by Ganesh Sahathevan

Giles Proctor

Giles Proctor, chief executive, College of Legal Practice

The cut-price UK legal education provider College Of Legal Practise has promoted itself actively in the UK over the past year.

First, in the Lawyer, quoting parent company College of Law Ltd 's CEO Neville Carter:

“The hallmark of the Australian model is delivery of learning directly into the workplace within a very flexible framework of work placement. The model drives access to the legal services market and fuels the growth of employment opportunities. We believe that the reforms in England and Wales provide an opportunity for us to share what we have learnt in Australia and across Asia and assist in shaping new models and pathways in England and Wales.”

Carter's comments about Asia are curious , for in Asia the College's model failed, and questions about its operations there remain unanswered (see story below). The very existence of its "College Of Law Asia", once headquartered in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, remains in doubt.

Then the Law Society Gazette reported:

Giles Proctor, chief executive, told the Gazette last week that the courses are designed for online delivery and incorporate lectures, practice questions, one-to-one supervision and group workshops. ‘We don’t have any campuses or buildings to maintain and we don’t have a big academic staff to maintain full-time. It’s an interesting model,’ Proctor said.

The model is indeed " interesting". As reported by this writer, the College's faculty in Malaysia, like its headquarters, disappeared abruptly, and without explanation:

College Of Law Sydney's Malaysian advisers silent even though Malaysian LLM faculty has disappeared

The College Of Law has in fact lost market share in Australia, and survives in no small part due to poor governance by the regulator, the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board.

The College Of Legal Practise, its directors and managers ought to be more forthright about "what we have learnt in Australia and across Asia".

END

TO BE READ WITH

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Australia's College Of Law and its Malaysian advisers maintain silence despite escalating investigation into the College's business partners in Malaysia

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The worrying silence from the. College Of Law Sydney's Malaysian advisers continues, even though its Malaysian LLM faculty has disappeared , and despite the escalating investigation into the College's business in Malaysia.

The College has lost market share in Australia; a matter revealed by its own founding member, the NSW Law Society. The NSW Law Society has kept its findings quiet, even as its College expands overseas on the back of its connection to the Society.

TO BE READ WITH

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Escalating investigation into the College Of Law Sydney's business in Malaysia calls for intervention by Cth AG Christian Porter : Cth intervention required given regulatory failures by NSW AG Speakman and his officers at the NSW LPAB

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The Malaysian investigation into the College Of Law Sydney's business in Malaysia has been escalated. Brought to public attention by a story in the investigative website New Malaysia Times, there is now an official investigation by a Malaysian government agency into the work of senior Malaysian judicial officers who dealt with the College and its officers.

As reported last year on this blog the questions about the College's activities in Malaysia had been put by this writer to the two parties ultimately responsible for regulating the College's activities, the Attorney General NSW Mark Speakman and the Legal Professional Admission Board NSW.

The NSW LPAB and the AG Speakman had however chosen to not act on the information provided, and instead chose to accuse this writer of harassment, and threatening and intimidating the AG and the College's management.

The NSW LPAB and the AG have gone so far as to object to the Attorney General Malaysia being informed about the College's activities in Malaysia.

They have also excluded from the LPAB's 2018 and earlier Annual Reports , which the AG tables in the NSW Parliament, complaints against the College and its management, and in particular statements on the official record that they have made in support of the College in response to the complaints.

NSW AG Speakman's ongoing attempts cover-up these matters despite the College's cavalier conduct overseas while relying on the NSW legal establishment's imprimatur puts the Commonwealth Attorney General Christian Porter in a position where he must intervene in order to save the country embarrassment.

TO BE READ WITH

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Malaysia will investigate NSW AG and LPAB oversight of the College Of Law: College's Malaysian business removes protective mantle; likely to further expose LPAB Annual report exclusions

by Ganesh Sahathevan

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The story below was published by the well connected Malaysian investigative new site New Malaysia Times. An investigation by all the relevant Malaysian authorities can be expected, and that will involve a forensic examination of the College Of Law Sydney.

Questions about the College's activities in Malaysia have been put by this writer to the two parties ultimately responsible for regulating the College's activities , the Attorney General NSW Mark Speakman and the Legal Professional Admission Board NSW.

The queries have been met with accusations, by the LPAB and the AG of harassment , threat and intimidation by this writer of the College's management.They have gone so far as to object to the Attorney General Malaysia being informed about the College's activities in Malaysia
They have also excluded from the LPAB's 2018 and earlier Annual Reports , which the AG tables in the NSW Parliament complaints against the College and its management; and in particular statements on the official record that they have made in support of the College.

All the above is now likely to be investigated in Malaysia.
END

Bar Council education ‘JV’ must be clarified

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 – The Malaysian Bar Council launched its first education venture, a LLM in Malaysian Legal Practise (LLM), last year in collaboration with the College Of Law Australia.

The LLM does not seem to have the approval of Malaysia’s Legal Professional Qualifying Board (LPQB) but the website for the course, which is hosted in Australia, prominently displays the Bar Council crest.

The crest has not been used before to promote a course of study, and queries put to Bar Council President Fareed Gafoor about the use of the crest have been acknowledged but remain unanswered.

NMT has however sighted an email from Fareed dated Friday, May 24, 2019 with regards the LLM and the use of the crest where he states:

Dear Rajen,

We can’t remain silent on this.

Abdul Fareed Bin Abdul Gafoor

Sent from my iPad

It is understood that “Rajen” refers to Rajen Devaraj, Chief Executive Officer of the Bar Council Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur.

The Bar has remained silent for nearly 2 months since.

Key person suddenly retired during extensive query

The College of Law used to be represented in Malaysia by its Director, Peter Tritt. Tritt have been queried extensively about the LLM and about the College’s business in Malaysia but has refused to provide answers. Tritt has been based in Kuala Lumpur since 2017 but announced on Friday that he had “retired” from the College on 30 June 2019.

It is understood that Tritt has forwarded queries sent him to his head office in Sydney and hence it appears that Tritt is under orders from his Chief Executive, Neville Carter, to remain silent.

Questionable advertising claims?

In advertising on the College’s website Carter has claimed that he had established a Professional Legal Training course for Malaysian Law students seeking admission to practise in Malaysia. There seems to be no evidence of such a course, or of any national level training course for the existing Certificate of Legal Practise.

Carter has also claimed to have produced the “inaugural” Handbook in Legal Practise for Malaysia, in the late 80s. A search of the main law libraries in Malaysia directed by the Chief Registrar, Federal Court Malaysia, has not found any such handbook.

He has also claimed to have, during that time to have identified and addressed “gaps” in Malaysian legal practise, but not even those in practice during that period and since have ever heard of him. Nor are senior practitioners aware of “gaps” that needed that to be addressed by external consultants.

As CEO of the College Carter has ultimate responsibility for the College’s Malaysian operation headed by Tritt and variously named the “College Of Law Asia Pacific” and the “College Of Law Asia”. A search by NMT has not revealed any entities registered under those names in Malaysia or in Australia, not even a foreign entities registered to conduct business in Malaysia.

Meanwhile the College, in collaboration with the Bar Council continues to sell its LLM and other courses in Malaysia, deriving a fee income from Malaysian courses.

-NMT

See also