Programme

Programme Career Planning- Sarah Fitzpatrick Introduction to LPC 3 - Rebecca Mitchell Questions Tours of the Building Meet Staff and Students

Career planning What should you be doing now to get a

training contract?• Think about what type of firm you want to

work in• Focus on getting work experience• Commercial firms – apply now

Career planning What sort of legal work do I want to do?

• High street firm• Legal aid firm• Commercial firm• In house• Local authority• CPS

Career planning Where do Northumbria graduates get

training contracts?Commercial firmsAddleshaw Goddard Nabarro NathansonDickinson Dees Pinsent MasonsEversheds Walker MorrisFiners Stephens Innocent Ward Hadaway

Legal Aid/High Street/otherBen Hoare Bell Samuel Philips Northern Rock

Career planning How do I decide what work I want to do?

• What motivates you?• Areas of particular interest?

Firms recruit at different times of the year and in different ways• Large commercial firms – 2 years in advance

and use vacation schemes• Mid size firms – 1 year in advance• Small legal aid or high street firms – short notice

Career planning It is essential that you get legal work

experience• It helps you work out exactly what type of

work you want to do• Any legal work experience is good experience• It looks good on your cv• It is helpful at interview • It may lead to a training contract

Career planning How to get work experience

• Large firms have vacation schemes – check out their websites

• Smaller firms may provide work experience • Research local firms• Use any connections you have• Make personal contact

• Law Centres or CABs may want advisors

Career planning Want to work in a commercial firm?

• Apply for vacation placements • Apply this Spring/Summer for 2010 training

contracts Want to work in a different firm or area?

• Apply for vacation placements• Start networking

Career planning Useful resources:

• www.lawcareers.net• www.legal500.com• Law Society Directories• Training Contract Handbook• Chambers Student Guide• Target Law

Career planning at Northumbria Guidance tutors Career development programme E-learning portal Practice Interview Scheme Professional Contact Scheme University Careers Service

Start Date for LPC 3 All providers required to comply with new

course outcomes and assessment requirements from September 2010.

Providers may offer courses validated against new course outcomes and assessment requirements from September 2009.

Overall aims of the course Prepare students for work-based

learning and Provide a general foundation for

practice.

Key features of LPC 3 Stage 1

• Property Law and Practice• Business Law and Practice• Litigation (civil and criminal) • Wills and Administration of Estates• Taxation• Professional Conduct and Regulation• Skills

• Writing, Drafting, Interviewing and advising; Advocacy; Practical Legal Research.

Key features of LPC 3 Stage 1

• All elements of stage 1 must be undertaken with the same provider.

• All skills/professional conduct assessments take place within stage 1.

• Much greater flexibility on the depth of coverage and content of the core practice areas, subject to minimum criteria.

Key features of LPC 3 More choice for you - providers have the

opportunity to shape their course for particular students or specific kinds of legal practice or markets. For example, Business Law and Practice might emphasize small domestic business activities or international commercial enterprises.

Key features of LPC 3 Stage 2

• Vocational Electives- must take 3.• These can be undertaken with the same

provider as stage 1, or with one or more other providers.

• Each elective is allocated to a group. Must choose from at least two different groups.

Assessments Core practice areas and the Vocational

Electives – minimum 3 hour assessment.

Professional conduct and regulation – minimum 2 hour assessment and within core practice areas.

Solicitors Accounts – minimum 2 hour assessment.

Assessment – Course Skills Each of the five Course Skills of Practical

Legal Research, Writing, Drafting, Interviewing and Advising and Advocacy shall be assessed once, under supervised conditions.

Passing the Course The pass mark for all core and elective

assessments shall be 50%. Marks for Stage 1 and Stage 2 assessments must be recorded on separate transcripts.

Transcript of Marks – Stages 1 and 2

• percentage marks for the three core practice areas and each vocational elective

• the percentage mark for Professional Conduct and Regulation

• the percentage mark for Solicitors Accounts • competent/not yet competent decisions for

each of the five skills areas • for each assessment the number of the

attempt on which the student was successful and the date on which the successful assessment was undertaken

Number of Attempts Students may have three attempts at any

assessment. If they are unsuccessful on the third attempt of a Stage 1 assessment, they fail that stage overall and Stage 1 of the course and all assessments must be re-taken.

A student who fails a Stage 2 assessment for the third time can either re-enrol on the course for that particular elective or start a fresh elective.

Time limit for completion of the course To pass the full LPC (Stages 1 and 2) a

student must pass all of their assessments within a five year period. The date used for determining the start of the five year period is the date on which the student attempted their first assessment, whether or not they were successful.

Fit to Sit Policy Students required to confirm at the start

of each assessment that there are no reasons why they should not sit the assessment at that time or why they might subsequently submit a request for a concession.

Information to be Provided to Students• The information to be published about each provider will include:

• The different LPCs it provides, e.g full and part-time (future and previous), Stages 1 and/or 2

• Key features of its different courses, e.g where there is an emphasis on particular types of practice

• The maximum number of students in the different types of teaching and learning sessions (future and previous)

• The maximum number of students it will recruit onto each course (future and previous)

• Entry requirements• Policy on Stages 1 and 2, e.g will students who have studied

Stage 1 with another provider be accepted onto Stage 2 of the provider’s course

Information to be Provided to Students Any academic qualification that will be awarded to successful

students The learning resources available to support the course,

including library and IT provision (future and previous) The student:teaching staff ratio (future and previous) The percentage of teaching staff who are qualified as solicitors

or barristers (future and previous) The percentage of teaching staff with higher level teaching

qualification (future and previous) The teaching staff profile Fees Pastoral support, including dedicated careers guidance staff

(future and previous)

Studying the LPC at Northumbria University Solicitors Regulation Authority rating Wide choice of electives taught by

specialist staff Fantastic new building with state of the art

teaching technology Central location and University facilities Chance to combine your LPC with an LLM

Solicitors Regulation Authority Rating Highest rating for all areas of

assessment received from the SRA in April 2007 – these are:• Learning, teaching and the curriculum• Assessment• Students and their support• Learning resources• Leadership and management• Quality assurance and enhancement

Private Client/High Street Electives Child Care Family Law Law & the Elderly Client Housing Law Mental Health Law Student Law Office

Commercial Electives Commercial Dispute Resolution Commercial Law Commercial Leases Sales and Acquisitions Planning & Environmental Law Intellectual Property Employment Law

Facilities University Gym University Sports facilities University Accommodation Services Students Union – Societies and Social

Scene IT facilities on a University Scale

Fees Fees 07/08 £7,150 – includes all course materials.

Applications LPC full time on-line to the Central

Applications Board.• www.lawcabs.ac.uk

LPC part time apply direct. Forms on-line.