Brighton University Law School

 
At Brighton Business School we have a forward looking approach to legal education which focuses on ensuring that our students develop the full range of knowledge and skills that they need to succeed and flourish in a modern law and business environment.

We offer two law courses:

LLB(Hons) Law with Business degree (full-time)

Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PG Dip Law)/Common Professional Examination (CPE) course (part-time)

Both of these courses fulfil the "academic" stage of training for the purpose of qualifying as a solicitor or barrister.

The full-time LLB takes three years to complete, or four years in the case of students who choose the “sandwich degree” option, which involves a year-long work placement between their second and final year.

The part-time PG Dip Law/CPE takes two years to complete on the basis of attendance at the University one day per week, and students usually combine study with a full-time job, often in legal practice, working, for example, as a paralegal. From September 2009, the PG Dip Law/CPE will also be offered on a full-time basis (subject to validation), which will require attendance at the University on two days per week. Students who successfully complete the PG Dip/Law CPE may obtain an MA in Law by successfully completing a dissertation module.

At any one time, there are 250-300 students enrolled on the LLB and CPE courses at Brighton, which is large enough for there to be a vibrant law student community, but small enough for there to be a personal and friendly atmosphere where staff know students by name and can closely monitor their progress.

The School also hosts a Foundation Certificate in Policing in Partnership with Communities, the initial police training course for Sussex Police.

The law subjects studied

As required by the law professional bodies which regulate LLB and CPE courses (the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board), all our law students study English Legal System, Method and Skills, and the seven "Foundations of Legal Knowledge" - Contract Law, the Law of Torts, Public Law (including Human Rights), European Union Law, Criminal Law, Equity and Trusts, and Land Law.

In addition, LLB (Hons) Law with Business students study modules in Understanding Financial Information, Marketing and Information Systems, Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Corporate and Finance Law, and Employment Law, and are offered optional modules in Consumer Law and Practice, the Law of International Trade, Intellectual Property Law, Family Law and a range of business-related subjects, such as Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development.

All law students have the opportunity to further explore law subjects of special interest to them through independent research, via project and dissertation modules. Recent topics covered by students have included media law, medical law, family law, housing law, and international law.

Facilities and resources

The tools of the lawyers trade are primary sources of law, such as statutes and cases, and secondary sources, such as books, periodicals and journals. At Brighton, we have an excellent state-of-the-art library, the Aldrich Library) which houses a good paper collection of these materials. However, increasingly, the emphasis both in legal academia and in legal practice, is switching from paper resources to electronic resources, and law students at the University can access an excellent range of primary and secondary law materials from leading law databases which the University subscribes to: Westlaw, Lawtel and Lexis Nexis Butterworths and Heinonline. These electronic databases can be accessed by students via any computer connected to the internet, whether on or off campus. Students are trained to make effective use of these databases at an early point in their course.

 Contact us:

University of Brighton
Mithras House
Lewes Road
Brighton BN2 4AT
Telephone +44 (0)1273 600900 (switchboard)

www.brighton.ac.uk