Bristol Law School

Bristol Law School

Type	Public
Established	1969
Dean	Head of Bristol Institute of Legal Practice & Law: Steven Dinning Director of Law: Mark O'Brien Director of Bristol Institute of Legal Practice: Philip Millington
Students	2,000 (in Bristol) 1700 FT 300 PT
Location	Bristol , South Gloucestershire , UK
Campus	urban
Website	Bristol Law School: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/bl/bls

Bristol Law School (BLS), formerly known as the Faculty of Law, is an academic school at the University of the West of England. It is a member of the Faculty of Business and Law.

Established in 1969, Bristol Law School has since grown into one of the largest law schools in England and Wales with nearly two thousand students enrolled (seventeen hundred full-time students). The School provides both academic and professional legal studies, and benefits from the largest University library in the South West. It also has a number of mock court rooms.

Departments

The school is divided into two departments:

• The Department of Law
• Bristol Institute of Legal Practice

Department of Law

The Department of Law provides a range of undergraduate, postgraduate masters and doctoral level degree study:

• The LLB Honours in Law;
• The LLB Honours in Commercial Law;
• The LLB Honours in European and International Law

(all providing Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) routes);

Qualifying law degree LLB (Hons.) routes in

• Law and Criminology,
• Law and Business, and
• Law and Psychology.

UWE's undergraduate law degrees offer (depending upon the degree chosen) up to around thirty optional modules to choose from, including a Law in Action placement option.

• Combined honours degrees in Law, including major (either QLD as above or non-QLD), minor and 'half and half' routes with another discipline

LLM LLM degrees in:

• Commercial Law;
• Environmental Law and Sustainable Development;
• International Banking and Finance Law;
• International Law; and
• International Trade and Economic Law

UWE also offers MPhil and PhD law degrees.

Bristol Law School also works in partnership with other institutions in Ireland, London, Malaysia and Vietnam, offering Law undergraduate, postgraduate and transfer degrees.

The Department of Law at UWE Bristol has a record of high levels of student satisfaction, including being ranked equal 8th out of the UK's 131 law schools in the 2011 National Student Survey, with 95% of students expressing satisfaction with their experience of studying law at UWE. It prides itself on the level of pastoral care, mentoring and support that is at hand. This support includes seeking to assist students with achieving their maximum potential in preparation for their eventual career.

Law at UWE also has a strong tradition of extra-curricular activities, including student mooting and debating. The Department's internal competition, sponsored by Lyons Davidson, takes place each academic year from October. The inter-varsity West of England Mooting Competition, is sponsored by St John's Chambers, Bristol. Law school students won the Princess Alexandra Cup (an inter-varsity debating competition at Lancaster University) in December 2006, and UWE undergraduate students won the 2013 International Springboard-Kaplan English Speaking Championship, held in Cambodia.

Bristol Institute of Legal Practice

The Bristol Institute of Legal Practice ("BILP") provides professional legal education and training for students and legal professionals. BILP has approaching 1,000 students on its full-time, part-time, short course and CPD programmes and is recognised as one of the leading providers of professional legal education in the UK. It has over 50 professionally qualified tutors teaching mainly in their areas of practice expertise.

A wide range of courses are on offer, including:

• Legal Practice Course (full-time)
• Legal Practice Course (part-time by way of Open Learning)
• Bar Professional Training Course (full-time)
• Bar Professional Training Course (part-time by way of Open Learning)
• Common Professional Examination Graduate Diploma in Law (full-time)
• Common Professional Examination Graduate Diploma in Law (part-time by distance learning and residential sessions)
• LLM in Advanced Legal Practice
• Professional Skills Course
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Courses and Conferences

In addition, BILP provides consultancy and a range of tailor-made in-house courses for a number of firms in Bristol, the City of London and elsewhere in the UK.

Research

Legal scholarship and research forms an important part of Bristol Law School's activity. Many staff in the School are engaged in research of national and international significance. Much of the research activity in Bristol Law School is carried out under the auspices of the Centre for Legal Research. Staff undertake research in all of the main legal research traditions, and are well represented in both the doctrinal research tradition and socio-legal research. They undertake research for a variety of organisations, and recent and current projects have been funded by the Legal Services Commission, the Home Office, the Alcohol Education Research Council, and a number of police forces. Recent and current research contracts include research for the Legal Aid Board (now the Legal Services Commission) on contracting of criminal defence services, for the Legal Services Commission on the public defender service, for the Alcohol Education Research Council on changes to liquor licensing procedure, for Orange UK and for the Home Office on the social effects of car crime. Within the Centre for Legal Research are a number of specialised units:

• Commercial Law Unit
• Criminal Justice Unit
• Environmental Law Unit
• International Law & Human Rights Unit
• Family, Gender and Equality Unit

CLARS

Bristol Law School is a partner in a pro bono law clinic, the Community Legal Advice and Representation Service (CLARS). CLARS is a collaboration between the law students of Bristol Law School, the Department of Law at the University of Bristol, Bristol Citizens Advice Bureau and practising barristers on the Western Circuit.

Bristol Law School's Domestic Advice and Support Service was named Winner - Best New Student Pro Bono Activity in the LawWorks and Attorney-General Student Awards 2011, and the pro bono team was a runner-up in Pro Bono team of the year in The Lawyer Awards 2011.

External links

• Bristol Law School