Core (compulsory) course on the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice to equip students with the professional skills, including ethics, necessary for operating a legal practice in Scotland.

Skills Week - practical sessions

9 x 2-hour tutorials

10 x 1-hour modules / lectures

None

None

Assessment

1 Tutorial preparation, participation and performance: 40%

2 Written Ethics assessment: 30%

3 Practice Awareness exercise: 30% (combined assessment: 15% oral and 15% written)

4. Skills: pass / fail

Not available for reassessment

1 Tutorial preparation, participation and performance 40%

It is the default expectation that all courses will offer opportunities for reassessment or deferred assessment. Where it is not possible to offer this in some assessment components, the grade achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade, and any exceptions for this course are described below.

[No exceptions]

1. To develop knowledge and understanding of a) the provision and legal regulation of financial services; and b) the information contained in accounts. 

2. To develop knowledge and understanding of practice management skills required in professional practice, including the financial and accounting issues associated with the running of a law practice.

3.  To develop knowledge and understanding of the ethical principles governing the conduct of lawyers in Scotland, enabling the identification and resolution of ethical problems as they arise in every day legal practice.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Explain and critically discuss the various forms of financial services and their regulation, including investment protection and complaints procedure;

2. Advise clients in relation to investment decisions and explain and discuss the taxation implications and the general economic environment in relation to investments;

3. Demonstrate a critical awareness of typical ethical difficulties arising in the everyday provision of financial services;

4. Understand standard accounting systems and their underlying concepts, as well as the form and content of the annual accounts of trading enterprises and relevant tax implications;

5. Identify the issues involved in the concepts of client care, risk management, time management, file management, case load management and the role-played by information technology in the legal office;

6. Identify and understand commercial considerations involved in running a legal practice, including partnership structures and the role of the trainee;

7. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the Accounts Rules, cash room procedures, Money Laundering Regulations, credit control, charging fees and recovering outlays, and demonstrate an understanding of the systems, practice rules and voluntary codes regulating the legal profession in Scotland;

8. Explain and discuss the concepts of negligence, client care, inadequate professional service and misconduct and demonstrate an appreciation of the typical ethical difficulties arising in every day legal practice.