Legal Practice Course (LPC) - LLM/PGDip

The Legal Practice Course (LPC) offers intensive, post graduate-level studies to those who wish to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. To become fully qualified after completion of the LPC, you will need to undertake a two-year training contract, which is a period of recognised work-based training.

Overview

The Legal Practice Course (LPC) offers intensive, post graduate-level studies to those who wish to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. To become fully qualified after completion of the LPC, you will need to undertake a two-year training contract, which is a period of recognised work-based training.

The LPC will ensure that you acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to prepare you for the start of the training contract, equip you to deal with the demands that are likely to be made of you in practice and lay the foundation for your future practice as a solicitor by encouraging habits of competence, confidence and professionalism.

In addition, the LLM Legal Practice Course will also prepare you for a research module submission and allow you to reflect on the challenges facing the legal profession in today’s world.

Distinctive features

• Our Legal Practice Course has a long tradition of excellence – we have delivered the course since it was first introduced in 1993.
• We offer a guaranteed work placement for all students without training contracts or substantial work experience.
• The opportunity to conduct research at Master’s level.

Learning and assessment

How will I be taught?

Teaching is conducted in large and small group lessons. Large groups take the form of lectures to all students and each large group lasts one hour. Most large group lessons are delivered live and are scheduled on the timetable, but some large groups are pre-recorded.

Small group teaching will be timetabled in groups of up to 16-18 students although you may be organised into smaller groups for the purpose of some lessons. Small group lessons are usually scheduled to take place for two hours, although some may be up to three hours duration. Attendance at small group sessions is compulsory.

A distinctive feature of the LPC is that a substantial part of the time devoted to classroom practice overall will involve students in the exercise of the Course Skills.

You will be given an introduction to legal research during terms one and two which will assist you in preparing for the research module. Seminars will be held in the third (electives) term to cover further and more detailed matters. Supervision of the research module will also begin in the third term.

Within the curriculum, you will develop your ability to undertake independent learning and team-working skills. Communication skills are developed in small groups, where you will be required to work collaboratively on problems and tasks. The emphasis on the course is on the application of legal knowledge to simulated factual situations, giving advice to the client and undertaking tasks according to the client’s instructions.

The LPC is a practical course and you need to analyse the facts to identify the relevant issues on which the client needs advice; identify the relevant law and procedure; apply the relevant law and procedure to the relevant facts and advise the client, clearly and fully, taking into account the rules of professional conduct and the commercial and business needs of the client. 

Outside the curriculum you will have the opportunity to develop wider “employability” skills through participation in the school’s Law in Action pro-bono schemes run with partner organisations, in which student volunteers assist real people in their dealings with the law. The schemes currently include: 

• Law in Justice: the Innocence Project, (dealing with alleged miscarriages of justice);
• Law in Healthcare: the NHS Continuing Healthcare Scheme, (challenges to NHS healthcare funding assessments);
• Law in Sport: the Rugby Union Project – (providing legal advice and legal newsletters to rugby clubs).

Other activities in the Law School include mooting, negotiating and client interviewing competitions.

How will I be supported?

Your learning will be supported through e-learning; all modules are supported by Learning Central, a virtual learning environment that is available on and off campus through which you will access a wide range of materials for your modules. We provide most of the lesson materials in electronic form as well as in hard copy. We also make available recordings of large group sessions shortly after each session is delivered and students can access these recordings via Learning Central.

You will receive dedicated pastoral support through our personal tutor scheme. We offer an extensive programme of careers lectures and workshops within the School with an in-house Law Careers Consultant and a Pro-bono Scheme Co-ordinator. A designated Disability and Diversity Officer ensures that reasonable adjustments are made for students with disabilities. The University has a range of services to support you, including the Careers Service, the Counselling Service, the Disability and Dyslexia Service, the Student Support Service and excellent libraries with specialist law librarians and resource centres.

Support for your research module will be by way of face to face tuition, materials on Learning Central and supervision.

Career prospects

After completion of the LPC, you will be able to undertake a training contract/period of recognised training, in preparation for qualification as a solicitor. The LPC may also lead to legal work in some other capacity, e.g. paralegal, with the option of obtaining a training contract at a later date.

The option to complete a Research Project or Reflective Portfolio has the potential to increase your engagement in pro bono activities within the School or further your skills of independent research thereby increasing your preparedness for practice.

Visit the Legal Practice Course (LPC) - LLM/PGDip page on the Cardiff University website for more details!