The National Law Society – Advocacy and the Vulnerable Training
Dear Colleagues
Advocacy and the Vulnerable Training
Lead facilitators and facilitators recruitment
Following a number of high-profile cases, where advocates were criticised for the techniques used to question vulnerable witnesses, Judge Rook established a cross-professional working group to develop training. The professional bodies have now undertaken to deliver this training to their members by 2018.
This training will be delivered partly online and partly in small-groups of up to 16 people. A register will be developed listing those who have completed the training, and it is likely that the judiciary will increasingly consult this list to discover whether advocates before them have completed the training.
The Law Society is currently seeking lawyers who would like to fulfil the role of lead facilitator or facilitator. This will involve:
- attending a lead facilitator (LF) or facilitator training session – currently, the LF training session is scheduled for 16 April 2016 (although there may be one other session) and the facilitator training will be on 21 May 2016.
- acting as the Law Society’s link and ambassador for your region in relation to this training (LF only)
- acting as a training mentor for facilitators in your region (LF only)
- delivering a minimum number of training days to new facilitators throughout the lifespan of the training programme (May 2016 to December 2018) (LF only)
- delivering a minimum number of training days to solicitor advocates
Facilitators and lead facilitators will train solicitor advocates from June 2016 until December 2018.
The Law Society would like to ask for your help, in getting the word out that we are recruiting for both lead facilitators and facilitators for the Advocacy and the Vulnerable training programme. The Law Society will pay an honorarium of £200 for each training session and we will be scheduling two sessions for each training day. You will be able to deliver the training to your own firm free of charge, as long as the Law Society has been notified in advance of the session and all delegate details have been shared. The ATC will carry out ad hoc checks of the training to ensure that facilitators are meeting the prescribed requirements of the course. In addition to this, the Law Society will monitor feedback from participants by conducting post-event evaluation surveys.
If you are interested, or know someone who might be interested, in becoming a lead facilitator or facilitator then please a open a read-only version of the Application Form , complete it or pass along. To be returned to [email protected] no later than 15 March.