BPP expansion plans trigger JLD crisis talks
Related images
The Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) is to hold an emergency meeting to discuss BPP Law School’s plans to expand into Cambridge, Liverpool and Newcastle.
The meeting scheduled for 6 November is aimed to gauge members’ views on BPP’s shock expansion plans, announced last Friday (read more), and to build an official response to be submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
JLD committee member Kevin Poulter argued: “How can expansion be right in a time when the profession is still contracting, with however many thousands of those graduating from the LPC left without a training contract?
“I would like to invite the SRA to consult the JLD, the profession in general and other LPC providers with decisions like this.”
Poulter claimed that an expansion only encourages students to apply, and due to BPP’s high profile, another knock-on effect will be the effect on legal institutions already established in those cities.
“Are we seeing fair competition? BPP will send out its glossy brochures that will trump and push institutions out of the market, such as Northumbria [Law School], which has a good, if not excellent standard of LPC,” said Poulter.
In response to JLD’s arguments, BPP’s chief executive Peter Crisp said: “I think that is a very naïve and very narrow view. The JLD should be welcoming this as it’s helping students by making programmes more accessible and affordable by bringing the programmes to them rather than bringing them to the programme.”
Crisp added that BPP is trying to raise standards and bring a high quality programme to as many students as possible, while being absolutely explicit about the amount of training contracts available.
“It is completely illogical, the notion that somehow the JLD should control where and when law schools should expand to. I think it is also insulting to students, as they do their own research, look into the courses and therefore go in with their eyes open. We should allow students to make an informed decision,” added Crisp.
If JLD committee members are in agreement, the arguments will be taken to the SRA and lobbied in the hope of a response, prior to authorisation by the SRA validation planned to take place in the New Year.
BPP’s decision to launch three new centres comes just weeks after the law school opened bases in Birmingham and Bristol. The move will result in BPP having nine branches compared to College of Law’s eight.
Readers' comments (96)
Prinish Patel | 27-Oct-2010 11:46 am
Am sure that the SRA has enough time on its hands to deal with this ......if it can drag itself away from its joint consultation on qualifying law degrees!!
Ps - Northumbria Law School?!! No comparison to BPP ....
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Sharon QC | 27-Oct-2010 11:58 am
And, where, may I ask Mr Poulter, is the emergency meeting going to be held? Within the M25? Because, obviously, the legal sector doesn't exist outside London .......
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Bryan Simmons | 27-Oct-2010 11:59 am
Think Peter Crisp has avoided genuinely answering to the general opinion of the JLD. Crisp has shunned the argument that it's not about where you can study the LPC, the increasingly dangerous sitaution is what after the LPC?
Dear Mr Crisp, what good is it for someone who can study the LPC in their home town, such as Newcastle, when no training contract is realistically available to them considering the unprecedented number of LPC graduates and training contracts available?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 27-Oct-2010 12:20 pm
I live in Liverpool - only one LPC provider in the city at the moment. Not sure that's fair competition to be honest.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Reg | 27-Oct-2010 1:11 pm
Pray where did the 9 JLD committee members study law?
Chester
Notts
Leeds
Manchester
Chester
Huddersfield
Guildford
London
York.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
frank | 27-Oct-2010 1:22 pm
cant stop, got emergency mtg with JLD ..cancel all leave
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 27-Oct-2010 5:13 pm
Well done JLD for taking your members and potential members issues seriously. Lots more unemployed, seriously in debt law students should not be actively encouraged.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Alex | 27-Oct-2010 6:48 pm
What the JLD is doing is both embarrassing and unprofessional. Their high profile fretting after a commercial decision has been made is pathetic and a good example of why so few lawyers engage with the organisation.
Representation of the junior levels of the profession has got worse since the ill-judged decision to merge the Trainee Solicitors’ Group and the Young Solicitors’ Group. Whilst the latter group was undoubtedly failing, the former was strong and respected. As happens with such organisations though, as the committee approached qualification they sought to extend their time by changing the rules. T
he result is this – a powerless organisation which fails to represent the junior members of the profession in an effective manner. Crisp is quite right to question their motives.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Simon Baker | 28-Oct-2010 0:02 am
Sorry to rain of this particular parade, but there are no "crisis talks" or even an "emergency meeting". There is a regular Saturday JLD meeting on 6th November - but this had been planned for months.
However this doesn't detract from the fact that the ever increasing numbers of LPC places provided by BPP (and others) far out-strips the declining number of training contracts available. The sad reality is, thanks to this "dash for cash" by profit making institutions like BPP, at an average cost of approx £10K , the only certainty at the end of an LPC course for an increasing number of BPP's students is debt.
But it is likely, as the JLD is concerned with the welfare of JLD students and junior lawyers, that this will be raised at Saturdays meeting.
Simon Baker
JLD Executive Officer
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Annalisa Checchi | 28-Oct-2010 10:48 am
@Reg
I am not sure what you are trying to get at with your comment about where the JLD exec committee studied law??
As Simon said, we have a regular JLD national committee meeting on Saturday 6 November which has been scheduled since the beginning of 2010. It is a meeting where representatives from all the local JLD groups from around the country to meet to discuss what is happening to junior lawyer members around the country.
@Alex
I completely disagree and find your comments highly unprofessional and embarassing. If you are that jaded by or do not like what the JLD are doing then why don't you get involved. It is very easy to sit there passively and criticise. The JLD has only been around for the last 3 years and it is constantly evolving. The exec committee give up considerable amounts of their time both at work and outside of work to create opportunities for the JLD.
If you worked as hard as we did, then maybe you would not be so quick to comment.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment