Ashurst and University of Stirling partnership – a Q&A with Tikus Little and Elaine Watson

Ashurst is delighted to have recently announced its new strategic partnership with the University of Stirling, focused on developing the next generation of NewLaw professionals, by bringing the evolution of the legal sector and the associated new career opportunities into the core of the curriculum.

This first-of-its-kind partnership will see the introduction of the Ashurst Advance NewLaw Programme to the curriculum for BA in Law and LLB students at Stirling University Law School completing the Commercial Awareness Module in the 2020/2021 academic year.

In this article, we speak to Tikus Little, Senior Lecturer in Law and Elaine Watson, Employability and Skills Officer, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Stirling about the partnership and what it will bring to the University.

Tikus, thank you very much for speaking with us. Can you tell us about your role at the University and your role in developing the partnership?

Tikus: I am the Programme Director of the LLB and developed the module Commercial Awareness in Law. It was always important that this module includes input from the legal industry and others so that our students hear first-hand about the challenges and opportunities shaping the legal sector. The partnership with Ashurst has grown over the years. Carolyn O’Connor sits on our Law Advisory Panel and I asked if Ashurst would be willing to deliver a talk to the students about their work which they did. This became an annual lecture on the Changing Legal Landscape and also led to a range of other inputs including talks on legal technology and engagement with our Student Law Society. As part of our ongoing dialogue, I was delighted to hear that Ashurst was keen to draw these strands together and embed them in the curriculum as the NewLaw programme and it sits perfectly in that module. I work closely with Elaine Watson, our Faculty Employability and Skills Officer on another module, Work Placement in Law which forms the second pillar of the partnership: students who have completed the NewLaw programme will be eligible to apply to the Work Placement module for one of up to 10 placements in their following year.

How have you witnessed the legal industry change in the last few years, with the growing prevalence of NewLaw and alternative legal careers?

Tikus: Stirling Law School has always been keen to equip our student with the knowledge and confidence to make career choices that are right for them – there is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ legal career and that has never been truer than it is today. Increased specialisation, globalisation and agile working have all impacted the way that the sector operates. As well as listening to professionals and hearing about developments like Ashurst's NewLaw division, Ashurst Advance, we keep in touch with graduates and hear about their experiences as they move into an increasingly wide range of legal careers. As well as students who have qualified as solicitors and practise in a wide range of areas both in private practice and in-house, we now have law graduates in roles as diverse as legal analyst, legal technologist, compliance and investigation of financial crime/tax fraud. It is an exciting time to have a law degree!

What impact do you expect the introduction of the Ashurst Advance NewLaw Programme to the curriculum to have?

Tikus: I think the impact will be significant: it will enable our students to learn in parallel with the sector in real time. The study of law is necessarily focused on the substance of the law and the development of legal skills in the first two years of the both the BA law and LLB degrees. However, by raising commercial awareness in second year, we aim to start developing the business brain as well as the legal brain. This partnership will be invaluable in deepening understanding of what it is like to operate in the modern legal context and the challenges and solutions that can drive success, adaptability and innovation. The ability to adapt, innovate and to seek out solutions will be front and centre of the NewLaw programme which will have an impact not just on knowledge but also on mindset. We ask our students at Stirling to ‘Be the Difference’ and this enhancement to the curriculum will equip them with more skills to do that.

Elaine: Ensuring that our Law students are developing their employability skills during their academic course of study is a key feature of studying Law at Stirling. Ashurst have been a strong supporter of our unique academic work placement programme for many years. This new partnership will assist us to offer a larger number of placements enabling more students than ever before to benefit from the opportunity to combine academic study with ‘real world’ learning.

As part of the programme, students will have the opportunity to take part in workshops and work experience placements with Ashurst Advance. How important is this type of experience as part of the wider curriculum?

Tikus: In enhancing the Commercial Awareness in Law module, this partnership will add considerable value to our current offerings by deepening student’s knowledge but also vitally, their experience of how the legal sector is changing and how a modern legal practice can be modelled. They will take part in interactive workshops led by people who are actively engaged in legal technology, project management, innovation in delivery of legal services, partnership working with clients and more. This hands-on experience will bring enormous benefits in terms of substance but also in the opportunity it gives students to further develop their confidence and their collaborative working skills as they work with professionals and with each other in class. They can use both in their future studies.

How will the partnership help prepare students for successful legal careers?

Tikus: The Work Placement opportunities will give invaluable experience and skills which students can then evidence to future employers to get that first step on the career ladder which is very welcome. The NewLaw programme within the Commercial Awareness module will allow students to demonstrate knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be attractive to employers as well as encouraging them to think about the direction they might want to take their career. Professional socialisation starts on Day One of any law degree and this will expand the opportunities that our students have to develop their concept of what a ‘legal professional’ looks like now and in the future.