Legal Practice Course
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The Legal Practice Course (LPC) is the vocational stage for becoming a solicitor in England and Wales. The course is the successor to Articles 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 £5,000-£10,000. A significant proportion of students 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 a 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.
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[edit] Course Content
The course is made up of, skills, compulsory subjects, optional subjects and pervasive topics.
Skills
Skills comprise advocacy, interviewing and advising, writing, drafting and research, accounting, taxation, trusts and tax planning.
Compulsory 'Core' Subjects
Generally taught in the first (and longest) part of the course, the compulsorary modules are generally, Criminal Law, Business law, Property Law and Civil litigation (commercial and personal injury).
Optional 'Elective' Subjects
In the shorter second half of the course, students choose optional subjects from a list chosen by the providing institution. Topics vary from institution to instition, but widely available are: Further Criminal, Further Personal Injury, Family Law, Employment Law, Further Probate and Private Client, Commercial Law, Welfare Law and Commercial Property Law.
Pervasive Topics
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 Community Law, Revenue Law, European Law, Human Rights Law and Accounts.
[edit] Length of Course
The course generally lasts nine months and has substantially less holidays than an undergraduate course. Emphasis is placed on class room teaching alongside independent study.
[edit] Eligibility
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.
It is far from uncommon to find students with a lower second on the LPC.
[edit] Prestige of Different Institutions
LPC providers are rigorously inspected by 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 cheaper 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 2001, 6805 LPC students were eligible for examination. Out of the examinees, 75.7% passed, down on the 2000 pass rate of 77.1%.[1]. It is possible to sit all LPC exams three times before failing the course. It is necessary to pass all subjects.
[edit] Timing of Applications
Law students generally apply in the Autumn term of their last year, whereas CPE students apply early in the CPE course.
[edit] How to apply
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All applications are controlled by the Central Applications Board, PO Box 84, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1YX (telephone 01483 301282). They will provide you with an application form. Generally academic references will be needed. Alternatively, you can apply online.[2]
Before you start the LPC you must become a student member of the Law Society. This must be done by 31 March - and it costs £80.
[edit] Funding the LPC
The Law Society has a bursary scheme, but it is highly competitive and aimed at students in financial need with excellent academics. The application process normally begins each year in February.
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, of course, an expensive option with loans of up to £15,000 being available. Information on career development loans run by the Department for Education can be found in Job Centres.
[edit] Controversy Surrounding LPC
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. Conversely, the broad basis of the course could be seen as bringing increased legal awareness to future professionals. [3]
Length
The process of becoming a solicitor has been described as, 'lengthy, demanding and academically difficult.[4]. 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' [5] 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. [6]
Elective Element
The elective element of the LPC has been criticised as 'unnecessary' - as it lengthens the course and burdens students with extra costs. [7]. Conversely, the elective element is the part of the course which allows students to specialise in line with their future career aspirations.
[edit] The Future of the LPC
The Law Society has consistently rejected the suggestion that the course be scrapped. Many students have complained that the course combines such a slow pace with boring and irrelevant subject-matter with the result that they are driven to distraction through boredom. One such student was Philip Womack who wrote The Other Book whilst he was "miserable" at BPP[8].
[edit] List of LPC Providers
Anglia Ruskin University [9]
Bournemouth University [10]
BPP's Law School, London (Holborn and Waterloo) Holborn [11]
BPP's Law School, Leeds [12]
BPP's Law School, Manchester [13]
Cardiff Law School [14]
University of Central England in Birmingham [15]
The College of Law, Birmingham [16]
The College of Law, Chester [17]
The College of Law, Guildford [18]
The College of Law, London (Bloomsbury and Moorgate) [19]
The College of Law, York [20]
De Montfort University [21]
University of Exeter (will run at the University of Plymouth from September 2006) [22]
University of Glamorgan [23]
University of Hertfordshire [24]
University of Huddersfield [25]
Inns of Court School of Law [26]
University of Central Lancashire [27]
Leeds Metropolitan University [28]
Liverpool John Moores University [29]
London Metropolitan University [30]
Manchester Metropolitan University [31]
Northumbria University [32]
Nottingham Law School [33]
Oxford Institute of Legal Practice [34]
University of Plymouth [35]
University of Sheffield [36]
Staffordshire University [37]
Thames Valley University [38]
University of Wales, Aberystwyth [39]
University of Wales, Swansea [40]
University of the West of England, Bristol [41]
University of Westminster [42]
University of Wolverhampton [43]
[edit] See also
Law Society of England and Wales
[edit] External links
- Law Society of England and Wales- Solicitors' Professional Body
- LawCareers.Net - Jobs and Articles
- Chambers and Partners - A Guide to Solicitors
- Law Society Gazette - Jobs and Articles
- Online application form for LPC
- traineesolicitor.co.uk - information on training contracts
- [44]
