The research shows little consistent criticism of the content of law courses by employers. However there are areas of concern which have been noted by employers such as a lack of understanding of substantive legal ethics and legal research skills which employers regard as the responsibility of the law schools. Evidence suggests that practitioners want more emphasis on "hard skills" such as document drafting and problem-solving and less on the "soft skills" that could more readily be learned "on the job" although there are a growing number of LLB courses trying to develop these soft skills to increase employability.
The synthesis finds that work experience is an attribute that can significantly enhance employability although identifies that there is a gap in the research regarding the impacts of work experience undertaken as part of law degrees. It says it is likely that this type of work experience can be more useful for trainee recruitment purposes than as a learning experience. It also identifies a gap in exploitation of the opportunity for increasing employer engagement through participation of pro bono activities.
