ABSTRACT
Learning in law is a process of shaping identity, gaining self-understanding and becoming part of a community. Professional socialisation is a key aspect of this professional development, and in countries such as Ireland with an apprenticeship model of training, the law school and the firm are central to the process of transformation. This chapter focuses on an intervention study by the Law Society of Ireland with trainee solicitors at the professional legal education level in the form of a two-month course entitled ‘Certificate in Legal Ethics and Lawyering Skills’. This intervention embraces experiential learning and a wide view of ethics that moves beyond a defensive rule-based approach and supports trainees in grappling with ethics and negotiating within the more rigid and collectively based moral discourses which are a necessary part of constructing professional identity.
The theory underlying the intervention course relies on a constructivist theoretical understanding of a developmental continuum of moral motivation and commitment and the idea that most people’s self-understanding of values and moral reasoning continues to grow and develop over their lifetime. The research draws on the theories of James Rest and on Muriel Bebeau’s work arising from the ‘Four Component Model of Morality’, both to inform the curriculum for the intervention and to measure the outcomes. Furthermore, the trainees’ reflections on the effectiveness of the pedagogic methods employed affirm that by forefronting professional identity and being explicit about ethics, they have a greater awareness of ethics and their professional identity and a greater determination to practice ethically as lawyers.
