Revisiting the role of personal development in professional competence of lawyers

The article considers the main approaches to the interpretation of the terms "education" and "personal development", as well as their role in the development of professional competencies of lawyers. We have studied the peculiarities of the existing approaches to the interpretation of "education", which shows the multilevel nature of this concept, and analyzed the correlation of the terms "education", "socialization" and "personal development". As a result, we have come to the following conclusions. Firstly, the most optimal possibility for impact on the moral component of training lawyers in the university educational environment is still work aimed at developing a students’ social responsibility and ensuring motivational readiness for conscientious performance of professional practice. Secondly, professional education within the environment of law high school is the main factor contributing to the development of the moral and legal components of the key professional competencies of future lawyers. Thirdly, when creating special conditions in law university most closely approximate to the professional environment, it is possible to obtain a practical assessment of the development of student’s key professional competencies.