LLM in Civil Law
Course Overview
The LLM in Civil Law at LSLPE is a UK Level 7 Master's degree running one year full-time or two years part-time across on-campus, online and distance routes. The programme takes the working civil-law core (contract, tort, property and equity) as a senior practitioner subject and reads it through leading modern authorities and the reform agendas emerging from The Law Commission, The Law Society and the leading academic institutions.
By graduation you will have produced LLM-standard case notes on the leading modern civil decisions, drafted a reform proposal on an aspect of contract, tort, property or equity, prepared an appellate skeleton argument, and completed a dissertation, capstone or sponsor consulting project of around 15,000 words for a chambers, firm or reform body.
Key Features
- UK Level 7 LLM with dissertation, capstone or sponsor consulting project.
- Reading list aligned with Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Bar Standards Board (BSB), CILEX and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) frameworks.
- Senior seminars set in a case-room tradition led by tutors from civil chambers, City firms and the reform community.
- Optional strands in contract, tort, property and equity.
- Live-client sponsor projects with civil-litigation firms, chambers and reform bodies.
- Dissertation supervision by tutors with practising civil-law backgrounds.
What You Will Learn
- Read the leading modern civil decisions across contract, tort, property and equity.
- Analyse Law Commission reform proposals in civil law.
- Interpret Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judgments at LLM standard.
- Draft appellate skeleton arguments and reform proposals.
- Apply equitable doctrines including trusts, estoppel, subrogation and tracing.
- Compare English civil law with the civilian tradition.
- Prepare an LLM-standard dissertation of around 15,000 words.
- Present findings at senior-seminar standard.
Who This Course Is For
- Working solicitors, barristers and Legal Executives in civil practice.
- In-house counsel handling contentious matters.
- Court staff and judicial clerks preparing for senior roles.
- Legal academics moving into practice-facing research.
- International applicants preparing for cross-border civil-law practice.
Career Pathways
- In-house Counsel
- Barrister (subject to separate BSB qualification)
- Solicitor (subject to separate SRA qualification)
- Judicial Clerk
- Legal Researcher
- Legal Analyst
- Contract Lawyer
- Compliance Officer
The LSLPE careers service links LLM in Civil Law students with civil chambers, City firms, the Law Commission-adjacent research community and judicial recruitment pipelines.
Entry Requirements
- A UK Bachelor's degree (2:2 or above) or equivalent international qualification in law.
- IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
- Applicants without a Bachelor's degree but with 5+ years of senior professional experience in civil practice are considered on portfolio.
- One academic and one professional reference.
- A 500-word research proposal or professional practice statement.
Why Study at LSLPE
LSLPE reads civil law inside a school where the political and economic pressures shaping civil-law reform are examined alongside doctrine. The LLM sits in small senior-seminar cohorts led by staff drawn from chambers, City firms and the reform community.
Central London puts the Royal Courts of Justice, the Inns of Court, the Law Commission-adjacent research houses and the leading civil chambers within a short tube ride of every seminar. Three parallel study modes let senior practitioners complete the LLM without leaving employment. The programme is a strong foundation for senior practice but qualifying as a solicitor or barrister requires separate SRA and BSB-regulated steps. The careers service refreshes curriculum alignment annually against BSB and SRA guidance.
Apply for LLM in Civil Law
Places are offered on rolling intakes. Enrol on an LSLPE Master's programme, dissertation, capstone or sponsor project supervised by practising barristers, policy advisers and City economists. Enrol Now.
