Choosing Law Modules | Law Careers

All law students take the seven modules exempting them from the first stage of professional exams. However, after this most students have a free choice about the other modules they wish to take.

This does not mean that if you think you want to go into commercial law then you have to take all the commercial, corporate and business law modules going.

However, you should think carefully about the modules you choose and not choose all unrelated modules such as family law, military law, medical law, etc. Even if you don’t know what area you ideally want to practice in after university or even if you are not sure whether you want to practice at all it is still important to choose your modules wisely.

Striking a balance

The best advice is probably to have a balanced ‘portfolio’ of modules. If you know you definitely want to practice in a certain area then take a few related modules so that you can demonstrate your interest to potential employers.

After that it is a good idea to choose a mixture of modules based on personal interest and recommendations from friends and tutors.

Firstly, choosing modules you are interested in will lead to better marks than undertaking modules solely in a bid to impress potential employers. If you are interested in an area/module this will also make it easier to talk about during an interview.

If you are disinterested in a module you won’t remember as much for interviews and exams and ultimately this will show through.

Secondly, talking to friends and tutors about modules will give you a better idea of the module’s content than the module choices booklet can give. Don’t pick a module based on your friends saying it is easy or that the tutor marks leniently if you are not interested in that module.

People tend to succeed in areas they are interested in regardless of the leniency of marking. If you are really only interested in getting through university with a 2:1/1^st then the best advice is still to choose modules that you are interested in but to ask around for the best (not necessarily the most lenient) seminar leaders to choose. Having a good seminar leader in a module can make all the difference.

Wild Modules

A final piece of advice is don’t be afraid to take wild modules in other subjects. As long as you don’t go crazy and choose too many or choose completely unrelated modules then a wild module might be of significant value.

An example of where a wild module could be useful is if you are interested in European or international law and thus decide to take a module in international relations or European studies.

The thing to remember is to look at the content of the wild module you want to take to ensure that it fits in with your studies. If you have studied a language at A-Level then it also never hurts to take some language modules at university.

The important thing to remember is that although employers will be looking for evidence that you are interested in their area of practice they will also be concerned about a number of other things such as overall marks, related experience, extra-curricular activities, etc.

The important thing is that you can demonstrate your abilities across arrange of modules and provide a solid reason for having chosen the modules you did.

Tom Mountford

LLB Graduate

University of Kent

22-09-2009