The different approaches to teaching in legal education, which have been formed over the last decades, the need for transition from pedagogy to andragogy in university teaching are analysed in the article. Principles of the andragogy allow students to be more responsible for the learning process and outcomes that contributes to the effectiveness of education. In the article attention is also drawn to the demand for interdisciplinary educational programs for future lawyers. Due to rapid legislation changes, and more profound shifts in approaches to understanding the law, a simple transfer of knowledge is extremely harmful in modern Ukrainian conditions. Therefore, the basis of higher legal education should be the development of skills and ability to study. The study of trends in the development of higher education proves the importance of the practical learning, through the development of competences. That is why the emphasis should be made on the need to use a skills approach and a broad public policy approach, which corresponds to the special role of a lawyer in a state based on the rule of law.