Legal education in India has witnessed transformation from its early origins as a professional practice of law in courts to an autonomous discipline, founding Vice Chancellor of O P Jindal Global University Professor C Raj Kumar has said.
Kumar was speaking at a session themed “Educating Global Lawyers” at the Harvard Law School’s World Bicentennial Summit held on October 26-27, 2017 at Harvard University.The session discussed the challenges of adapting legal education curricula to the rapidly changing needs of employers, workplaces and society as they moved further into the 21st century.
The Bicentennial Summit at the Harvard began with an inaugural session which was also addressed by six judges of the US Supreme Court – all of whom were alumni of Harvard Law School besides over 250 speakers from around the world.
“Legal education in India has transformed from its early origins as a professional practice of law in courts to an autonomous discipline of law that fulfils a broader set of social, economic and educational goals and aspirations.”The evolution of legal education in India has raised the standards of the legal profession and has further accentuated the impact of economic globalisation in a range of legal services,” he said.
Kumar said the globalisation of legal profession has impacted the nature and context of legal practice in India but a vast number of law schools and lawyers are not prepared to effectively address this change.