Law
Graduate profile: Andy West Studied: Law LLB, graduated July 2010 Currently: Pretrainee solicitor, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) LLP Why did you choose Queen Mary? I was keen to find a university with high standards of teaching and a wide range of extracurricular activities. Law at Queen Mary was praised both in terms of the teaching and research quality, and also offered excellent facilities for getting involved outside the classroom. For example the pro bono opportunities at the university far outstripped those available at the other universities I considered. Also, being located in London allowed me to garner experience in different areas of the legal sector in my free time which helped me to choose the career I wanted to work towards after graduation. How did you find out about your current job? I worked with solicitors from BLP through the Queen Mary Student Pro Bono Group, both as an advisor and in my various roles in the Group Committee throughout my time at Queen Mary. The Queen Mary Law Fair gave me an opportunity to speak to Graduate Recruitment staff from BLP and I attended open days and a work placement before accepting a training contract offer from the firm. What does your current job involve day-to-day? The LPC offers a bridge between academic legal study and practicing as a solicitor, so at present I am working on learning procedural rules, and learning techniques and approaches to applying law in practice rather than academically. What can current students do to prepare for getting a job in your area? I think the most important thing for aspiring solicitors is probably to concentrate on broadening their experience – both in the legal sector and elsewhere. Experiences from part-time work, extracurricular activities and legal work experience are all valuable. Being able to express what skills you have developed from different experiences is as vital as doing the experience itself in terms of securing a job. Studying hard and getting good academic results is also a prerequisite, though!
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English and European Law M120 LLB/LawEu4 (four years) Programme description This programme follows the same pattern as the traditional LLB (M100). However, the third year is spent studying at a European university. This will provide you with knowledge and understanding of civil law systems generally and the law of at least one EU country. We have links with universities in Paris, Toulouse, Bologna, Madrid, Berlin, Sienna, Copenhagen, Leuven, Utrecht and Leiden. If you wish to study at an institution that does not teach in English you must have fluent language skills and be prepared to take language classes provided by the College. Programme outline Year 1 Public Law • Elements of Contract Law • Law of Property I • Criminal Law Year 2 Law of the European Union (half-module) • Administrative Law (half-module) • Tort Law • Law of Property II • Plus one full or two half-modules from the list below Year 3 Year abroad: written assignments or unseen examinations Year 4 Jurisprudence and Legal Theory • Plus three modules or a combination of full/half modules totalling three. Module options include: Commercial Law (final year only) • Company Law (final year only) • Competition Law • Criminology (also available as a half-module) • Dissertation • Cyberspace Law • EU Justice and Home Affairs • European Comparative Law (also available as a half-module) • Family Law • Intellectual Property • International Commercial Transactions • International Environmental Law • International Human Rights • Labour Law • Law and Globalisation • Law and Medical Ethics (final year only) • Law of Evidence • Law, Modernity and the Holocaust • Media Law (final year only) • Modern Legal History • Public International Law • Revenue Law • United Kingdom Human Rights. Half-modules include: Democracy and Justice • EU Justice and Home Affairs • European Legal Systems • Comparative Law and European Integration • Law and Literature: The Foundations of Law • Law and Literature: Justice in Crisis • Law, Justice and Ethics