Legal Practice Course

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It is not uncommon for students to take as many as fifteen different examinations during the Legal Practice Course.

The Legal Practice Course (LPC) – also known as the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice – is the vocational stage for becoming a solicitor in England and Wales. The course is the successor to Law Society Finals and is more vocational in its syllabus. The LPC can be taken in many different formats including full-time and part-time, on week days, evenings, and weekends. 7,076 students enrolled on the full-time LPC in September 2004, and 1,728 on the part-time course. The full-time course lasts a year, and fees range from £6,000-£12,500.[1] A small proportion of students may have their fees and some living expenses paid for by future employers under a training contract.

The course is usually taken after a law degree, but a large minority take the course after studying a different subject at university and taking a conversion course called the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL/CPE). The LPC is regulated through the Law Society of England and Wales. Like the GDL/CPE, the LPC can be applied to through the Central Applications Board.

The LPC is also offered to LLB graduates at some Australian universities, as an alternative to an articled clerkship.

Contents

[edit] Course content

The course content can be broadly classified into four phases of learning. These are (a) core foundational subjects; (b) compulsory subjects; (c) optional subjects and (d) practical skills. Skills comprise advocacy, interviewing and advising, writing, drafting and research, accounting, taxation, trusts and tax planning.

Generally taught in the first (and longest) part of the course, the compulsory modules are generally Criminal Litigation, Business Law and Practice, Property Law and Practice, and Civil litigation. In the shorter second part of the course, students choose optional subjects from a list chosen by the providing institution.

Topics vary from institution to institution, but those widely available include advanced courses in the compulsory modules, along with: personal injury, family law, employment law, housing law, immigration law, probate and private client, commercial law, welfare law and commercial property law. Some topics recur throughout the teaching of all course topics and can come up in all examinations. These include: professional conduct, investment business under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, European Union law, revenue law, business accounts, solicitors' accounts, and human rights law.

[edit] Eligibility and length

Different institutions require different grades before accepting candidates onto their course. Institutions will often interview students with third class degrees before accepting them while only some will interview before accepting a candidate with a lower second.[citation needed] The course generally lasts nine months and has substantially less holiday than an undergraduate course. Emphasis is placed on class room teaching alongside independent study.

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[edit] Prestige of different institutions

LPC providers are rigorously inspected by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, commonly referred to as the SRA (formerly the Law Society) with the intention of maintaining high standards throughout the sector. Some providers are notably more expensive than others and will often be able to spend more money on both staff and facilities.

University providers (on average considered to be the less expensive providers) generally allow their students access to university libraries, IT resources as well as societies, fitness facilities and the student union.

It is believed that local solicitors are marginally more likely to employ students who have studied the LPC locally as they can show that they have regional links - and are unlikely to move away after completing the training contract.

[edit] Pass rates

In 2005, a total of 6,554 people passed the LPC, an overall rate of 84%, representing a 3% rise from the previous year. It is possible to sit all LPC exams three times before failing the course. It is necessary to pass all subjects.

9,337 students enrolled on the LPC in 2008/09. Quite a few deferred their exams or dropped out altogether, leaving 7,759 to take the exam; 5,824 of those passed the exams that year (75% of those who entered), just over the number of training contracts on offer (5,809).[2]

[edit] Applications

Law students generally apply in the Autumn term of their last year, whereas CPE students apply early in the CPE course. All applications are controlled by the Central Applications Board, Generally academic references will be needed. Alternatively, one can apply online.[3] Before starting the LPC, one must become a student member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

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[edit] Funding

The Law Society has a bursary scheme, this is available for some candidates who have already taken the LPC. Upon securing and commencing a training contract the recipient individual gets their fees paid through Law Society funds.

It is not uncommon for law firms to provide sponsorship to LPC students as part of a job offer. Generally sponsorship is only offered by wealthy commercial practices, although a limited number of legal aid sponsorship packages (funded by the Law Society of England and Wales) do exist.

Banks do offer preferential bank loans to post-graduate students. This is an expensive option with loans of up to £25,000 being available. Information on career development loans run by the Department for Education can be found in Job Centres.

[edit] Negative criticism

  • Relevancy: The LPC has been criticised by some professionals as being too broad. All students have to take the compulsory subjects detailed above; regardless of whether they want a 'high street' career, or a 'commercial' one. The broad basis of the course could be seen as bringing increased legal awareness to future professionals.[4]
  • Length: The process of becoming a solicitor has been described as, 'lengthy, demanding and academically difficult.[5] The LPC adds an extra year onto the process of qualifying.
  • Discrimination: It has been argued that the legal profession is too 'white, male and middle class'[6] The relatively high cost of the course makes becoming a solicitor difficult for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, many students incur further debts on top of their undergraduate loans.
  • Commercial bias: A further controversy surrounds the fact that commercial legal practices are far more likely to be able to provide financial sponsorship for the LPC, this means that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have a strong financial incentive not to go into legal aid work such as crime, family and civil liberties - as legal aid firms cannot afford to sponsor the LPC. Commentators such as Clare Dyer (journalist at The Guardian) have spoken of a legal aid 'crisis' in regard to trainees.[7]
  • Elective element: The elective element of the LPC has been criticised as 'unnecessary' - as it lengthens the course and burdens students with extra costs.[8] The elective element is the part of the course that allows students to specialise in line with their future career.
  • Number of places: There have been criticisms that the number of places offered each year by LPC Providers massively outstrips the number of vacancies for training contracts (10,000 LPC students leave every year against only 4,000 training contracts). Taking the LPC results for many students in massive debt and no return on investment whatsoever.[9][10]

[edit] List of course providers

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Table of LPC Providers with fees
  2. ^ The Job Market: Solicitors | The Art of Law
  3. ^ LawCabs[dead link]
  4. ^ http://www.spr-consilio.com/artlpc1.html[dead link]
  5. ^ [1][dead link]
  6. ^ [2][dead link]
  7. ^ Oops, Looks like we found a bad link | Brennan Center for Justice
  8. ^ Citysolicitors.org.uk[dead link]
  9. ^ Trends affecting the legal recruitment market
  10. ^ Young Legal Aid Lawyers[dead link]
  11. ^ Aberystwyth University
  12. ^ Anglia Ruskin University
  13. ^ Birmingham City University[dead link]
  14. ^ Bournemouth University
  15. ^ a b c BPP Law School
  16. ^ a b c Report on BPP Law School
  17. ^ Bristol Law School at UWE
  18. ^ Cardiff Law School
  19. ^ Central Law Training
  20. ^ City Law School
  21. ^ De Montfort University
  22. ^ Inns of Court School of Law
  23. ^ Kaplan Law School
  24. ^ Leeds Metropolitan University
  25. ^ Liverpool John Moores University
  26. ^ London Metropolitan University
  27. ^ Manchester Metropolitan University
  28. ^ Northumbria University
  29. ^ Nottingham Law School
  30. ^ Oxford Institute of Legal Practice
  31. ^ Southampton Solent University
  32. ^ Staffordshire University
  33. ^ Swansea University
  34. ^ Thames Valley University
  35. ^ a b c d e The College of Law
  36. ^ a b c d e Report on College of Law
  37. ^ University of Central Lancashire
  38. ^ University of Exeter
  39. ^ University of Glamorgan Archived 30 July 2007 at WebCite
  40. ^ University of Hertfordshire
  41. ^ University of Huddersfield
  42. ^ University of Plymouth
  43. ^ University of Sheffield
  44. ^ University of Westminster
  45. ^ University of Wolverhampton

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