A law degree is only the first step towards becoming a professional lawyer who is ready to be called to the Bar. The Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP) will help you gain practical legal knowledge and gain competencies in lawyer skills, practice management, professional ethics, as well as the personal attributes needed to successfully practice law in Canada.
Today’s lawyers need to do more than understand the law. In order to thrive in a professional legal environment, they must build strong relationships, demonstrate empathy and compassion, communicate effectively, manage their time and their practice, make ethical value-based decisions, and build trust.
Built on best practices from around the world, PREP delivers these practical skills and competencies in a consistent, integrated approach that combines interactive, transactional learning and simulation within four distinct phases. Three educational phases (Foundation Modules, Foundation Workshops and Virtual Law Firm) and one evaluative phase (Capstone).
Foundation Modules
Consists of 12 online self-directed modules that provide a foundation in all the PREP competencies. Throughout the modules, you will complete quizzes, activities, assignments and reflections.
- The Effective Lawyer
- Professional Ethics and Character
- Indigenous Law, Cultures and People
- Research
- Legal Writing
- Legal Drafting
- Client Relationship Management
- Interviewing
- Negotiation
- Oral Advocacy
- Practice Management
- Technology and the Future of Legal Practice
Through these modules, you will have an opportunity to develop and assess your skills, building a strong foundation from which to tackle increasing complexity as you progress through the program.
Foundation Workshops
Here, you will come together in a live online environment for five consecutive days and interact with each other and your Facilitators through interactive workshops that focus on experiential learning, which includes role-playing in the areas of interviewing, negotiating, and advocacy. You will also participate in workshops that address ethical, client management and practice management scenarios.
The focus is on integrating knowledge and skills development in social environments, getting feedback, and applying what you learned in the Foundation Modules. The workshops will prepare you to manage a legal matter during the next phase.
Virtual Law Firm
You will put your foundational training to the test, working as a lawyer in a Virtual Law Firm, you will manage multiple aspects of a legal file throughout its life cycle in an online environment. You will work through three legal matters comprised of three practice areas: business law, criminal law, and family law.
You will complete and submit various deliverables during each legal rotation, such as Simulated Client interviews, oral advocacy, negotiation, legal writing, research, legal drafting, ethics and client relationship management. All while receiving feedback from trained Assessors and coaching on the development of their competencies. You will also receive coaching and mentoring from your Practice Manager during each rotation.
Capstone Evaluation
In this final evaluation, you will demonstrate your skills and competencies in one final simulated transaction over four consecutive days. You will complete tasks demonstrating your competence in decision-making, provide your client with ethical and professional representation and use the appropriate case management and technical tools to guide your work.
The program builds on each prior phase, building in complexity and requiring you to develop competencies through tasks that assess not just your knowledge, but how you apply your lawyer and practice management skills and demonstrate professionalism, ethics, and values.
PREP takes you from just reading about legal activities to carrying them out yourself within the simulations, playing out real-life scenarios and learning from your successes and mistakes.
Combined with articling, and your legal education, PREP prepares you to meet the highest standards of lawyer skills, practice management, professional ethics, and good character.
