Law and Legal Practice, LLM

Program Overview

The LLM Law and Legal Practice is an 18-month conversion course for non-law graduates seeking to qualify as Solicitors in England & Wales. It combines core legal knowledge and practical application, preparing students for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination 1 (SQE1). The program includes directed independent learning, authentic to the legal profession, and offers a variety of assessment methods to develop students' written, oral, and practical skills.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The LLM Law and Legal Practice is a conversion course that prepares non-law graduates for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination 1 (SQE1), which is the first essential step in your route to qualification. The programme combines core knowledge and practical application of the law to provide preparation for non-law graduates looking to qualify as Solicitors in England & Wales. It offers you the opportunity to gain a master’s award, attain legal knowledge and skills, and prepare for life in legal practice. This is an intense programme delivered over eighteen months, covering the foundations of law, core practice areas and skills required for the SQE1 assessment within a qualification that will be recognised and valued by prospective employers. You will also have an opportunity to undertake directed independent learning, authentic to the legal profession. If you are a law graduate looking to prepare for the Solicitors Qualifying Examinations 1&2 (SQE 1&2), please see our LLM Professional Legal Practice course page.

Outline:

The programme will deliver 240 credits over an eighteen month period with the emphasis on taught modules in order to cover the knowledge and skills base required for the SQE1 qualifying examinations. There will be an element of Directed Independent Learning (30 credits), which is authentic to the legal profession, focusing on undertaking practical legal research and preparing related reports directed to clients and to partners within legal practice. The Directed Independent Learning will be introduced over the summer between the first and second academic years (TB3). All modules on the programme will be compulsory, and year 1 modules will not need to be passed in order to progress to year 2 of the course. There will be re-sit opportunities for all modules.

Assessment:

Assessments have been designed to assist you in developing your written and oral communication skills, your ability to research and critically consider the law and its development, and your practical application of the law in context. You will sit a variety of assessments across the programme that have been designed to test knowledge, application and skills in authentic ways. You will have some individual choice in relation to topics. Examples include: Written seen examinations Unseen examinations Open-book examinations Multiple choice question examinations Short-answer assessments Long-term coursework Writing a letter of advice Writing a memorandum Case analysis Drafting court documents Live advocacy Conducting a client interview

Teaching:

The course will be delivered via a combination of lectures and large group sessions where you will be introduced to new legal topics and practice areas, and seminars and workshops where you will learn to apply the law in the context of authentic factual scenarios and critically consider the law through research of primary and secondary source material.

Careers:

Students intending to qualify as solicitors need to sit and pass the SQE1 and SQE2 assessment and complete two years of qualifying work experience in order to achieve that aim. However, students who do not wish to qualify will gain transferrable skills on this programme which will assist them in alternative careers. Examples include: Academic lawyers Accountancy Banking Commerce and business Corporate governance Crown Prosecution Service Finance industry and banking Government Legal Service Legal publishing Ombudsman departments Regulators Tax

Tuition Fees - Year 1 UK £ 8,150 International £ 10,950