This book takes a practical, design-based research approach to enhance and refine learning design principles for legal education. Drawing on extensive research conducted at University College London, including interviews with legal practitioners, students, and educators, it explores what sets legal education apart from other fields. It identifies what works in online courses and offers strategies to bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world legal practice, making legal education more effective and affordable.
The book formulates seven essential legal skills and provides practical guidance on teaching these skills in both traditional and online learning environments. It also introduces a comprehensive set of learning design principles tailored to legal education. While the focus is on the legal field, the findings and recommendations have broader applications across various disciplines.
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Glossary of key terms
Introduction
Part I. The Unique Features of Legal Education and Online Learning
1. The Unique Features of Legal Education
2. Online Technologies in Legal Education
Part II. Applying Education Theories to the Teaching of Law
3. Scaffolding and Narratives for Learning
4. Conversational Framework
5. Learning Through Video
6. Designing Videos for Online Learning
7. What Do Learners Like in Online Courses?
8. Putting Theory Into Practice: Creating an Online Course
9. What Works in Design for Legal Education?
Part III. Making Legal Education More Relevant To The Practice Of Law
10. The Seven Essential Legal Skills
11. Making Legal Education More Relevant To The Practice Of Law
Part IV. Making Legal Education More Affordable
13. Making Legal Education More Affordable to Learners and Educators
Part V. Learning Design Principles for Legal Education
14. Learning Design Principles for Lawyers
Bibliography
Professor Yarik Kryvoi is an academic with the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and the co-founder of the Arbitration Lab. He specialises in international and comparative law, with a particular focus on dispute resolution and foreign investment law. Professor Kryvoi has published extensively and managed large-scale projects on international dispute resolution, international economic law, investment law as rule of law.
Born in Belarus, he has spent most of his life researching, teaching, and practising law in the United Kingdom. His recent degrees include an LLM from Harvard Law School and a PhD from University College London. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 2009, and prior to going into private practice he served as an extern law clerk for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Subsequently, he practised international law and dispute resolution law with Morgan Lewis & Bockius in Washington and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. Before joining BIICL, he worked as a full-time law professor in London.
Professor Kryvoi has over 25 years’ experience as a university teacher and as an instructor for experienced practitioners, government lawyers and academics. His experience includes in-house training sessions for law firms and government officials, primarily in the United Kingdom, Asia, and the former Soviet Union. His personal website is www.kryvoi.net.
Like the future of so many other areas of human endeavour, the future of legal education is undoubtedly digital, and this book provides the roadmap for how educators can adapt to the considerable changes which this will involve, while still maintaining a strong connection to the practical skills and ethical standards which will always be needed in the legal profession. I recommend this book to anyone involved in the design, delivery, or administration of legal education.
The Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, former President of the UK Supreme Court
Dr Kryvoi’s original and insightful book demonstrates that online courses should not be seen as a convenient substitute for in-person education, but rather as a mode of pedagogy that can, with care, offer advantages not available in the traditional model.
Joan Donoghue, former President, International Court of Justice
This book offers a challenging critique of legal education as well as the pathway to a more inclusive and effective future. The key is to bring legal education into the digital age. It is an impressively interdisciplinary argument, beautifully constructed and charmingly illustrated.
Diana Laurillard, Professor of Learning with Digital Technology, UCL; former Head of the e-Learning Strategy Unit, Department for Education and Skills, UK Government
With his wealth of experience as both a scholar and practitioner, Professor Kryvoi shows how digital platforms can democratize legal learning, making it affordable and accessible to aspiring lawyers worldwide and make them better equipped to address the complex challenges of the modern legal landscape.
Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
The book ‘Educating Lawyers in the Digital Age: From Theory to Practice’ takes a unique approach by exploring the ways for applying educational theories to teaching in law.
Prof. G.S. Bajpai, Senior Professor & Vice-Chancellor, National Law University Delhi
What sets this book apart is its practical approach, grounded in cognitive psychology and education theory, which offers innovative solutions for delivering just-in-time, online training that is accessible, effective, and scalable across jurisdictions. Professor Kryvoi’s work is insightful reading for legal educators and practitioners alike who are committed to preparing the next generation of lawyers for a globally integrated, technology-driven legal landscape.
Benjamin Barratt, Knowledge Director, Clifford Chance