legal side (law graduates and law firms). Law graduates complained about how hard it was to break into the legal job market. With around 400 – 500 new law graduates entering the local job market annually, it appeared understandable. On the other hand, law firms reported that it was hard to fill entry-level legal positions. Very few of these graduates, no matter how good their academic training was, had the necessary legal skills that took time and investment to build.
How was the innovation planned?
We reached out to a number of law firms to explore the best way to build these skills. It quickly emerged from the conversations that training by experienced lawyers before hiring or early in the graduates’ careers would be ideal. We then worked very closely with the legal community to shape the training according to its needs. JLSI provided the platform for the law firms to develop and deliver the training they deemed necessary. We then recruited high-achieving law graduates with less than 2 years of working experience in Bahrain.
What were the challenges faced during implementation?
This industry-led training model was unproven. We had never done this before–empowered the private sector to create the exact kind of training it needed to meet its own needs. Despite that, the legal community stepped up to shape, design and even deliver the training pro bono. Although the training was pro bono, we incurred costs running the 6-month program due to budget cuts, and the legal community stepped up there, too.
Give us a brief assessment of your results.
As we celebrate our 5th cohort, we have over 100 graduates to date.
In hindsight, what were the most valuable lessons learned while implementing the innovation? Could things have been done differently?
Amazing things happen when people collaborate towards a common goal, and the biggest lesson was that better done than perfect. It was a steep learning curve for the team as a whole (us and the lawyers), and we learned together as we continue to modify and improve the program every year.
