York Law School sets the bar

News | Posted on Monday 7 October 2019

York Law School announces its Juris Doctor LLM

The University of York Law School has announced a new three year Masters Level Programme, the LLM Law (Juris Doctor). From September 2020, the York Law School LLM Law (Juris Doctor) will equip graduates from any discipline with the legal knowledge, skills and commercial awareness needed to succeed in an international career in law.

The new programme will build on the Law School’s unique expertise in Problem Based Learning (PBL).

Professor Caroline Hunter, Head of York Law School, said "This will be the first LLM Law (Juris Doctor) in the UK and marks a step-change in the approach to professional legal education. As well as being academically rigorous, our focus is on developing skilled lawyers who are able to demonstrate the skills and mindsets needed to function successfully across international borders."

Professor Scott Slorach, Director of Learning and Teaching, explained “We are the only law school in the UK which has built our LLM Law (Juris Doctor) around PBL and immersing students in their final year in a simulation of the work of a commercial legal practice. This means that client problems are in front and centre of the student’s learning.

"By working on realistic client issues, students will learn to think and act like professional lawyers from the start. Students work together collaboratively to identify client objectives, before then researching and communicating the legal issues, and their impact on the client, usually across several interlinked legal topics. Students will also be required to take steps to progress client matters and transactions, working with legal documents. Together, this is much closer to what it is really like to work as a lawyer."

Stephen Levett, Director of Professional Practice, said "The York LLM Law (Juris Doctor) is designed to mirror the requirements of a JD and subject to additional local entry requirements and will enable students to approach qualifying in countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia, where JDs are commonplace, with real confidence."

The programme is open for recruitment from September 2020.

For more information