(Assistant Professor), Notre Dame University, Lebanon.

(Solicitor and Lecturer in Law), Notre Dame University, Lebanon.

(Assistant Professor), Bishop’s University, Quebec, Canada.

© Abouchedid, Abouchedid, and Nasser
First published in Web Journal of Current Legal Issues in association with Blackstone Press Ltd.

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In view of the ongoing discussion concerning the adequacy of legal education in preparing law students to the legal practice, this study examines the attitudes and concerns of trainee lawyers in Lebanon to legal education and training. Trainee lawyers, senior lawyers, and officials from the Law Society were asked to respond to questions concerning the connection between teaching of law in universities and its subsequent practice in the community; the problems involved in the training program; the adequacy of training; and resource allocation of facilities provided by the institutions during the training period. These attitudes were elicited through in-depth open-ended interviews and questionnaires. The results showed that legal training in Lebanon did not adequately prepare trainee lawyers for the legal profession due to the discontinuity between legal education and training, lack of training received from their mentors, perfunctory supervision of trainee lawyers by the Law Society, shortage of facilities for training, and administrative decay. Trainee lawyers offered suggestions for the enhancement of the legal training program in Lebanon.

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Introduction

• The Nature of the Legal Training System of Lebanon

Method

• Sample
• Questionnaire
• Interviews
  • Procedure
  • Results and Discussion
  • Suggestions for Improvement

Conclusion

Bibliography

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It has now become commonplace to observe that the 1990s has witnessed the emergence of legal education as a separate area of inquiry often focusing on the various legal educative processes of law schools (e.g., Harris and Jones 1997; Twining 1994; Bradney 1992; Becher and Kogan 1992; Becher 1989). Curiously, despite the proliferation of legal educational studies, very few researches have sought to analyze the attitudes of trainee lawyers to legal education and training. Although it has been suggested that legal education is increasingly becoming part of educational research (Harris et. al. 1993), very few studies have concerned themselves with the evaluation of issues pertaining to legal education and training from a qualitative/quantitative methodological perspective.

While there is room for further exploration of legal educational issues based on questionnaires and interviews (Bradney 1997), the present study employs an admixture of qualitative and quantitative methodology of educational research (Verma et. al., 1994) in order to address itself to the issue of legal education and training in Lebanon. First, the study examines the attitudes of Lebanese trainee lawyers to the connection between teaching of law in universities and its subsequent practice in the community; the problems involved in the training program; the adequacy of training; and resource allocation of facilities provided by the institutions during the training period. Second, since the whole Lebanese society is still structured by its patriarchal past (Abouchedid and Nasser 1999), the study analyzes male and female attitudinal differences towards legal education and training. Third, the study is not intended to gauge aspects of the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of trainees with legal education and training, but to assess the reasons for these attitudes and thereby determine the likelihood of enhancing the course of legal education and training in Lebanon. Such an objective is not confined to the experience of Lebanon but has wider implications. The intention of the study is to transcend parochial concerns related to legal education and training. The authors hope that the study will contribute towards a better understanding of issues, concerns, and problems encountered by trainee lawyers in a worldwide context.

Legal training in Lebanon consists of two stages: academic and practical. The academic stage, carried out at schools of law, precedes the three-year practical training period which takes place at a law office under the direction of a senior lawyer (mentor).

At present, there are five university law schools in Lebanon, of which four are private fee-paying and one public. The Lebanese government runs the Lebanese University, while confessional communities administer and finance their own universities. The Catholic Monastic Orders, for instance, run Saint Joseph University, the University of the Holy Spirit, and La Sagesse. On the other hand, Muslim Philanthropic organizations run the Arab University of Beirut. Table 1 shows the distribution of student bodies at the five university law schools.

Table 1 shows that the majority of law students (68.2%) attend the secular non-fee-paying Lebanese University, while the private-run confessional universities cater primarily to members of their own sects. The composition of student bodies in these universities often mirrors the mosaic confessional structure of Lebanon. In addition, affluent persons attend private universities in Lebanon, leaving the public sector of education to the poorer families who cannot afford private university fees. Thus, differences in social background of the students in the private and public educational sectors pronounce the class structure of the Lebanese communities.

Table 1*.

Enrollment Statistics and Staff at the University Law Schools

University	Males	Females	Total	Staff
Lebanese University	6050	3758	9808 (68.2%)	169
Arab University of Beirut	1995	913	2908 (20.2%)	63
Saint Joseph University	187	308	496 (3.4%)	31
University of Holy Spirit	107	112	219 (1.52%)	15
La Sagesse	542	392	934 (6.5%)	48

*Center for Educational Research and development (CERD), 2001.

All university of law schools in Lebanon pattern after the French legal educational system which was introduced by the French Mandate of Lebanon in 1920. The medium of instruction, however, differs from a university to another. For instance, the Lebanese University and the Arab University of Beirut use Arabic as the main medium of instruction, while the University of the Holy Spirit, La Sagesse, and Saint Joseph University teach law in French, since the Catholic community in Lebanon has historically maintained and cherished strong cultural and linguistic ties with France. Despite the different orientations and affiliations of schools of law in Lebanon, their main mission is to prepare future leaders to fulfil legal, civil, and political posts that required knowledge of law (Reviews of Policy Papers Conducted by the Researchers). This means that not all law graduates seek legal training to become qualified lawyers. For example, according to recent statistics obtained by the researchers from the Law Society, 300 out of 622 law graduates enter the legal training program yearly and become lawyers after completing their training period, while the rest seek bureaucratic jobs either in the private sector or in the government. These jobs range from Kuttab Adl (Legal Writers) who prepare commercial contracts, to clerical administrative ones. A third group of law graduates receives a two-year legal training program which qualifies them to become future judges.

At the teaching level, a student of law studies compulsory subject matters such as civil law, contract and obligations law, the law of civil and criminal procedure, and commercial law. These courses are distributed across a four-year program of university education. From the personal experience of one of the researchers of this study, the teaching process is centered around classroom note-taking and traditional lecturing with little emphases on practical application of cases and research necessary for promoting reflective thinking among students. Students, in turn, memorize the material in order to pass the exams which are oriented toward quantity control rather than quality improvement. Furthermore, university faculty are not engaged in any process of program evaluation to check whether the subject matter is up to date or whether new courses need to be added to the legal curriculum.

Upon the completion of four years of university education, a law graduate can apply for a training program as a prerequisite for practicing law in courts. He/she has to satisfy five conditions in order to be eligible for training. These are: the candidate must have been a Lebanese citizen for at least ten years; should be between 20 and 65 years of age; should hold the Lebanese Baccalaureate Certificate, which is equivalent to the A level, plus a Lebanese law degree; should present a curriculum vitae; have a clean criminal record (Article 1. Chapter. 1, Section.5). The duration of the training period is three years. After the graduate has registered at the Law Society, his/her training commences at an appeal lawyer’s office (Article.11, Chapter 1, Section.2).

According to the obligations of trainees promulgated in Article 26, Chapter.2, Section 2 of legal training, the only requirement put on a trainee by the Law Society is to attend occasional lectures dealing with theoretical and practical legal matters. The theoretical part deals with topics related to the different aspects of law in general including the traditions and ethics of the legal profession. The practical part, however, is limited and focused on analyzing and solving legal cases obtained from the personal experience of trainees. In addition to attending lectures, the trainee should become affiliated by his/her own personal effort with a law office in which he/she would be entitled for training under the direct supervision of a senior lawyer or mentor. Under the guidance of his/her mentor, the trainee represents a client before the courts of law in the name of the lawyer where he/she receives training. After three years of practical training, the trainee must pass a final examination that has been prepared by the Law Society. He/she also has to fulfill the respective mentor’s requirements such as attending eighty trials and other clerical works in order to be eligible to practice the legal profession.

There are three crucial questions at the heart of the educational and legal training programs in Lebanon. Is there continuity between university education and the legal practice? Do training in a mentor’s office and attending lectures promote skills and competence-based knowledge among trainees? Is there a follow up of the progress of trainees? The present study attempts to answer these questions by analyzing the attitudes of trainees to legal education, the training at a law office, the facilities provided for training, the follow up of trainees, the usefulness of lectures, and the practical experience obtained by observing trials in courts.

One hundred and twenty trainee lawyers (72 males and 48 females) were randomly selected for the study. In terms of age, 40.4% were below 25, 44.7% between 26-30, and 14.9% above 30. Respondents were equally distributed between first, second, and third year of training. The sample represented 10% of the total number of trainee lawyers registered with the Law Society in Lebanon (n=1200).

The questionnaire consists of two parts. The first seeks to obtain background information about respondents such as age, gender, number of years in training, and marital status. The second part requires respondents to rate 15 items about their attitudes to training, facilities and support offered by the legal mentor, the follow up of trainees’ progress, and the role of official departments in facilitating the duties of trainees on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. In addition to these, the professional relationship between trainees and mentors and whether the training they received met their professional expectations were added to the questionnaire.

The questionnaire items were obtained from pilot interviews with trainee lawyers, legal trainers, senior lawyers, and officials from the Law Society. A pilot study was conducted with 7 trainee lawyers outside the main sample frame in order to ensure the clarity of the questionnaire items. The validity and reliability of the instruments came from interview data and panel discussions involving trainee lawyers (n=20) as well as senior lawyers (n=14). A Chi-Square test was used to analyze data obtained from questionnaires.

In order to verify and complement data obtained from the questionnaires, open-ended interviews with senior lawyers (n=20) were conducted. The interviewing schedule consisted of questions about the views of senior lawyers concerning legal training and the performance of trainers in general. In addition, trainee lawyers (n=23) were asked about their likes and dislikes about the Lebanese legal training system and the bureaucracies pertaining to it. In addition, trainees were asked by the authors to make their recommendations to enhance the quality of the legal training program.

In order to ensure a high response rate the questionnaire was administered to 150 trainee lawyers assuring them strict confidentiality. Respondents appeared to have no problems with the questionnaire, and the response rate was at nearly 88%. The interview process was carried out individually. Interviewees were responding enthusiastically and freely expressed their personal views and concerns regarding legal training and found the interview as a chance to get their worries off their chests.

The assessment of the training process through the direct involvement of trainees offers substantial information concerning the quality, appropriateness, and compatibility of the practical stage of training and the theoretical one. Many of the trainees interviewed expressed general statements about the value of legal education in Lebanon. They said that the theoretical and practical aspects of the training were poorly related. Concerning their views 72.1% of trainee lawyers did not feel that schools of law were able to familiarize them with the legal practice. The responses of trainee lawyers were shared by a senior lawyer who expressed the view during an interview conducted by the researchers that the legal Lebanese education system at the university level offers little to student knowledge of the legal practice and the legal-world. While there is a lack of fusion of the academic and practical stages of legal training in Lebanon (Abouchedid 1997), the results are indicative that the training which includes attending trials, content of lectures, or training in a mentor's office does not promote skills and competence-based knowledge among trainees.

Item 2 of Table 2 below shows the extent to which the office of law provides trainees with facilities needed for their learning about the legal profession. Furthermore, the derived data also indicate whether trainees were provided with the appropriate knowledge/skills as part of their training. The data are separated between males and females by classifying those who agree and those who strongly agree in one category and those who disagree and strongly disagree in another.

Table 2

Trainees’ Responses to Training

Items		Male	Female		p
1. Training is the only way to learn practicing the legal profession.	Agree	57	43	2.25	>0.05
	Disagree	15	5
2. The office provides me with the needed facilities to learn about the profession.	Agree	44	23	4.9	<0.05
	Disagree	16	21
3. The patron of my office gives me the time needed for my professional guidance.	Agree	43	26	1.8	>0.05
	Disagree	18	19
4. Attending trials is enough to acquire the skills and technical experience needed for the application of the trial rules and regulations.	Agree	27	6	10.2	<0.01
	Disagree	41	42
5. The training lectures are useful to learn about the legal profession and its practice.	Agree	23	10	3.3	>0.05
	Disagree	36	35
6. The ability to plea can mostly be acquired during the training period.	Agree	32	27	1.04	>0.05
	Disagree	35	20
7. The content of training meets with my expectations about the nature of the profession.	Agree	28	12	4.16	<0.05
	Disagree	35	35
8. The Law Society follows up and monitors the training process.	Agree	29	23	0.00	>0.05
	Disagree	28	22

The majority of the respondents reported that training on the applied level was important for learning about the legal profession. Legal training in Lebanon emphasizes the need to work outside the office, but trainee lawyers also need training in a law office in order to be familiar with how to prepare cases, read the laws pertaining to them, and learn about the profession in general. The facilities needed for a trainer practicing in a law office are: an independent room, a phone, a secretary, legal material, and a photocopier (Interview with a senior lawyer).

These facilities help the trainee carry out administrative tasks which include the follow up on cases, the collection of various official documents needed for trials in addition to clerical tasks assigned to him/her by the mentor. Data collected from interviews with trainee lawyers showed that facilities provided by law offices varied from office to office depending on their reputation and financial standing. Questionnaire data showed a significant gender difference on item 2 ( 4.9, df =1, p <0.05); male trainees agreed that law offices provided them with facilities needed for their learning and professional development more than females did. In addition, respondents disagreed that their mentors gave them the time needed for their professional guidance; with higher disagreements among females than males. Moreover, interview data obtained from female trainees showed that the mentor did not facilitate the assignments given to them and complained about discrimination against them in the work place. In addition, they felt they were at a disadvantage because they were kept from court cases.

Lack of a well-defined professional relationship between trainees and their mentors was investigated. Nearly half of trainees surveyed complained about the vague relation with the mentor. The trainee at the beginning of his/her training usually feels the need to be accepted in the office and start his/her training program, but they have not been adequately prepared for their tasks and do not know their rights. The mentors are always cognizant of this fact but since they enjoy a position of power they disregard the rights of trainees. In this respect, a senior lawyer asked during his lecture at the Law Society “if the moral and financial position of power of the mentor must necessarily lead to the exploitation of the trainees” (Antoun 1968, p 242). He added that mentors often abuse the relationship with trainees with the intention to gain the most from them with minimum investment in the mentoring process. Many trainee lawyers traced their dislike of the legal training program back in the vague relationship with their mentors and resented the power game in which they are the pawns, particularly in the absence of supervision of trainees by the Law Society.

Interview data show that the Law Society does not follow up the progress and performance of trainee lawyers. For instance, a senior lawyer said during an interview to one of the authors of the present study: “There is no supervision or follow up of trainees’ performance by the Law Society... trainees are left to get on with the job”. Questionnaire data showed that almost half of males and females surveyed agreed that the Law Society does not monitor and follow through the process of legal training. A number of trainee lawyers pointed to the implied threat to their training by lack of control on part of the Law Society. Interview data with senior lawyers showed that the perfunctory supervision of trainees’ training by the Law Society could open the door to patterns of exploitation. A senior lawyer said to a co-author of the present study, for example, that a mentor might ask a trainee lawyer to carry out menial tasks outside his/her job description such as preparing a cup of coffee for a visitor. Moreover, a senior lawyer mentioned during an interview conducted by the researchers that the Law Society had done very little in listening to the concerns and problems among trainee lawyers whether in the law offices or when dealing with nepotistic administrative bodies, which tend to obstruct the work of trainee lawyers (See Table 3).

Because of the overloaded nature of the work outside the office such as attending trials by trainees and their task of following up bureaucratic jobs required by the mentor, there seem to be little time for trainees to spend in the office in addition to lack of financial incentives for their work.

Table 3

Difference between Male and Female Trainees on Barrier Questions

Items		Male	Female		p
1. Treatment of the male trainee in the office differs from that of the female trainee	Agree	35	11	13.13	<0.001
	Disagree	21	32
2. In general, the official departments facilitate lawyers’ work.	Agree	5	4	0.096	>0.05
	Disagree	59	38

During an interview conducted by one of the researchers of the present study, a trainee lawyer said:

“I was running during weeks in the “Castle of Justice”, I had thought I always needed a head to be a lawyer, it needs also legs... many race in its corridors, there are unlimited steps to climb and descend in an immense world without air and charm which is the Castle of Justice”.

The majority of respondents did not feel that attending trials was appropriate to acquire skills needed for the application of the trial rules and regulations with a significant difference between those who agreed and those who did not (=10.2, df =1, p <0.01). In addition, the disrespect of trainees by judges is remarkable allowing little for trainees to learn and acquire experience. In the words of a trainee:

“The trainee’s mistake in pleading before a judge is an unforgettable crime. Their pleading opens a wide door for making fun, and all of his/her requests are rejected because they (judges) intend just to delay trainees’ work”.

Trainees’ duties are also obstructed by the Lebanese administration. The disrespect of the rights of trainees by the Lebanese administration has been cultivated from many centuries of Ottoman occupation. The nepotistic ties and unprofessional setting of the Lebanese administration make the work of trainees with the administration and government departments difficult. Both male and female trainee lawyers reported that judicial departments delay their tasks due to administrative decay and corruption. The former Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs described the typical Lebanese administrator as:

“He enters his office, sits at his desk, reads the newspaper, and orders his first cup of coffee. He is extremely polite to his friends, neutral or forbidding to the anonymous citizen. He takes a great deal of pleasure in formalities, in postponing transactions, and in withholding information. He works efficiently for about two hours out of a six-hour day, and in all his relations with ordinary citizens he conveys an aura of power and grandeur”. (Salem 1969, p 129)

While there was a general dissatisfaction with the role of the Law Society and administrative departments, there was also considerable discontent among trainees concerning the purpose and content of lectures which are prepared and offered by the Law Society. Both interview and questionnaire data showed that the Law Society failed to give lectures meeting the professional needs of trainees. Many of the trainees interviewed said that they did not benefit from the lectures since the topics were outdated and 40.2% of them disagreed and another 20.5% strongly disagreed that lectures offered by the Law Society were useful for introducing them to the legal profession and its practice. Rizk (1972) shared this finding by concluding that theoretical modes of scholarship and practical training did not contribute to the professional development of trainees since they were centered on learning by rote. Trainee lawyers further stressed the need for a closer integration of theory, practice, and skills within the legal educative process.

Both male and female trainees were disappointed in their choice of their profession. They reported that their disappointment resulted from two reasons: first, the lack of career guidance and orientation about the legal profession in schools and universities, and second, the lack of a preparatory stage which moves trainees from the academic level at the school of law to the practical one. Many of the people in authority are aware of the shortcomings of the legal training system in Lebanon but have done very little to improve it. A case in point was made by the former President of the Law Society who himself pointed in an opening speech in 1997 to the virtual divorce between the theoretical and practical parts of legal training. Expressing their dissatisfaction with the Law Society, many respondents reported that the Law Society did nothing to take their complaints into consideration or solve their problems. Moreover, they complained about the under-representation of trainees in the Law Society and many were unhappy with the lack of health insurance and financial benefits.

The authors asked trainee lawyers about their suggestions to enhance the legal training program in Lebanon. The majority of respondents demanded the establishment of an institution for legal training under the direct supervision of the Law Society. They also showed concern for the need to be given job descriptions that define their relationship with their mentors and called for direct supervision and follow up of their training by the Law Society. They further suggested that the purely abstract and academic lectures be illustrated with the recording of actual court cases. Finally, they asked for the promulgation of equal opportunity policies which give accessibility of people with special needs to the legal training program.

It is idle to pretend that enhancing the legal training system in Lebanon can be easily achieved in a short timescale due to financial constraints and shortage of facilities needed for training. However, the present study has shown that there is room for improving the practical part of legal training in Lebanon. A fusion of the academic stage of legal education with the legal practice is needed in the context of the “new pluralism” which integrates theory, practice, and skills within the legal educative process (Webb 1994). In this context, it is the duty of the Law Society to establish proper monitoring and evaluation of the legal educational process and practical training and to ensure that courses taught at schools of law are up to date and adequate. Moreover, the moral and ethical standards of the legal training system should be maintained and the relationship between mentors and trainee lawyers should be defined. Finally, the Law Society and community at large need to provide equality of access to legal education and training and undo gender discrimination in the work place since equality in society is an objective worth striving for. Finally, while there is a distinct paucity of legal educational studies which analyze the attitudes of students and trainees to legal education and training, future research in the area should focus on law school-based evaluation by making use of students, law teachers, and legal trainers as data source for improving the course of legal education and training.

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