If you are a student-at-law, you have likely heard of the CPLED Program. It stands for the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education and is the licensing program of the Law Society of Alberta. It is also offered in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and, from the law societies’ point of view, it is considered a highly valuable and consistent educational experience for students-at-law.
LESA administers the CPLED Program on behalf of the Law Society of Alberta with LESA’s Executive Director Jennifer Flynn directing the CPLED-Alberta Program.
“We realize that this is a challenging time for students, so CPLED has been designed to bridge the gap between law school and the practice of law. Our goal is to provide a highly valued learning experience while at the same time providing a fair, valid, and reliable assessment,” explains Jennifer.
To prepare students-at-law to practice law in Alberta, the CPLED Program is based on a variety of competencies including:
- Lawyering skills
- Practice management skills
- Ethics and professionalism
- Legal knowledge
“CPLED is a valuable learning experience because it is emulating the professional experience in that when you go through the CPLED process you’ll learn about: meeting with the client, doing research, and then applying research in a real way,” says Arman Chak, Learning Group Facilitator for the CPLED program.
http://vimeo.com/59531278
Justin and Marissa, recent graduates of the CPLED Program, share their perspective.
Visit the LESA website to learn more about the CPLED Program.
