Opportunities in challenging times: Teaching a professional legal training programme during and after the pandemic

Abstract

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities). Whether we like them or not, COVID-19 has brought new challenges to higher education; whether we seize them or not, COVID-19 has also brought new opportunities for enhancement in teaching and learning of law and lawyering skills. In this paper, we share how we have adapted to the challenges to the HKU Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) programme brought by the global epidemic. As the necessary common qualification for entry to the legal profession, the PCLL admits not only local law graduates but also overseas returnees with qualifying law degrees from any common law jurisdiction who aspire to practise law in Hong Kong. It is practice-oriented and skill-based with transactional and procedural knowledge of different areas of legal practice as contexts for skills training. These salient features amplify the impact on the conventional modus operandi of the PCLL brought by the public health concerns, travel restrictions and quarantine requirements during the pandemic. On the other hand, in the middle of every challenge finds opportunity. We utilise different facets of technology, from pre-recording large group classes for transmission of knowledge, live streaming demonstration of skills, conducting online one-on-one and small group practical sessions via e-conferencing software, to online proctored examinations. On reflection, some of the learning in a virtual classroom in fact mimic changes in real life legal practices, which has made the training in the PCLL even closer to the ‘new normal’ reality. In this paper, extrapolating the experience in a core course of the PCLL at HKU, we argue that the pandemic has destructed constructively the inertia of teachers and students against e-learning and the paradigm for the post pandemic world will shift on how the tech-assisted learning environment can better blend with (instead of replacing) the face-to-face mode of teaching.