The Post Graduate Diploma in Paralegal Practice

Law Graduates: give yourself a competitive advantage

The Post Graduate Diploma in Paralegal Practice is designed to bridge the gap between an academic degree and the practical and procedural knowledge and skills necessary to be able to function effectively as a Career Paralegal. Alternatively, it will provide the Graduate with a foundation for subsequent professional development and will help them in their quest to obtain a Training Contract or to make a decision whether to do the LPC course.

Syllabus

Practice Areas

Civil Litigation: Civil Court structure; Preliminary considerations; Action prior to Proceedings; Commencing and Conducting the Claim; Statements of Case; Summary Judgment; Interim proceedings; Discovery; Preparing for Trial; proceedings at Trial; Forms of Judgment; Enforcement of Judgments; Costs.

Matrimonial and Civil Partnership Disputes: Preliminary considerations; Financial Provision; Ownership of Property:Children: Divorce: Valid, void and voidable marriages / CDs; Procedure - Divorce/termination, Nullity and Judicial Separation; Ancillary Relief: Forms and Documentation: Domestic Proceedings and Orders in the Magistrates Court; Decrees Nisi and Absolute.

Criminal Practice: Criminal Court Structure: Preliminary Matters; Police Powers; Police Station Interviewing; Commencement.; Legal Aid; Bail; Summary Trial: Trial by Indictment: Sentencing; Assisting Counsel/Solicitor advocate at a trial. Sanctions: Types of sentences; philosophies of sanctions; Appeal.

Conveyancing: General; Outlines of Land Law; The First Interview: The three stages of a Conveyancing Transaction; Pre-exchange of contracts; Searches and Enquiries; The draft contract: Deducing Title - Registered land and Unregistered land; Investigating Title: Mortgages, Exchange of contracts. Post contract/pre-completion: Requisitions on title; Transfer of Part, Conveyance, Assent, Searches; Obtaining funds. Preparing for completion,Completion - date time & place, Breach of contract, Notice to complete, Rescission; Completion; Post completion: Leaseholds: Possessory Title.

Succession: Wills: Taking instructions Functions and scope of a will: Gifts, bequests, legacies and devises, residue, appointment of Executors, Failure of bequests; Testacy and Intestacy; Probate & Administration - Practice and Procedure; Administering the Estate: Personal Representatives and their duties and powers; Protection against claims; distribution of the estate.

Corporate / Commercial work: Business Structures: Sole Trader, Partnership and Company. Types of Companies, Incorporation: The 'veil of incorporation' and lifting the veil. Public and Private Companies: Incorporation Procedure: Functions of the Registrar of Companies; Promoters; The Memorandum and Articles of Association; Share Capital; Loan Capital; Debentures; Floating Charges; Membership; powers of the Court; Directors & Secretary; powers; Board Meetings; Managing Director; Contracts of Employment; Loans to Directors; Fiduciary duties; insider dealing; Meetings and Resolutions; Annual Return; Accounts; the Directors' Report. Reconstructions, Mergers and Take-overs: Take-overs; basic procedure; the City Code. Liquidation, Administration and Receivership: Liquidation, dissolution and winding up.

Skills

Interviewing: The Paralegal as a communication specialist; a model of the client interview; purpose; environment; introduction and closure; language; preparation; listening; rapport; investigative interviewing; record of the interview; checklists.

Negotiating: The PPC criteria for negotiation. Preparation, Three stages of every negotiation, beginning, middle and ending gambits, power and how to get it, personality styles, factors that influence negotiation.

Advocacy: Paralegals have rights of audience in the Small Claims Courts, most Tribunals and before District Judges on Interim Applications, principles and ethics, preparation for hearing/trial, examination and cross-examination; submissions, persuasion.

Drafting: Introduction; the PPC criteria for drafting; drafting informal documents, drafting formal documents, forms and precedence.

Please note that their no tests or assignments for the Legal Skills part of the course. Distance Learning Students do have the option of attending the class sessions at a cost of £50 per skills subject. Each subject is over two class sessions.

The course (including the Distance Learning Course) will include the opportunity to visit the Royal Courts of Justice in London, and also a look around part of 'legal London' - The Middle Temple and The Inner Temple.

Assessment
Each unit is divided into lessons and has a multiple choice achievement test and one or more assignments. All tests and assignments will be marked and graded and will be returned with tutor's comments. The tutor will answer any queries that the student may have and give unlimited help and guidance if there is anything that the student may not fully understand.

Entry Requirements

LL.B. (Hons)

BA LAW

CPE/GDL

Law Degree based on Common Law (Overseas students please note, your degree needs to include The English Legal System. If not, you do have the option of studying the relevant General Principals of Law subjects before commencing this course)

Learning Options

Distance Learning
Start anytime as a distance learning student. The cost of this course is only £850. The average time taken to complete the whole course by distance learning is 6-8 months if you study the recommended 7 hrs per week.

Class Attendance

The course is as a weekly part-time evening course to be held at Regent's College, Inner Circle, Regents Park, London, NW1 4NA consisting of three hours per evening ) from 6.15pm to 9.15pm), two nights per week over 20 weeks. Total course time 126 hours. The date of the next course will be 30th September 2010 and will run on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The cost of this course is £1800.

Enrolment

Download the Part Time Evening Course and complete the Enrolment Form, then go to Enrolment & Payment.

For assistance telephone Admissions on 020 3176 0900.

Download the Distance Learning Course and complete the Enrolment Form, then go to Enrolment & Payment.

For assistance telephone Admissions on 020 3176 0900.

Cost

Students can pay either in full or by deposit and standing order.

2010 Part Time Class attendance - £1800 or a deposit of £350 and ten monthly installments of £145.

Distance Learning Course - £850 or a deposit of £250 and ten monthly instalments of £60

Delivery Policy: Upon receipt of the course fees, or if paying by installments on receipt of the initial payment, the course material is delivered by first
class post or emailed within twenty-one days. Refund / Return / Cancellation Policy: A student can cancel within 10 days of the receipt by them of the
study material supplied and will receive a refund of the full amount paid, less the sum of £25 to cover administration costs, provided that the said study
material is returned in 'as new' condition. No refunds will be made in any other circumstances. Privacy Policy: All financial details (Credit or Debit Card
numbers) are not, and will not be stored by us and will be destroyed as soon as the financial transaction has been completed.

TESTIMONIALS

"When I left University, I felt that I would just step into a legal position - after all, I was a Law Graduate with Honours! This course brought it home to me that I knew virtually nothing of how the practice of law was conducted. But I do now!! Thank you!
AT
"I enjoyed the course immensely and even though I had taken the LPC, I found that this course was easier to absorb. The course was well structured and easily understood through the course material, the personal experiences of the tutors and the excellence of the tutors themselves.. Thank you for a most enjoyable and very interesting course.
ER
"We were fortunate in having tutors who not only knew their subject inside out, but could also express that knowledge in a way that really encouraged , inspired and stimulated us".
TB
I thoroughly enjoyed the PPC and it helped me to choose the career path that I want to take. The Tutors were excellent and very helpful in explaining and clarifying any matters. I found the trip to the Courts very interesting and an essential part of the course. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to be a career paralegal as I found that merely being a Law Graduate was not sufficient to enable me to get a job. The course was just perfect.
SB

A degree is an academic qualification, but a paralegal needs to also know procedural law and practice

This Diploma is designed for Law (and CPE/PGDipLaw) Graduates who have been unable to obtain a training contract and who hesitate to enrol on the Legal Practices Course (LPC) because of the high cost involved and the uncertainty of obtaining a Training Contract even if they do. The Law Society's Law Careers Advice Network advise "......students that do not have a training contract should think carefully before taking up a place on the LPC..."


national_paralegal_academic_qualifications Law Graduates have already invested a lot of time and money into gaining their degrees. Statistically, only a relative minority are able to secure training contracts, but this need not be the end of the line! 45% of solicitors' firms employ graduates as paralegals and more and more solicitors are looking to paralegals, not only to make their practices more cost effective, but also (so far as Graduates are concerned), law firms are increasingly recruiting paralegals as a way of selecting those suitable for a training contract.

Being a paralegal is a great professional career in itself, however, and if you want to be a lawyer, but cannot get that training contract, then this is the best alternative - the third arm of the Legal Profession.

Referrals
The association always has referrals on all aspects relating to paralegals, especially graduates who are looking for paralegal jobs and this was one of the reasons why we introduced this course.