What to do After a Law Degree?

In your final year at university you will have to make some decisions about the next stage of your career. If you wish to go into the profession either as a solicitor, advocate or barrister then you will need to undertake what is known as the "bridge training", the stage after graduation but before you can enter the in-office part of training to become a lawyer. The process of educating and training young lawyers in all the United Kingdom jurisdictions has been the subject of much consideration and analysis in the last ten years or so. Much of this discussion has been driven by the perception within the legal profession that the numbers entering the profession need to be controlled. As already noted, in recent years in all three jurisdictions-England, Northern Ireland and Scotland-the number of lawyers entering the profession has grown dramatically. This rapid increase in numbers has been coupled with the acknowledgement that the type of training offered to young lawyers, which has traditionally been a concentration on substantive law, does not equip them adequately with the types of new skills and approaches required in what is now a highly competitive and mobile job market. The general practitioner within the legal profession, namely one who does a little bit of everything, is becoming less and less common. Areas of expertise and specialisms are developing and it would be impossible for law schools to teach every area of law which may be practiced as a specialism. Instead therefore, the emphasis is now on teaching the skills which aspiring lawyers need to enable them to apply their understanding and application of the law in whatever sphere they eventually choose to practice. The focus at law school is therefore shifting from one where a great amount of law is taught, to one where the techniques for finding and applying the law are taught. The changes which have emerged from this reassessment of legal education and training are different within the three jurisdictions. Each of these is now considered in turn.

The conversion course: the Diploma or the CPE?

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If you wish to practice law but your first degree is not in law and you have to take a conversion course, do not feel that you will be at a disadvantage. On the contrary you may benefit, as recent research has suggested that those who take the CPE course are favored for recruitment by at least the larger city firms. ACLEC's first report on Legal Education and Training in 1996 revealed that as many as one third of students starting the LPC and Bar Vocational Course had taken the route of the CPE course, as opposed to a first degree in law. Some studies suggest that CPE graduates have a higher success rate than law graduates in gaining a place on the LPC. Critics of the one-year conversion courses for non-law graduates claim they minimize students' contact with law subjects and reduce the study of law to a bureaucratic exercise that fails to develop in prospective lawyers the critical skills of analysis, philosophical enquiry and intellectual debate. In contrast, practitioners and recruiters argue that the one-year conversion course attracts graduates from all backgrounds and disciplines, providing the prospective lawyer with a more rounded education, maturity and outward-looking perspective which is of particular value to employers.

Most CPE/Diploma courses are intensive full-time courses lasting an academic year of 36 weeks. Students study the seven foundation subjects of English law-contract, tort, criminal, property, equity & trusts, public and European law. Students are taught through lectures and tutorials. Lectures give an overview of the topic while tutorials concentrate on the interpretation and application of this knowledge to legal problems.

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While both the Postgraduate Diploma in Law and CPE will qualify you to proceed to the LPC, there are distinctive differences which you should consider before selecting which you do. For example, the CPE is recognized by both the Law Society and the Bar, but the Bar does not recognize all the Postgraduate Diplomas in Law that are offered at different institutions. Accordingly, if you think you may wish to qualify to go to the Bar at some stage then it would be safer to take the CPE. As against that, it is said by some that the Postgraduate Diploma of Law offers a broader postgraduate qualification as it carries weight beyond that of just the legal profession. It is important that you investigate thoroughly the courses on offer. You should read and compare carefully the prospectuses from the different institutions offering the Postgraduate Diploma in Law and the CPE, and if in doubt check with the Law Society or the Bar Council that the courses you propose to take will qualify you in the way that you intend and require. As with your initial choice of university in which to take your degree, your choice for the Postgraduate Diploma in Law or the CPE will be influenced by a number of factors; some of which will be personal to you. You may need to stay near your home town or you may be desperate to move away from it. You may wish to move to an area where you think ultimately you might wish to work and that you would be best placed to network and lay down roots at the earliest possible stage. Provided you go through the check-list process applicable to your university, then you should be able to meet your own personal needs and also ensure that you find an institution which is delivering a product with the appropriate reputation in the profession, and one that will not create any drawbacks for you at the next stage of your career.

As part of your enquiries you should make a point of visiting the institution, attending any open days, speaking to staff and students there, reading publications such as the Times Higher Education Supplement the professional legal periodicals and other legal journals for discussion about any particular institution. One factor that might influence you is cost. Costs do vary between institutions and some law schools may even offer bursaries. Details of possible funding opportunities will be provided in their prospectuses. However, you should not necessarily aim to go to the institution that offers the Postgraduate Diploma of Law or CPE at the lowest cost. Cost generally reflects the quality of the product. If you have been fortunate enough to arrange a training contract with a firm that will sponsor you through the Postgraduate Diploma of Law or CPE and the legal practice course, then they may have the final say in where you undertake the course. At the very least, they will have a view on where you do it and you should of course discuss with them the options. Admission to Postgraduate Diploma of Law and CPE courses is arranged through a Central Applications Board.