Law graduates should pursue employment opportunities in the private sector rather than limit themselves to the legal profession, which is already saturated with lawyers, says Fiji Law Society president Wylie Clarke.
Responding to questions regarding Attorney-General Graham Leung’s comments at the Fiji Law Society convention in Nadi last weekend, Mr Clarke said there were not enough jobs in the profession.
Mr Leung had said 3915 complaints had been made to the Legal Practitioners Unit by members of the public since the unit’s inception.
“The number of law graduates needs to reduce significantly because of the fact that the market is already saturated with lawyers and there are simply not enough jobs for them in the legal profession,” Mr Clarke said.
“They should be working in other areas outside law because the law degree is a solid foundation for other work.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be in law, but we are concerned about these graduates that come out and don’t have a job, and they expect to start working as lawyers, but that’s not the case.
“It could be working in other areas in the private sector like insurance or banking, and maybe in commercial bodies and other businesses.”
Mr Clarke said the number of law firms had tripled over the past seven to eight years.
“The issue is that as the law currently is, any lawyer with three years legal experience can go out and practise on their own.
“The view we have is that this is simply not enough experience for these lawyers to be practising on their own account, because, in our view, they simply have not got enough experience or training to be able to deal directly with the public without supervision.”
Mr Clarke said the situation had prompted the large number of complaints against young lawyers who were not properly equipped with the training and experience necessary to be running law firms and dealing directly with members of the public.
“This is why the law society is submitting to the Government that the minimum experience should be increased to five.
“We are also recommending that lawyers be made to sit and pass a practice management course that equips them with training about running a business, managing a trust account, dealing with finances and all the elements involved with running a private practice.”
He said law graduates also needed to complete an ethics course to satisfy the Fiji Law Society that they had undertaken the necessary courses prior to dealing with the public.
