News

Friday 8 June 2012

Unique new structure for LLB at Nottingham Law School

The LLB (Hons) Full-time Law programme will now feature a split-year pathway

A newly restructured and unique law degree which challenges students beyond more traditional law degrees and further strengthens their employability profile is to be offered from October 2012 at Nottingham Law School, part of Nottingham Trent University.

The LLB (Hons) Full-time Law programme will now feature a split-year pathway which gives students four different options in their second year of study.

Those wishing to gain an international law perspective can choose to study overseas at one of a number of specially selected partner universities in a range of different countries, including Australia, Switzerland, Turkey, the Czech Republic and The Netherlands.

To enhance work-based skills there will also be an option to undertake a professional work placement in either legal or non-legal professional practice.

Alternatively students can choose to study a range of business modules, delivered by Nottingham Business School, to develop business knowledge and commercial awareness,
or could instead participate in clinical legal education through the study of a combination of skills-based and substantive law modules, enabling them to develop and practise client focussed transferable professional skills in a simulated work environment.

For students who decide not to take a spilt-year pathway, there is also an alternative year-long programme which delivers substantive law modules with professional skills and employability enhancement embedded within them.

Nottingham Law School principal lecturer, Martin Millward, who is responsible for the development of the full-time LLB, said: “This structure and the choice of opportunities it provides to students is unique in terms of undergraduate legal education. The alternative pathways provide an exciting and attractive range of opportunities for students, but underpinning it all is a key emphasis upon the development of transferable professional skills and a key focus upon enhancing the employability of our graduates.”

Nottingham Law School has also introduced a new final year module, Path to Professional Practice, which has been designed in consultation with Nottingham Law School’s Employers Advisory Board. The module brings together a range of advanced legal skills within a real world context, including drafting, interviewing, negotiation, professional ethics and commercial awareness.

Martin added: “Many students are increasingly looking for paralegal employment prior to undertaking their postgraduate vocational legal training and this module will prepare them to meet the needs of such employers. The module is being introduced into all of our full-time attendance LLB programmes and will provide an excellent platform from which to progress to the vocational stage of legal training to become a solicitor or a barrister.”

Dean of Nottingham Law School, Professor Andrea Nollent, said: “The innovative new design is very much focussed upon flexibility, adding value for students and further improving their employability, ensuring that they have the skills and practical experience which employers need.”