PROFESSOR TERRY AUTHORS JOTWELL REVIEW REGARDING LAWYER ADMISSIONS AND COMPETENCIES
August 2021 — Professor Laurel Terry, who is the H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law and Professor of Law Emerita, recently published a JOTWELL review entitled Rethinking Admissions Requirements: It’s A Global Phenomenon. Her review of Jordan Furlong’s 2020 Report entitled Lawyer Licensing and Competence in Alberta noted global interest in the issue of lawyer admissions and competency, as demonstrated by initiatives such as the NCBE’s NextGen Bar Exam of the Future and the UK’s forthcoming solicitor SQE “super-exam.”
Professor Terry’s JOTWELL review praised the Furlong/Alberta report, which encourages legal system stakeholders to view lawyer admissions as part of an integrated regulatory system whose goals include the competent delivery of legal services and the protection of clients. Similar to the Furlong/Alberta report, Professor Terry believes that it is important for regulators and stakeholders to identify the competencies that lawyers need in order to serve their clients. Once these competencies have been identified, stakeholders can evaluate the role that legal education and the lawyer regulatory system should play with respect to these competencies. Professor Terry’s interest in lawyer competencies led her to develop the required first year Penn State Dickinson Law course that is currently known as Law Practice II: Contexts and Competencies.
Professor Terry’s JOTWELL review illustrates her view that it is important for legal profession stakeholders around the world to learn from one another. Her scholarship has encouraged the development of organizations such as the International Conference of Legal Regulators and has analyzed the ways in which global lawyer regulation stakeholders can interact with one another. Professor Terry was pleased to review Jordan Furlong’s Lawyer Licensing and Competence in Alberta report for a U.S. audience because it offers important insights for U.S. stakeholders interested in legal education and the NCBE’s NextGen bar exam, as well as U.S. stakeholders interested in proactive lawyer regulation or PMBR.
Professor Emerita Laurel S. Terry, who held the inaugural H. Laddie Montague, Jr. Chair in Law and was Dickinson Law’s inaugural Associate Dean for Research and New Faculty Development, is a three-time Fulbright recipient who writes and speaks about the impact of globalization on the legal profession, especially with respect to regulatory issues. Her scholarship has identified emerging issues for the legal profession and urged stakeholder engagement, new initiatives, and regulatory reform. In addition to speaking at academic and professional conferences, she has been invited to speak about her scholarship to organizations that include the Conference of Chief Justices, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the National Organization of Bar Counsel, the National Conference of Bar Presidents, the CCBE, which represents EU’s legal profession and legal regulators, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the International Institute of Law Association Chief Executives, the International Bar Association, and the International Conference of Legal Regulators.