Taught course

Legal Practice

Institution
London Metropolitan University · Guildhall School of Business and Law
Qualifications
LLM

Entry requirements

You will be required to have:

  • a qualifying law degree (awarded by a Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA) approved provider), with at least second class honours. This must include having adequately passed assessments in the seven Foundations of Legal Knowledge: Public Law, Obligations I (Contract), Obligations II (Tort), Criminal Law, Land Law, Equity and Trusts, and Law of the European Union. Further guidance on what amounts to a Qualifying Law Degree is available on the SRA website.
  • (if you’re a non-law graduate) a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or Common Professional Examination (CPE) with an average of at least 50%.

Prior to joining the course applicants will also need to provide evidence of Completion of the Academic Stage of Training in the form of:

  • a letter or email from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) (obtained prior to July 2014) or
  • a letter from the awarding University to state that your Undergraduate Degree is a Qualifying Law Degree (to be issued on completion of your award) or that you have completed and passed all seven core GDL/CPE subjects within the maximum number of attempts allowed (not more than three)

Other factors will be taken into account, in particular the need to study part time, in London, evidence of ability to pursue successfully the skills components of the course and your motivation to become a solicitor, evidence for example by relevant unpaid or paid work experience.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Why you should study this course

The LLM in Legal Practice aims to prepare you for employment as a trainee solicitor and to provide you with a solid foundation for subsequent practice as a solicitor. In addition, this course offers you an opportunity to extend your research in an area of interest within legal practice, through a research module and a dissertation. This course can be studied full-time or part-time (in the day or in the evening).

More about this course

This course provides graduates who have completed the academic stage of legal training with the professional stage of training required to qualify as a solicitor. We have a long-standing reputation for training solicitors and were one of the first universities to be validated to run the Legal Practice Course.

The course imitates the nature of the work you would encounter in legal practice and follows clients through various legal transactions and court hearings. It builds on the substantive law that you will have already learnt and includes the study of both law and procedure in the major areas of practice.

You’ll also learn the everyday skills of legal research, interviewing, writing, drafting and advocacy to prepare you for your subsequent professional training and for practice as a solicitor.

In addition, we aim to help you apply academic understanding and research techniques to the analysis of law, policy and practice within your chosen area for the final LLM qualification. You’ll also learn how to produce analytical, creative and original research that demonstrates the relationships between substantive law, policy, socio-economic context and legal practice.

The combined qualifications of the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC) and the LLM in Legal Practice are designed to enhance your career prospects, demonstrate your research capabilities and knowledge of a particular legal area, whatever branch of law you intend to follow.

The course has dedicated facilities. These include an LPC resource room (with its practitioner library and IT resources) and teaching rooms with audio-visual recording facilities. Materials and case studies are provided within the course fee.

Assessment

Assessment methods for the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC) are designed to reflect how solicitors work today, and include skills assessments and open book examinations.

You will also complete coursework and a dissertation to obtain your final LLM in Legal Practice.

Professional accreditation

London Metropolitan University is an SRA (Solicitor Regulation Authority) approved LPC provider.

Accelerated study

Completed the BVC or BPTC in the last five years?

If you have, you can apply for prior learning credit on our course, providing you with an opportunity to qualify as a solicitor (subject to obtaining a training contract) by undertaking a portion of the regular LLM in Legal Practice. In this way you can complete our LLLM within one year (part-time), with a degree of flexibility regarding class times.

Students who have successfully completed the BVC/BPTC are eligible to apply for exemption from attendance and assessment in the following subjects and skills which are part of the LLM: Litigation; advocacy; drafting; practical legal research (BVC graduates only) and two of the three vocational electives.

After the course

The Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC) qualifies you to enter into a training contract with a firm of solicitors or an in-house legal department. The LLM in Legal Practice further enhances your employment prospects. The course also provides a good grounding for practice as a paralegal, in local or health authorities, in local or central government, in commerce either in company secretarial/governance/ regulatory areas or if you aspire to being on a board of directors.

Information for international students

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Tier 4 student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.

Qualification, course duration and attendance options

  • LLM
    part time
    24 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
    full time
    12 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification

Course contact details

Name
Course Enquiries
Email
courseenquiries@londonmet.ac.uk
Phone
+44 (0)20 7133 4202