LLM in Legal Practice

• The Oxford Brookes LLM in Legal Practice is an established course which positively welcomes participation by common-law lawyers across the globe, including those working in small jurisdictions. This cosmopolitan ethos is reflected in both our students and staff.
• The School of Law prides itself on the level of one-to-one support it can offer its students.
• We have a friendly, collegial atmosphere where we work with students individually.
• Students will experience a variety of teaching methods which are used to provide a high quality learning experience. This will include: directed reading; narrated PowerPoints; ‘eSeminars’; and video consultations with their supervisor to discuss the student’s detailed research proposal and ongoing progress on their dissertation. 

The LLM in Legal Practice qualification (programme) comprises two modules.

The first is a module in Advanced Legal Research Methods (ALRM). This module aims to provide the research, and writing skills necessary to engage with legal research at an advanced level. This includes research design, searching for relevant sources and materials, legal referencing and citation skills. It prepares the students for the dissertation that each student has to complete on an area of law in practice. 

The second is a Dissertation module which consists of researching and writing a dissertation of up to 12,000 words on the agreed area of legal practice set out in the research project. 

NB As courses are reviewed regularly, details may vary from that shown here.

Teaching and learning

• Teaching on the Advanced Legal Research Methods (ALRM) module is delivered through 10 x 1-hour narrated powerpoint lectures and 8 x 1-hour seminar-type chatroom sessions (eSeminars).  During these sessions basic and advanced research skills are taught and practiced. Students will be expected to engage with set reading and/or prepare certain aspects of the seminars (eg write a preliminary case analysis, outline an interesting research idea, or prepare a 3 minute oral presentation).  Additionally, students receive up to 2 x 1-hour conference sessions with a dissertation supervisor.  This ensures that the student receives appropriate individual support in designing and shaping their research proposal. At the end of the ALRM module students submit a formal 2,000 word research proposal. 

• For the Dissertation module students spend approximately 8 hours in individual supervision sessions via Skype, conference call or other method agreed between the student and their academic supervisor supervisor.  The dissertation is an independent research project that requires students to engage with relevant primary and secondary materials using suitable research skills.  Students have the opportunity to receive feedback on their evolving research from their supervisor through the supervision sessions and through written comments on draft chapters.

• All students have an academic supervisor who is a member of the Law School. We endeavour to match student research interests with supervisor expertise, and so we ask that students give a brief initial indication of their research interest in the personal statement section of their application. Students can meet/communicate with their supervisor either in Oxford or via email or Skype.

Programme changes

On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our Changes to programmes page.

Tuition fees

Home/EU - distance learning fee: 2018/19: £3,180 2019/20: £3,240

International - distance learning fee: 2018/19: £4,590 2019/20: £4,680

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course, if any, are detailed in the 'This course in detail' window above.

Questions about fees?
Contact Student Finance on:
+44 (0)1865 483088
finance-fees@brookes.ac.uk

Funding and scholarships

Entry requirements

Applicants to the programme must have a prior legal vocational qualification, such as the LPC/BPTC or their equivalent.

The legal vocational qualification should normally have been obtained within 5 years of commencement of the LL.M (Legal Practice), but currency can be maintained either through continued work in legal practice as a solicitor or barrister or through teaching on a legal professional training course.

Students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to work independently in a self-directed way. As a significant part of the programme involves the application of academic research skills, students will be required to think critically, deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively and evaluate research including current problems and/or new insights.

How to apply

Careers

This programme is aimed primarily at those who are already in legal practice, although in some cases students are permitted to begin the course alongside the start of their legal career. As such, students are drawn from, and continue to progress in, a wide range of legal professions, including English solicitors and barristers, Pakistani advocates, Bahamian counsel and advocates, and Seychellian attorneys-at-law, as well as university lecturers in legal practice. 

Some students run their own legal practice, in partnership, or are fee-earners, but we have also welcomed in-house counsel working, for instance, in international finance. As a part-time course requiring reflection on professional practice, our normal expectation is that applicants will be in full-time professional employment during the course.

How Brookes supports postgraduate students

Students will be assigned a supervisor to support them for the duration of the programme. The University will arrange individual supervisions  to guide students through the research and writing of your dissertation.

Supporting your learning

From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.

Research areas and clusters

Members of the School of Law carry out advanced research at the international level across a range of topics relevant to legal practice both in the UK and internationally. This includes commissioned work for state bodies, publications in leading journals in law and cognate disciplines, and scholarly monographs. 

Although our leading researchers work across a wide range of topics, the School has particular strengths in the law of the small jurisdictions with a common law inheritance, through the Small Jurisdictions Service, and in international law.  

We aim to link student interests with this wide range of expertise; and our conception of legal practice is much wider than merely considering the provision of legal services and the study of the legal professions. 

Recent student topics have included: 

• The regulation of banking in the UK – to split or not to split?
• How can Europe achieve a unified system for the protection of patents?
• Does the established nature of the Church of England provide a model for other faith based jurisdictions?
• How compatible are the powers in the Digital Economy Act 2010 relating to disconnection of internet access for repeat copyright infringers with European Union Law and human rights law?