Professional Legal Practice (Taught)

The Diploma qualification is essential for entry to both the solicitors' and advocates' branches of the profession. It meets the requirements of the Law Society of Scotland's Professional Education and Training Stage 1. The Diploma is a vocational course - you'll learn the ethical rules, practical knowledge and personal skills required of lawyers in Scotland.

We train you to be a practising lawyer. You'll gain a thorough knowledge of legal principles and an appreciation of the practical context in which they're applied.

We place great importance on preparing you for what really happens in legal practice by giving you hands-on experience in an office environment. We also use realistic simulations to recreate situations you'll experience in your work.

A real benefit of the course is the opportunity to meet both fellow students and tutors. They'll become fellow practitioners and your paths will cross regularly during your working life in this relatively small legal jurisdiction.

The LLM is designed specifically for graduates with both a qualifying law degree and a Diploma in Legal Practice/Professional Legal Practice. It operates as a research based ‘top-up’ for Diploma graduates. It allows graduates of the Diploma to build on their previous study and focus on a particular area of law and legal practice by way of an extended, 20,000 word dissertation.

The aim of this course is to offer suitably qualified graduates the opportunity to gain enhanced legal research skills as well as to engage in in-depth study of your chosen area of interest. Whether you've already commenced your legal career and want to undertake a research project on something relevant to your professional practice, or you're just starting out in your career and want to undertake research in a particular area with a view to developing your understanding and enhancing your employment prospects, this course will provide you with the skills and relevant supervision to write a Masters’ level dissertation. This will allow you to demonstrate distinctiveness over others by enhancing your skill-set and knowledge of your chosen area of study.