Leading City law firms outline plans for new Legal Practice Course

Five of the leading City law firms today announce further details of a new and innovative Legal Practice Course ("LPC") to be launched in September 2006, specifically designed to prepare their future trainees for life in a City law firm.

The five firms - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith, Lovells, Norton Rose and Slaughter and May - are working closely with BPP, one of the UK’s leading law and business schools, to develop the new course. Their objective is to provide their future trainees with the best possible preparation for the start of their careers. The five Consortium firms believe that their trainees will benefit from having the opportunity to mix with their future contemporaries from other law firms.

The new course run by BPP will embody elements of MBA training to provide students with a broad grounding in business and finance as well as consolidating their grasp of black letter law. The course is being designed to provide practical insights into corporate, finance and real estate transactions and commercial dispute resolution and to develop the skills necessary to handle these matters. Case and transaction simulations will be used throughout to emphasise the importance of the client’s perspective.

Students will benefit from a high level of individual attention. In addition to regular group work, they will receive individual guidance to assist them in realising their full potential. Emphasis will be placed on developing individuals’ client and business skills to facilitate a real understanding of why and how business decisions are made, the language of business and how to work effectively with clients in the business environment.

In developing the new course, the five Consortium firms have been able to combine their depth and breadth of expertise across practice areas with BPP’s leading capabilities in legal training and business education. All parties are working in close consultation with The Law Society.