Master of Laws

Course detail Description

Our LLM course is designed for both recent law graduates and established professionals. It will allow you to deepen and broaden your knowledge of law as an academic subject and will help your professional development by enhancing your problem – solving skills in a transnational context. It is designed to maximise your intellectual potential, as well as keeping you grounded by drawing on the real world experiences of staff and other practitioners. You will also benefit from our vibrant intellectual community, student societies and social events, as well as our links with prestigious international law schools.

You will choose to specialise in one of eight different pathways or to choose your own combination of modules for a ‘General LLM’. The specialist pathways are currently:

• Competition Law (CL)
• European Law (EL)
• Intellectual Property and Information Law (IP&IL)
• International Business Law (IBL)
• International Financial Law (IFL)
• International Dispute Resolution (IDR)
• International Tax Law (IT)
• Transnational Law (TL)

Under the close guidance of our expert tutors, we will equip you with the legal knowledge and expertise to match your career ambitions. You will gain an internationally recognised qualification that is highly desirable in today’s competitive legal profession.

Teaching on the LLM programme is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars. In modules with smaller numbers of students, there are usually two hours of seminar-style teaching per week. In larger courses (i.e. with more than 40 students enrolled), there will typically be a combination of a two-hour lecture and a number of additional seminars. This means that usually students will have 6 to 10 contact hours a week.

Full-time

Lectures, seminars & feedback

Self-study

6-10 hours

30-34 hours

Part-time

Lectures, seminars & feedback

Self-study

6-10 hours

14-16 hours

Assessment

The majority of modules are assessed by a two or three-hour exam. Alternatively, some modules are assessed through coursework. In addition to coursework and exams, a percentage of your final mark may be based on, for example, presentations, reaction papers or other assignments.

Regulating Body

King’s College is regulated by the Office for Students.

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Structure

Year 1

Course structure

Full-time students who complete the programme in one year will normally take modules totalling 180 credits. Part-time students are recommended to take 80 credits of taught modules in Year 1 and 40-60 credits of taught modules, plus a writing project in Year 2.

All students are required to take one of the following writing projects:

• Dissertation (40 credits) 10,000 word dissertation whereby you conduct research on an agreed research topic under the supervision of an academic staff member.
• Dissertation (60 credits) 15,000 word dissertation whereby you conduct research on an agreed research topic under the supervision of an academic staff member.
• 10,000 word practice or research module (40 credits)

The practice or research module is selected from a range of options that may typically include, for example:
• Advanced EU Competition Law (CL)
• International Investment Law and Policy (IBL/IFL/IDR)
• Law and New Modes of Governance in the European Union (EL)
• Transnational Digital Enforcement of Intellectual Property (IPIL)
• International Tax Law: Transfer Pricing (IT)

In order to meet the 180 credit requirement, students must select at least 120-140 credits from a range of optional modules. Students who wish to specialise within a certain pathway must ensure that at least 120 credits are taken within that pathway. This can consist of optional modules alone or a combination of optional modules and a writing project, providing its content is relevant to the pathway. Students who select the General LLM are free to choose modules from all pathways.

Examples of modules available with the General LLM:

• Analytical & Quantitative Methods for Lawyers (40 credits)

More examples of optional modules can be found on the pathway pages:

• Competition Law (CL)
• European Law (EL)
• Intellectual Property and Information Law (IP&IL)
• International Business Law (IBL)
• International Financial Law (IFL)
• International Dispute Resolution (IDR)
• International Tax Law (IT)
• Transnational Law (TL)