Royle, Gab --- "Resolution by mediation or judgment: Costs and benefits" [2020] PrecedentAULA 62; (2020) 160 Precedent 42

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HOW PRACTICAL IS PLT?

By Gab Royle

PLT (Practical Legal Training) is an acronym known to many lawyers as the successor of articles or the final hurdle before admission to legal practice. It is a program that aims to provide entry-level lawyers with practical day-to-day skills. The program, administered by the College of Law and various universities around Australia, includes five compulsory and two elective subjects. Many of these subjects feel like an extension of university but with a practical twist. For example, in ‘Lawyers' skills’ you simulate appearing in court and cross-examining a witness, in ‘Civil litigation practice’ you draft legal documents and prepare oral submissions, and in ‘Property practice’ the oral assessment includes a performance of settlement. The content and skills learned during the PLT program exposes students to different areas of law and broadens the traditional skillset of entry-level lawyers. However, as a graduate and junior lawyer, I have found that these skills are seldom used – particularly in commercial law firms.

In my view, the technological capabilities expected of graduates and junior lawyers should be considered as part of the core competencies within the PLT program. As legal businesses become more interdisciplinary, we are often working alongside in-house forensic technology experts and are expected to not only understand but master the technologies used during, for example, large discovery exercises. Technologies such as discovery platforms and artificial intelligence contract review software continue to disrupt the legal sector. Under tight deadlines, the process of becoming acquainted with the new technologies can be challenging and stressful. The only exposure that most law students have to legal technologies is an introductory course to online databases for legal research at university. As a consequence, graduates often have to teach themselves how to use these technologies (if they are not guided through it during internal graduate training). This is despite the number of innovative platforms and technological tools used within commercial firms that have the capability to reduce time-intensive tasks.

Legal processing tasks also require graduates and junior lawyers to demonstrate matter management skills. On arrival as a graduate, I was placed on a large litigation matter and was surprised by the focus on matter management. Under guidance, I created and maintained a logical system to track progress, collaborate with the team, manage relationships and solve problems. PLT helpfully addresses elements of matter management such as how to effectively communicate your workload with your team, manage expectations and manage time. However, PLT does not address how to approach a matter methodically. Whether working on one large matter or across several smaller matters, we are often responsible for managing the routine processes and briefing other lawyers on the status of certain tasks. Keeping this in mind, strategies to assist in document hygiene (to prevent previous versions of documents being circulated), or skills and resources associated with creating and disseminating tracking and control of documents, would be a useful addition to the program.

In today's commercial environment, graduates and junior lawyers are expected to develop not only legal acumen but also business acumen and an awareness of the commercial context of our clients. ‘Business acumen’ is a term frequently used by law firms during the clerkship application process but, despite its importance, it is not addressed during university or the PLT program. For example, we are often directed to clients' annual reports and media articles as a starting point to understand their businesses. We are taught the importance of the commercial context within which the client is placed. PLT, however, only goes so far as to identify legal issues and how to manage associated risks. I would have benefited from an introduction to business language, basic finance and accounting, and an understanding of the factors that influence how a business operates. These are all skills that I believe would help to ensure the competency of graduates and junior lawyers when dealing with commercial clients.

The PLT program provides an important basic introduction to the practice of law and a helpful pathway into the profession. However, the program could be more well-rounded with an increased focus on the specific skills that graduate solicitors need to know. Training programs tailored to graduates and junior lawyers within specific law firms, along with mentoring programs, remain vital to ensure the development of practical day-to-day skills.

Gab Royle is a lawyer at Clayton Utz. EMAIL [e-mail].