Study Overseas

Of course, many international and UK students commence a law course with the intention of eventually having a career in the legal sphere. For such students, there is a myriad of postgraduate legal courses available to them in the UK.

Postgraduate Academic Legal Studies - LLM

The LLM is the first award that usually comes to mind for an LLB holder intending to further their study in the field of academic law. Many UK universities offer the postgraduate taught degree of Masters in Law. Nowadays, besides the general LLM, many institutions also offer specialised named routes on their Masters level law courses. Taught LLM programmes are available for the following named awards: LLM, LLM Business Law, LLM Commercial Law, LLM Critical Legal Studies, LLM Employment Law, LLM Family Law, LLM Feminist Legal Studies, LLM Human Rights, LLM Intellectual Property, LLM International Law, LLM International Environment Law, LLM Public Law. The named options available usually reflect the teaching and research expertise available at the particular university law school; therefore, the bigger the law school, the greater the number of options it can offer.

Most taught LLMs follow the familiar pattern of taught modules that run from September till May, and the students are then expected to complete a dissertation, usually of around 15,000 words in length, over the summer months. Some institutions now offer the LLM within their modular postgraduate framework, enabling students to accumulate credits as they go along, until the totals required for each named award are reached. For example, 60 credits = postgraduate certificate, 120 credits = postgraduate diploma, 180 credits = LLM.

LLM in Legal Practice and Management

If you have an LLB, you may have acquired a number of transferable skills during your studies, but these are usually fairly basic, and are confined to the legal environment. It is becoming increasingly apparent that for a legal practice to survive, efficient and effective management is also required. All members of a law firm ought to understand the facts and concepts of effective management. Additionally, accreditation is available for Compulsory Professional Development [CPD] assisting towards the Professional Skills Course [PSC] here in the UK.

MA

In addition to the LLMs named above, some institutions also offer postgraduate MAs that contain some elements of law. Again, these awards tend to carry named-routes, such as MA in Child Care: Law, Policy and Practice, depending on their focus.

Common Professional Examination - CPE

This course offers a speedy route for non-law graduates to progress onto the solicitors or bar vocational courses. It is a one-year full time course, and students are expected to cover the seven foundations of legal knowledge plus one other area of law. However, this can vary from institution to institution.

M.Phil./Ph.D.

These awards are essentially research-based, although for those not having any postgraduate experience, there may well be a significant element of research training. These are mainly for people who wish to pursue an academic career, but it is possible to pursue research in relation to professional interests. Students can register for the M.Phil. degree as a distinct award, but usually registration is for an M.Phil./Ph.D., with a transfer from the former to the latter at the end of an 18 month period. The essential difference between the two awards is that the Ph.D. must contain an element of originality that need not be found in the M.Phil.

Whilst undertaking research degrees, students are allocated a subject expert as their supervisor, and are expected to maintain a close academic relationship with that person. Institutions could offer research supervision in areas such as Business Law, Criminology, Company Law, Comparative Law, Critical Legal Studies, Employment Law, Environmental Law, Family Law, Feminist Legal Studies and Intellectual Property.

Postgraduate Vocational Legal Studies

Legal Practice Course - LPC

The LPC is a one-year programme by full-time study for those intending to qualify as solicitors. The aim of the course is to prepare students for legal practice, enabling them to develop the necessary knowledge and skills required to practise as a solicitor. The teaching of legal skills is fully integrated in the relevant areas of law.

Some forty institutions offer the LPC in the UK, and many deliver the teaching through a variety of forums. Assessments are also varied, ranging from practical exercises (tested both orally and in written form) to unseen examinations. Again, as with the LLM, optional modules available vary from institution to institution.

Bar Vocational Course - BVC

For those intending to practise as barristers in the UK or abroad, they will need to enrol on the Bar Vocational Course, run at some ten institutions in the UK. This is also a one-year full-time course, and like the LPC is taught and assessed in a variety of ways. Unlike the old Bar Finals Examinations course, the BVC focuses much more on practical skills, besides the acquisition of knowledge of law. After passing either the LPC or BVC, students then go on to complete a period of practical training in order to qualify as solicitors, or be able to practise at the Bar.

Author

Andy Vi-Ming Kok
Staffordshire University Law School

© AVM Kok, July 1999