Data-driven university didactics: practice-oriented teaching and learning in law

UHH/Dingler

Fewer and fewer fully qualified lawyers are being trained in Germany: Compared to the year 2000, 40% fewer trainee lawyers were hired throughout Germany in 2018. Accordingly, in 2001, 10,000 lawyers obtained the qualification to become a judge, whereas in 2017, this figure was only 7,500 [1]. So while the supply of qualified lawyers is decreasing, demand is increasing at the same time: according to a 2019 study by the German Association of Judges, up to 41% of judges and public prosecutors are expected to retire by 2031 [2]. As a result, professional associations of the state judiciary, such as the German Association of Judges [3], as well as professional associations of private-sector lawyers, such as the BRAK [4], have been complaining about a dramatic shortage of young talent for several years.

While fewer and fewer lawyers are entering the legal clerkship, the number of law students increased steadily between 2007 and 2016 [5]. This comparison makes it clear that the gap in the number of young lawyers in Germany is largely due to the university part of the training. In line with this, a survey conducted by the German Bar Association (DAV) with almost 1,000 participants in 2020 found growing dissatisfaction among students and trainee lawyers [6].

The problems of studying law at university are manifold: around 70% of students take a non-university, paid revision course in preparation for the final examination they are aiming for, the first state examination in law [7]. In the eyes of most students, studying law therefore does not seem to prepare them sufficiently for the final law examinations. Law studies are also confronted with problems of social equality [8]. In addition, 75% of the dropouts surveyed stated that the lack of practical relevance was one of the reasons for dropping out [9]. However, it is precisely this that has a motivating and identification-creating effect in education [10]. Conversely, a lack of practical orientation could be seen as an argument for greater practical relevance. According to a survey by the DAV: "83% of all respondents also think that training should focus more on practical relevance and exchange with practitioners." [11]

The desire of the student body for more practical relevance during their university studies is not only evident in surveys, but also in the actions of the students themselves. In addition to the high popularity of moot courts and street law/know your rights initiatives that can be found in some places, this is particularly evident in the area of clinical legal education.

Specifically, in 2008, German legislation legalized for the first time the provision of free legal services by non-lawyers. According to the explanatory memorandum to the law, the intention was to close gaps in the legal services landscape, such as those that exist in the area of migration law [12]. In fact, this was the first time that legal advice was provided by students in Germany. Since 2008, around 60 so-called law clinics have been set up in law faculties, of which only a minority are institutionally linked to a university/law faculty (and this is where the students' own initiative is evident) [13]. In these law clinics, students provide free legal advice alongside their regular studies, i.e. it is a "service learning" concept. While the education policy discourse repeatedly deals with large-scale reforms, the majority of which fail [14], students have created facts and driven the legal didactic innovation process forward.

Against this background, we want to determine how law teachers perceive their own didactic activities and what role practice-based teaching methods play in this. Roughly speaking, our research project therefore consists of comparing the students' desire for greater practical relevance in university legal education with the perspective of the lecturers. We see a great need for this in Germany in particular, because: "Germany is one of the few countries in which university lecturers are not allowed to work as lawyers on a part-time basis and thus establish practical references from their own experience," says Prof. Dr. Kilian from the Soldan Institute in Cologne [15].

With our research, we want to contribute to ensuring that university policy considerations, which deal with the increased integration of practice-oriented forms of teaching into university legal education, are based on the broadest possible analysis of the actual circumstances. This should not only take into account the fact that students want more practical relevance. A comprehensive consideration of relevant reform measures should also include the thoughts of teachers as key didactic figures [16].

Our personal motivation is the result of our own involvement in the German Refugee Law Clinics movement. Here we deal with the "access to justice" problem and therefore primarily with cases in which people are denied fair access to justice. In the medium term, the access to justice problem will become even more acute if the problem of young legal talent cannot be solved: An overburdened judiciary decides slowly and inaccurately, legal advice as a scarce commodity increases in price. This is why we now want to take responsibility for research and contribute to ensuring that reform efforts that attempt to solve the problem of the next generation of lawyers can draw on a differentiated basis for decision-making.

And here the student group in their own words (German): 

Literature:

• [1] „Juristen-Mangel in Deutschland: Zu wenige Richter und lange Justiz-Verfahren“
• [2] „Gigantische Pensionierungs-Welle, kaum Nachwuchs: Richter warnt vor Justiz-Kollaps“
• [3] „Justiz verliert 10.000 Richter und Staatsanwälte“
• [4] „Juristenmangel in Deutschland: Richterinnen und Anwälte dringend gesucht“
• [5] „Wie viele Jura-Studierende und -Absolventen gibt es in Deutschland?“
• [6] „DAV kämpft für Nachwuchs: Forum Update Jurist*innenausbildung“
• [7] Lueg in „Das Jurastudium – Elitär, überfordernd, reformbedürftig?“
• [8] Heublein/Hutzsch/Kracke/Schneider in Die Ursachen des Studienabbruchs in den Studiengängen des Staatsexamens Jura, 2017, S. 34.
• [9] Ebd. S. 10.
• [10] Ebd., S. 90.
• [11] „Reformbedarf - Sind Jurastudium und Examen noch zeitgemäß?“
• [12] Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Neuregelung des Rechtsberatungsrechts; Drucksache 16/3655, 2006, S. 39.
• [13] Kilian/Wenzel in AnwBl 10/2017, S. 963-965.
• [14] „Was bisher nicht geschah (und warum)“
• [15] „Zukunftsherausforderungen der Rechtswissenschaft als Professionswissenschaft“, S. 705.
• [16] Helmke/Schrader in Handwörterbuch Pädagogische Psychologie, 2010, S. 277.