Reed Smith is rolling out a bespoke masters in business in partnership with BPP Law School to run alongside the Legal Practice Course (LPC).
Future trainees will have the opportunity to study a fully integrated course that combines a business masters qualification with the LPC. It will be launched as a pilot in September 2012.
Training principal Peter Hardy said: “Traditionally apprenticeships teach people how to learn skills and apply them at the same time. Historically, we haven’t really done that in the legal industry.
“We think this course is a way of bringing together both the business and legal skills needed simultaneously, which is what the legal sector will require in the future.”
The firm follows in the footsteps of Simmons & Simmons and SJ Berwin, which both launched business programmes for their future trainee solicitors (9 December 2010).
However, Simmons’ MBA in legal business runs after the LPC, while SJ Berwin’s MA in business is taken during the training contract.
Reed Smith’s unique programme will see a range of business modules built into the LPC curriculum which include, business and sector analysis, financial markets, governance, regulation, risk and strategy.
“What it also means is that graduates are not increasing their debt by extending their learning period or delaying the period when they would earn real income,” added Hardy. “They will arrive with more of the commercial sense that our clients want.”
