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M Law (Exempting) 


Image: M Law (Exempting) COURSE INFORMATION (2010 ENTRY)

3 years full-time (LLB Hons), 4 years full-time (Barristers Exempting, 4 years full-time (M Law Exempting), 5 years full-time (M Law Solicitor)

School of Law
Law and NBS Building, City Campus East

LLB (Hons)
LLB (Hons) Barristers Exempting
M Law Exempting (incorporating LLB(Hons))
M Law Solicitors Full Qualification (incorporating LLB Hons)

This programme offers the choice of studying for three years to obtain an LLB (Hons) Qualifying Law degree or four years to achieve either a Solicitors Exempting or Barristers Exempting award. There is also a new Solicitors Full Qualification route over five years including placements which incorporates all stages of education and training and qualifies graduates to enter practice as a solicitor. The programmes build on the Law School’s reputation for innovative teaching, in particular on its philosophy of combining academic development with practical experience. Students are given the opportunity to advise real clients in the School’s Student Law Office gaining handson experience and the skills required to work in an increasingly competitive environment. All of the routes provide the opportunity to participate in a range of activities including moots or mock trials performed in one of the School’s courtrooms, modelled on those that students will experience as qualified practitioners. All four routes follow the same programme for the first two years. Students choose their preferred route during Year 2; however admission to the Barristers route and the Full Qualification route is not guaranteed and is dealt with on a competitive basis.

M Law Exempting
This route is an integrated Masters programme. Graduates obtain a Masters level qualification while at the same time achieving a Qualifying Law Degree and exemption from the Legal Practice Course, the vocational qualification for prospective solicitors. It enables graduates to go straight into a law firm as a trainee solicitor subject to obtaining a training contract. Students are introduced to legal rules and concepts in both their theoretical and practical contexts from day one. They engage in clinical and experiential learning throughout the course culminating in full case work on behalf of real clients in the final year.

M Law Solicitors Full Qualification
This route is the only one of its kind in England and Wales. It combines the three stages of qualification as a solicitor (academic, vocational and training). Students who successfully complete this route are entitled to apply to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for entry onto the roll of solicitors and then to enter practice as fully qualified solicitors. They do not need to complete a separate training contract. Entry onto this route is not guaranteed and there are a limited number of places available. Students will be permitted to proceed onto this route only if they succeed in obtaining an approved placement. The first three years of the programme are common to the M Law Solicitors Exempting. At the end of Year 3 students undertake a summer placement with a law firm or in the Student Law Office. In Year 4 the major activity is participation in the Student Law Office where students develop their legal knowledge, skills and professionalism in the context of working for real clients. They also complete an optional module and commence their research project.

In the final year students undertake a full-time placement with a law firm. They also complete their project and an optional subject. Throughout their placement, students are supported by the Director of Work Based Learning, their research project supervisor and option tutor.

LLB (Hons)
The first two years of this programme are common to the MLaw Exempting programme. The final year involves either jurisprudence, a research project, and two LLB options or jurisprudence and three and a half LLB options. Students who wish to become solicitors or barristers must enrol on a further programme of study to satisfy the vocational requirements of their chosen profession.

LLB (Hons) Barristers Exempting*
The Barristers Exempting programme integrates the undergraduate stage of legal education with the requirements of the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), the vocational stage for prospective barristers and is the only programme of its kind in England and Wales. This programme provides the opportunity to develop the skills essential for practice at the Bar. There is opportunity for contact with the practising Bar via moots, mock trials, court visits and social events. In addition, lectures are given by distinguished visitors. This degree again follows the same modules as the M Law Exempting degree for the first two years.

In order to progress onto Year 3 and the remainder of the Bar Exempting programme students must achieve a minimum 50% mark in all Year 2 assessments. A maximum of twenty students may progress onto the programme in Year 3. Additionally, please note that the Bar Standards Board is considering placing other entrance criteria for the Bar Professional Training Courses which will apply.

In Years 3 and 4, undergraduate subjects are combined with those from the BPTC. Modules include jurisprudence and undergraduate options, remedies and sentencing plus the BPTC case skills modules and the Student Law Office module.

The BPTC case skills modules include opinion writing, advocacy, conference skills, negotiation and drafting. The Student Law Office modules culminate in Year 4 with students acting in firms and advising real clients.

N.B. This information applies to 2010 entry - if you are interested in 2011 entry, please contact us

OTHER INFO

Exemption
As the M Law Exempting degree integrates the undergraduate stage of legal education with the requirements of the Legal Practice Course, graduates are exempt from this course and are eligible to enter into a training contract with a firm of solicitors without having to undertake a separate Legal Practice Course. Similarly, graduates of the Barristers Exempting degree are able to enter pupillage without having to undertake a separate Bar Professional Training Course.

Students who successfully complete the M Law Solicitors Full Qualification route are exempt from the Legal Practice Course and the Training Contract.

Fees
All students pay an additional fee for the first two years of all programmes. The fee reflects the skills and vocational elements of the programme and is currently £900 per year. Students who continue on the Exempting and Full Qualification routes also pay this fee in Years 3 and 4. Even so there are potential savings to be made compared to the typical three year plus LPC or BPTC programme.

The fee shown in the fees calculator for this programme includes the professional/registration fee.

COURSE MODULES


Year 3

Year 4


 

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Northumbria University has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information published is accurate at the time of publication. However, the University gives no warranty or representation as to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the information.



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