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Innovative legal businesses such as Riverview Law, Co-operative Legal Services and Parabis are demanding a new approach to educating and training new lawyers as they create different roles for them, such as project management and data analysis.

The College of Law is to target expansion of its new undergraduate law degree following its sale to Montague Private Equity. The deal separates the legal education and training business from the college’s charitable activities, with the proceeds of the sale going into a £200m-plus fund.

While alternative business structures are gaining all the headlines right now, something perhaps even more fundamental is going on this year: the Legal Education and Training Review. Many know it’s happening, but I suspect few quite understand how radically it could reshape the foundation of becoming a lawyer. I don’t think I did until last week, when I attended the first of a series of five seminars being run by the Legal Services Board, this one in association with the Legal Services Institute.

Legal education and training are unfit for purpose, causing lawyers to fail to meet the needs of clients and leaving the profession exposed to rival market entrants filling the gaps, according to Professor Stephen Mayson.

Increases in tuition fees means the overall cost of a law degree is nearly £90,000 and only half of lawyers would have gone to university had it cost as much when they studied, a survey has found. Legal recruiter Laurence Simons argued that this shows UK universities are failing and need to adopt the controversial approach of the philosopher AC Grayling, who is setting up a new private university, and also embrace apprenticeships.