Postgraduate training
advocacy, drafting and writing, interviewing and advising, problem solving and legal research. This stage is completed at law school. Stage Two consists of electives from a range of subjects in private and corporate client work, including commercial law and practice, employment, intellectual property, consumer, housing, family and immigration. As stated above, it is possible to complete Stage Two during your training contract or while working at a law firm in another role (eg, as a paralegal or legal secretary), should you wish to do so. All institutions that offer the full-time LPC are managed by the Central Applications Board. You should contact them for an application form or apply online at www.lawcabs.ac.uk. BPTC Anyone wanting to become a barrister must pass the BPTC, which effectively bridges the gap between the study of law and work as a pupil. Students seeking a place on the BPTC must go through the centralised online application process at www.barsas.com. The full-time BPTC is a one-year course; the part-time course takes two years. All students must be admitted to an Inn of Court before commencing the course. The BSB also requires that applicants must: • hold at least a 2.2 degree (in either law or non-law plus the GDL); • gain a score of at least 7.5 in all subjects of the British Council’s IELTS test, if English is not their first language; and • pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT), which tests critical thinking and reasoning, and is designed to assess chances of success at the Bar. Applicants must pay £150 to sit the test. Course contents The main areas of knowledge taught on the BPTC are civil litigation and remedies,
criminal litigation and sentencing, evidence, professional ethics plus two optional subjects chosen from a selection of at least six (eg, family, intellectual property and immigration). These will vary from course to course and assessments are set by individual institutions. However, the BSB sets three standard exams in civil litigation, criminal litigation and professional ethics. If a BPTC graduate seeks to pursue a career as a solicitor, he or she may be granted exemption from attendance and assessment in several areas of the LPC, including litigation, advocacy, drafting, practical legal research and two vocational electives. Students must have completed the BPTC no earlier than five years before enrolling on the LPC. LLM A master’s degree in law is a popular option as the profession grows more competitive and students seek to add an extra edge to their CV. The LLM is a way of developing your expertise in a niche area of the law, but it is unlikely to make the difference that secures you a training contract or pupillage. This is especially so if you see an LLM as the way around a low undergraduate degree mark in order to get a training contract/pupillage. Few law firms/ chambers will take account of an LLM if your undergraduate result falls below their entry requirement and you have no genuine mitigating circumstances. In marketing your LLM to potential employers, you will be able to point out that you have not only gained a thorough knowledge of a particular area of law or legal practice, but also improved your communication and research skills. But do bear in mind that while most firms don’t mind where you have studied the GDL, LLM programmes are as much governed by snobbery as undergraduate law degrees
THE LAWCAREERS.NET HANDBOOK 118
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online