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For those lucky enough to be sponsored by a firm, the question of the course being a good investment probably doesn’t often cross your mind - it’s a no-brainer. Passing the course, sometimes more than just passing, is a pre-requisite for starting the training contract. So, taking the Legal Practice Course (LPC) is a necessity right?

However, the not-quite-so-fortunate who are personally footing the bill for the hefty cost of the course, will be constantly thinking “What on Earth am I doing?”as you sign away another few thousand pounds to cover one term’s fees. You will meticulously calculate your outgoings and will ensure that you get your money’s worth out of lectures, workshops and course tutors. Who cares if they have to stay after hours to answer your query? You’re forking out a fortune for this course!

So for those who haven’t yet secured training contracts the question remains “is the Legal Practice Course (LPC) really worth it?” You will be paying through the nose to be on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and risk drowning in debt if you don’t find a training contract afterwards.

But many people will successfully finish the Legal Practice Course (LPC), will have an excellent CV, and will stand in good stead of getting a training contract upon completion or even during.

However, there are a few that will not only struggle to fund the course, but will also struggle to complete the course, and whether or not the Legal Practice Course (LPC) is in fact a good investment in this case remains to be seen. I know of a fair few people who have failed exams (compulsories, electives and skills) and then failed retakes, or have indeed failed the whole course.

It would make sense for there to be some sort of vetting process, perhaps an Legal Practice Course (LPC) entrance exam, to assess their suitability to take the course. If you’re paying out that amount of money, only to leave without a qualification, and no hope of ever securing a training contract, then surely it wasn’t worth it in the first place and surely you should have been told you aren’t really capable before you started.

Perhaps more emphasis needs to be placed on alternative careers in law, or indeed, alternative careers which you can enter with a law degree. Personally, I think this responsibility ultimately rests on the institutions offering undergraduate law degrees.

It is all too often presumed that, after a degree, a student will then automatically go on to complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC). But there are other routes. I have friends working as very well-paid paralegals in large law firms, who are content with their workload and the firm they are working for. And content, no doubt, that they haven’t spent a small fortune on a single year’s course.

In terms of the content of the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and what it actually teaches us, I haven’t yet started my training contract, so am still to decide how worthwhile it really was. In terms of the skills that it taught me - well, I’ve known how to write a business letter for years, having worked in various offices in a variety of jobs, so that (and an exam in it), really wasn’t useful to me at all. Interviewing served as a good reminder of how to conduct yourself with clients and to extract information, but to be honest, wasn’t exactly rocket science.

Advocacy, however, I did find useful. Having done the GDL, rather than a law degree, I hadn’t had much advocacy experience, so I really benefited from this area of the course. Solicitors accounts was again, something new, but how much of that knowledge I am to use again remains to be seen.

In terms of compulsory subjects (Business Law, Property Law, Criminal Litigation and Civil Litigation) and electives (for me, Employment, Family and Commercial), yes the courses were interesting, but whether they were useful again remains to be seen. Would it be more practical, before a trainee starts a seat, for the trainee to undertake a month’s intensive study in the area of law they will be working in? It would be fresh in their minds that way, and perhaps more up-to-date and relevant.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy my Legal Practice Course (LPC) immensely, and benefited hugely from the excellent teaching. However, at times, it just seemed like an extension of my GDL. Whether or not it truly serves any purpose…I think I’ll wait until I’m a good few months into my training contract to form an opinion on that one…

Sarah Green

LPC graduate from University of the West of England

01-10-2009