New Centre for Legal Practice launched

Left to Right: Professor Noel Lloyd, Vice Chancellor UWA, Ms Lowri Morgan, Manager of the Wales Office of the Law Society of England and Wales, Lord Elystan Morgan, Adam Frewen, student representative on the Legal Practice Course Staff Student Committee, and Samantha Johnson, Director of the Legal Practice Course, at the opening of the Centre for Legal Practice.

Left to Right: Professor Noel Lloyd, Vice Chancellor UWA, Ms Lowri Morgan, Manager of the Wales Office of the Law Society of England and Wales, Lord Elystan Morgan, Adam Frewen, student representative on the Legal Practice Course Staff Student Committee, and Samantha Johnson, Director of the Legal Practice Course, at the opening of the Centre for Legal Practice.

30 March 2007

Friday 30 March 2007
Aberystwyth launches new Centre for Legal Practice
A new Centre for Legal Practice has been launched by The University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The Centre was formally launched by Lord Elystan Morgan, President of the University and retired Circuit Judge, on Thursday 22 March.

The Centre, which is based at the University's Department of Law and Criminology, provides professional training programmes such as the Legal Practice Course and Continuing Professional Development accredited courses. It will also be responsible for building on the Department's already extensive links with the legal profession.

The launch, which attracted many from the legal profession as well as members of staff and students, was addressed by Lowri Morgan, Manager of the Wales Office of the Law Society of England and Wales. As well as outlining the new structure of the Law Society itself, Ms Morgan spoke of the far reaching changes which are taking place within the legal sector and their implications for law students who are about to start out on their professional legal careers.

The Centre for Legal Practice was established during 2006 and began delivering the Legal Practice Course at the beginning of this academic year. Under the directorship of Samantha Johnson, who was formerly head of Business Law at College of Law, Chester and a Commercial Litigation solicitor in Manchester, the Centre has attracted a team of lecturers with extensive and varied experience of working professionally as solicitors.

The other team members at the Centre are lecturers Robert Anthony, Kathryn Devonald-Davies, Mary-Jane Horgan and administrator Rachel Tod. Robert Anthony and Mary-Jane Horgan joined from practising as solicitors and Kathryn from LPC teaching positions at the universities of Cardiff, Glamorgan and UWIC.

The Legal Practice Course also boasts the first practitioner involved in part-time teaching. Paul Johnson, who was one of the senior commercial litigation partners at Pannone LLP before recently joining Kings Chambers as Head of its Mediation Group which is committed to providing alternative forms of the resolution of disputes. He was one of the youngest appointees to the prestigious Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution “Solve” panel of mediators and is highly featured in Chambers UK and The Legal 500 for his work.

The Legal Practice Course, a requirement for anyone wishing to practise as a solicitor in England and Wales, was launched partly in response to a study by the UK Centre for Legal Education. The study highlighted the trend for qualified solicitors to work in large practices in larger towns and cities, making it increasingly difficult for people living in small towns and rural areas to access legal services.  The course offers the option of studying some aspects through the medium of Welsh or English and adopts a broadbased approach which is suitable for students wishing to enter any area of specialism as a solicitor.

Anyone wishing to enquire about the course should contact the Legal Practice Course Administrator Rachel Tod on studylpc@aber.ac.uk / (01970) 622857.