Grooming quality lawyers
THE recent recognition for the HELP Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Hons degree by the Malaysian Legal Profession Qualifying Board enables HELP University’s Faculty of Law and Government to redouble its efforts as a leading law school in grooming lawyers of quality and distinction. Graduates of the HELP LLB programme are now eligible to pursue the Certificate in Legal Practice to qualify as legal practitioners in Malaysia.
To suit the current need and demand, HELP University’s Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Hons programme is crafted with a curriculum incorporating practical modules. This includes Legal Skills and Legal Practice, taught by practitioners alongside substantive law subjects that any other university would offer, and all other fundamentals, in the three years.
These two additional modules expose students to the fundamentals of lawyering skills such as client counselling, negotiation, drafting, advocacy skills, mooting, managing a law firm and more. Everything is embedded in the two modules, and students are required to pass these two compulsory modules in order to move on. In addition to these practical components, students are introduced to core issues surrounding the legal field such as ethics and social justice.
Part of the legal skills taught is the focus on legal technology. According to one of the practitioners teaching legal skills in the HELP LLB programme, Darmain Segaran, who graduated from HELP University and University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), says, “Legal technology is a huge sector by itself, which is very quickly changing the face of the profession. It is used by lawyers to automate routine tasks and carry out various forms of analysis within a case file. It is also being used by non-lawyers to get faster and cheaper access to the law.
“Legal technology would force a shift in the direction of practice. It will not make lawyers redundant, but it will shift the scope of what a lawyer does. It also opens up opportunities to jobs that require legal education but are not necessarily in law firms. Many consulting companies are already looking for law graduates with technical understanding to help lead the law technology component of their services.”
Darmain is currently running his own practice as well as doing consulting work in the field of data privacy.
In one example of a legal technology class, students are introduced to one of the technologies that are beginning to be used in the legal sector – chatbots. A chatbot is a webbased tool that simulates conversation. First, students will look at rules-based chatbots that can be used to automate simple advisory topics using a decision tree. These topics are suggested by the students themselves. Next, they will look at a more complex version of the chatbot using a machine learning backend. Finally, they will introduce other forms of legal technology that are aimed at easing a lawyer’s burden.
Apart from the two additional modules mentioned above, the faculty provides a variety of other learning and practical experiences designed to strengthen students’ competencies. The law programme also requires the students to produce a Student Law Journal, which is similar to the Harvard Law Review. Here, the students set up their own editorial board and research, write and publish their own papers.
Moreover, HELP’S law students have their Law Students’ Conference, which other university students are invited to join. The conference is unlike a typical conference where academics are present; it is a conference for students to present. Several lawyers have commended HELP University’s law graduates and are saying that its quality graduates are what law firms look for. This is why HELP University’s mission is to continue to groom employable lawyers.
For the degree transfer programme, HELP partners with SOAS University of London, Cardiff University, UWE Bristol, Aberystwyth University, University of Liverpool, University of Manchester, University of Sheffield, Northumbria University, University of Hertfordshire and University of Leeds. This programme is fully accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency.
Recently, HELP University was awarded the Premier Digital Tech Uni status by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation, which recognises HELP as one of Malaysia’s leading digital techfocused tertiary institutions. HELP aims to enable all students to be knowledgeable in data analytics. Analytics modules are being widely embedded into academic programmes and every student is given a free Certificate in Big Data and Business Analytics course. The aim is to enhance their entrepreneurship capabilities and employability.
Join HELP’S inspiring LLB programme that grooms employable lawyers who are distinguished for their leadership, communication and organisational skills, and are highly sought after in the industry. Its next intake is on May 25. For more information on HELP’S Faculty of Law and Government, call 03-2716 2000 or 016-984 9038 (Amir Syah), or visit www.help.edu.my