The College of Legal Practice held their first ever graduation ceremony this December, celebrating the success of their LLM and Graduate Diploma in Law graduates.
The ceremony recognised 20 of the College’s first cohort of graduates, some of which started their studies in 2022, and included graduates being awarded an LLM in Legal Practice, Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Graduate Diploma in Law and those who completed the Graduate Foundation in Law.
The ceremony was opened by the Chair of the College, Richard Clark, former Executive Partner at Slaughter and May, who recognised the significance of the occasion most importantly for the students, but also for the College, as their inaugural graduation ceremony. Richard reflected on the challenge of completing Law qualifications demonstrating the graduates’ perseverance, intellect and hard work to achieve their qualifications.
Isabel Parker, Chief Innovation Officer at White & Case and Non-Executive Board member of the College, reflected on how data and AI are now changing the face of legal services. She recognised that the College’s graduates will have developed many digital and professional skills through their legal education at the College. Isabel spoke about how many of the students have studied alongside working and family commitments, showing resilience and flexibility, qualities that law firms are increasingly looking for in their future solicitors.
“Warmest congratulations to all our graduates, this is a significant milestone in your legal careers, and you must be very proud.” shared Isabel Parker, Non-Executive Board member at the College.
As one of our students reflected, “Studying a course in law is quite challenging, especially some of us who have to combine work and study, but with the help of the lecturers and tutors we were able to get through it successfully. For me, someone who wants to be a solicitor or barrister, studying the Graduate Diploma in Law is a requirement, and this was the perfect course for people like me.” A Graduate Diploma in Law graduate.
“I’m so happy that we have this ceremony. My family have come from Florida and Leicester to support me and celebrate, it is a great experience. Everything at The College of Legal Practice made me feel like I wasn’t just a number, they made me feel special and nurtured my career and my education.” Sydney Rogers LLM in Legal Practice Graduate.
Sydney Rogers pictured above.
Nataliia Trofunenko was also very pleased to be at the graduation ceremony. She is an internationally qualified lawyer from Ukraine and an SQE scholarship student at the College. Nataliia passed the College’s law conversion programme, SQE1 and SQE2 preparation courses, and passed SQE1. She reflected on her day “I’m excited and very happy, this is an important milestone in my life!”
Nataliia Trofunenko pictured above.
“Really exciting to think that I started studying in February 2022, and finally I’m out on the other end as a qualified solicitor, and really great to meet all the tutors that helped me on the way as well.” Dan Abel, LLM in Legal Practice Graduate & solicitor.
LLM graduate Dan Abel pictured above, along with Jane Waddell, Head of Curriculum Design and Development and Richard Clark, Chair of the College and former Executive Partner at Slaughter and May.
Background on The College of Legal Practice
The College of Legal Practice has been leading the way in preparing students for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination since 2021. They are an accredited, fully virtual law school based in the UK, with years of expertise in supporting students through every SQE assessment. Their online legal training programmes are designed to help candidates pass the SQE.
The College is a Higher Education provider with New Degree Awarding Powers awarded by the Office for Students, meaning they can award Level 6 and Level 7 qualifications, including LLM and Graduate Diplomas in Law.
This College is part of an international ‘non-for-profit' legal education group, The College of Law Australia. Their ‘not-for-profit' ethos means they keep their programmes low-cost and high-value. Taught by experienced solicitors, their learning is grounded in real-world legal practice, with expert personal supervision and support, and highly rated by students.