Committee report 2000-01 (extract of bulletin 108)
Your committee has met a total of four times in the year since the Cardiff conference of April 2000, and at conferences as necessary:
- 13 May 2000
- 2 September 2000
- 18 November 2000
- 24 February 2001
The Committee continues to work for the members of the ALT at every opportunity.
The death of Sir Jack Jacob
We were all saddened by Sir Jack's death in December, 2000. There was a memorial service on Tuesday 24 April 2001 at the Great Hall, Gray's Inn, London. There was a formal ALT presence at the service, and Sir Jack's role in the establishment of the Association was included in all the other activities in his busy life in the law.
Publications
The Law Teacher continues to be a prestigious publication and a flagship of the Association. There have been regular meetings of the editorial board and subscriptions to the journal may be described as buoyant. The value of the subscription was illustrated when the printer queried whether the price was a typing error!
The Bulletin remains an excellent read, much credit being due to the Editor, Mike Cuthbert, who works tirelessly to provide a regular edition with up to date news and views.
Upjohn lecture
This prestigious and important event in our calendar was held this year at the Inns of Court School of Law, and saw a second visit by Lord Woolf, whose speech was well received by a good attendance of members and non-members of the ALT.
This was followed by a most pleasant supper, with members able to meet and talk with Lord Woolf and other ALT members.
The services of Lord Woolf were secured by the good offices of our President, Lord Templeman.
Conferences
April 2000 saw the annual conference held in Cardiff. This was a very successful and vibrant conference, well attended and packed with thought provoking papers and workshops.
June 2000 saw the very successful Law Student 2000 conference hosted by Butterworths in London. This was well attended.
There have been proposals for other day conferences, but the poor response to publicity has meant that cancellation of these events proved necessary. Are we all too busy? It may be that tightening constraints in the financial side of university life puts additional constraints on already over-loaded academics.
The inclement weather (excessive flooding and major transport disruption in the autumn and winter) did not help matters.
Attendances at other meetings/representations
Standing Conference on Legal Education: there have been two meetings, in May and November 2000, during which a range of issues were discussed, including that of the skills and practical element in law degrees, which does seem to be a current major issue in law degree teaching.
Meeting with the Lord Chancellor's Department: on Friday 8 December 2000 your Chair joined with representatives from SPTL, SLSA and CHULS and informally discussed issues relating to law teaching. These issues included wider access to the profession, Internet access to case law and legislation, contributions to the research of the Lord Chancellor's Department, legal services in the community and the problems facing law schools and law teaching. This seems to summarise the major issues that continue to concern us this year.
The future of the law degree: this meeting was hosted by the Law Society in London in late March, 2001. It was called as an opportunity to address some issues raised by the solicitors' profession, in particular concerning what is being taught on law degrees in the UK.
New developments
The Alt moves into the 21st century just like other organisations. The development of the ALT website and domain name is to be welcomed. The website is certainly worth visiting and will become a 'regular' as more information and updates are established.
We continue to represent law teachers, although we are not the only such group. We are actively looking at the direction of LERP and of the Association in general, and welcome contributions to these debates from all members of the Association.
Penny Booth
Chair, 2000-01
