LLM Legal Practice

"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."

Why choose Herts?

• Professional Accreditation : This Legal Practice Course (LPC) meets the requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This is the established pathway into a career as a solicitor.
• Work-Related Learning : LPC students gain client-facing casework experience working in legal services within our award-winning pro-bono Law Clinic providing community-based legal services.
• Teaching Excellence : You will be taught by experts, including practising solicitors and barristers who will train you to work on authentic, real-life scenarios at our £10m Law Court Building inclusive of a full-scale replica Crown Court Room.

Professional Accreditations

The course meets the requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (S.R.A.) for the Legal Practice Course (L.P.C.) and is the established pathway into a career as a solicitor.

As a course approved by the S.R.A., you must also apply through the Central Applications Board (LawCAB).

About the course

If you want to be a solicitor and work in the legal profession, the full-time one-year L.L.M. Legal Practice offered by the University of Hertfordshire is the course for you! Our course not only offers an established route into the legal profession but also enables you to obtain a prestigious L.L.M.

In Semesters A and B, you will study Stages 1 and 2 of the Legal Practice Course (L.P.C.), both of which are required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (S.R.A.):

• Stage 1 includes compulsory modules on Professional Conduct and Regulation, Wills and Administration of Estates, Solicitors' Accounts, Legal Writing, Legal Drafting, Practical Legal Research, Advocacy, Interviewing and Advising, plus 3 core practice areas of Business Law and Practice, Litigation (both Criminal and Civil) and Property Law and Practice.
• Stage 2 elective modules (choice of 3) include Employment Law, Family Law, Immigration Law, Personal Injury, Private Client and Estate Planning, Commercial Law, Commercial Property Law and Private Acquisitions.

Finally, in Semester C, you will complete an extended project over the summer. You will leave us with the knowledge and skills required by the legal profession - skills that are highly valued by potential employers.

Why choose this course?

The University of Hertfordshire is well known for its great links with industry and the professions, it's first-class teaching, high-quality facilities and dedicated staff. Naturally, this course is no different. Taught by experts, including practising solicitors and barristers, it will equip you with all the up-to-date, transferable, interpersonal and practical skills you will need for your career in the legal profession.

Our innovative teaching methods utilise experiential learning to prepare you for practice, including our state-of-the-art courtroom where you will develop advocacy skills – a core component of the L.L.M. Legal Practice. You will also have many opportunities to undertake co-curricular activities to strengthen your skills in areas such as commercial awareness, adjudication and family mediation and to participate in a range of pro-bono projects, including our award-winning Law Clinic.

We limit class sizes to ensure that you receive the best teaching and pastoral support. This also enables the teaching to be flexible and focused on the needs of the individual students, setting them on their chosen pathways into highly successful legal careers.

You may be eligible for financial support from Student Finance England, so you can focus entirely on your studies to maximise your potential. Hertfordshire Law School has helped graduates forge successful careers for 40 years. You’ll benefit from our reputation for being forward-thinking, innovative, and responsive to the world around us.

Student experience

At the University of Hertfordshire, we want to make sure your time studying with us is as stress-free and rewarding as possible. We offer a range of support services including; student wellbeing, academic support, accommodation and childcare. Together we'll ensure that you make the most of your time at Herts and can focus on studying and building your career.

If you need support, we’re here for you. Hertfordshire Law School is a warm, welcoming community where you’ll find plenty of people to encourage you through your studies. You’ll have your own academic support tutor for the whole time you’re here, and our friendly cohort leaders are always happy to talk things through. If you need some personal support, we’ve also got our own wellbeing leader, and many of our academics are trained and accredited in mental health first aid.

For additional free help with study skills, you’ll have access to our academic support services. You can attend workshops, 1-to-1 sessions and online tutorials. Both our Learning Resources Centres run drop-in study skills sessions.

Additional information

• Sandwich placement or study abroad year: n/a
• Applications open to international and EU students: Yes

At the University of Hertfordshire, we see your potential, we hear your ambitions and we support your futures. From the moment we meet, we will set you on a path to achieving your goals. We will drive you forward, we will actively guide you every step of the way. You may not be confident or you may have questions – but we believe in you and we will help you find the answers. You may have a goal that you want to achieve – we can help focus you. You may want an experience – we can get you some. Here at Herts, there are many pathways to success, so let us empower your future, and take you all the way. This is your platform, your opportunity to succeed – so what are you waiting for?

Prepare to succeed

Show employers what you’re made of. We’re big on placements – and for good reason. Research tells us that over 70% of employers prefer students with work experience. That’s because placements aren’t just an excellent way to put what you’ve learnt into practice, they also show employers what you’re like as a person – with all those attributes like ambition, teamwork and a can-do attitude. To make sure our students get that work experience advantage, we’ve developed strong links with businesses and organisations here and internationally. These have allowed us to build valuable placement opportunities, from short-term experience to full-year paid placements, into many of our courses. What’s more, you won’t have to pay fees during the year you’re on placement.

Passport to success

Many students at Hertfordshire have the chance to study or work overseas – for a semester, a summer or even a whole year. Studying or working abroad is a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture, broaden your horizons and create many unforgettable memories. We have partnerships with many universities across the world, including in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Africa, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and across Europe. The cost of living in many countries is lower than in the UK and you’ll still be eligible for any grants or loans you’d get if you were studying here. Most students also pay no tuition fees during the year away and may be eligible for one of our scholarships to help with living and travelling costs.

Learn from the best

We like to think our teaching is a little different. Not only are our academics experts in their respective fields, but everything they teach is shaped by businesses and industry, giving you the subject-specific and transferable skills for an exciting career. Alongside your core subject, you’ll also be able to pick up other qualifications to help you stand out to employers. From mentoring to Microsoft qualifications, City & Guilds awards to getting your pilot’s licence, there’s a tonne of ways to build an impressive CV.

Key Facts

• TEF Gold : Our teaching is among the best in the UK.
• 170 : Study abroad at one of over 170 universities in 40 countries around the world.
• National Rankings : 4th Economics 7th Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management 10th Engineering: Electronic and Electrical.
• Number 1 for Games : TIGA Games Industry Award 2019.
• 96.5% of students in employment or further study within 6 months.
• Award-winning : Employment mock assessment centre simulation (Institute of Student Employers).
• Career enhancing experience : Our students have undertaken placements at companies including KPMG, Tesla Motors (UK), Microsoft and GSK.

Learning and teaching

Whatever your background, wherever you are from, we believe that higher education can be a transformational experience.

We develop graduates who are capable, creative and enterprising. Through engaging with employers and professional bodies who contribute to the development of our curriculum and our status as one of only 20 University Enterprise Zones, we transform the lives of our students.

We offer the flexibility, opportunity and community students need to succeed. We achieve this by:

combining traditional teaching methods with digital resources including our online student network, StudyNet teaching courses that are designed with the input of business and professional bodies giving students the chance to learn about employability through listening to the experience of our alumni organising networking events where staff, students and graduates can meet offering a vibrant multicultural campus by increasing the proportion of international students on campus giving students the option of studying at one of our partner universities overseas supporting students in their learning and living offering students valuable work experience in research, business or industry before their final academic year.

Vision

Our vision is to transform lives. This means whatever your background, wherever you are from, we will drive your potential, powering you to succeed.

We are committed to having a positive transformational impact on every member of our university community, and to share our successes with the community around us.

Our strategy

We support a diverse range of students, staff, businesses, researchers and members of the community. What they all share is the desire to make the most of the opportunities in front of them. Our strategy will enable us to power their potential and achieve their goals.

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Key strategic themes

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Offering opportunity

We offer every student the opportunity to succeed, with varied and well-signposted routes into university and clear pathways through study. We support students to achieve to the best of their ability and will support them in preparing for global opportunities after graduation. We will use our links in business, our research expertise, and our global outlook, to transform lives.

Building community

We are a diverse and welcoming community with a global reach and a common purpose, to transform lives, which we will work together to achieve. Through communities of learning, exploration and knowledge, we celebrate diversity and share our passions. We want all our students and staff to find their communities here. We are engaged as a Civic University in our region, supporting schools, colleges and students. We will share our knowledge, culture, research and resources with businesses, the professions and the wider community.

Embracing flexibility

We will respond flexibly to the challenges and opportunities ahead. Flexible modes of study will support our students to succeed and allow them to engage with a greater range of opportunities in education, extra-curricular activities and work experience. We want our students to follow their interests and passions to transform their lives and to be empowered by a choice of pathways that take them to the next stage and open doors to the future.

Our values

We provide opportunities to attract, retain and develop individuals. We are building a diverse and inclusive community and we respond with flexibility to the challenges of the changing world. Our values underpin everything we do. We are friendly, ambitious, collegiate, enterprising and student-focussed.