Which electives to pick on the LPC? A simple guide

During stage 2 of the LPC, after you have finished your core modules, you will be starting your 3 electives. This is a simple guide to help you decide which elective to choose.

You will need to pick your electives early on during stage 1, so look out for an announcement for this from your university. Make sure that you don’t miss the deadline.

If you are on the part-time course: you can choose to do two electives in one term instead of one to finish your course earlier. This shouldn’t be too difficult to do as the electives usually take half the input as a core module with merely 10 SGSs each.

You will need to pick 3 electives from these options:

1. Advanced Commercial Litigation

2. Advanced Commercial Property

3. Advanced Criminal Litigation

4. Corporate Finance

5. Debt Finance

6. Employment Law

7. Equity Finance

8. Family Law

9. Immigration Law

10. Insurance Law

11. Intellectual Property and Commercial Law

12. International Trades and Transactions

13. Media and Entertainment Law

14. Medical Negligence and Personal Injury

15. Private Acquisitions

16. Private Client (Wills, Probate and Estate Planning)

There are three strategies in picking an elective:

• You can pick electives your training contract providers want (if you already have a training contract you will know which ones are these and if not, then you need to research which electives your target firms prefer to make you application stronger)

• You can pick electives that are easier so you can score better overall – some electives are easier to learn than others so you can score in the high 70s-80s with the same effort. The few extra percentage markings you can get with these modules will round your final result up so pick these subjects if you have not done so well in your core modules.

• You can also simply pick subjects you think you would enjoy – most people (me included), get better results if they enjoy doing what they love.

There may be subjects you are more drawn to due to:

• What you can achieve with the subject – eg. help other by studying family law, immigration and medical

• The way the subject works – eg. is it a more practical subject? Does it rely a lot on interpretation as in family law or is it more structured such as advanced commercial litigation?

• The topic discussed – eg. if you enjoy watching finance videos, why not pick debt finance or corporate finance?

Advanced Commercial Litigation:

An easy module for scoring well. Definitely pick this module if you are good at following structures and you enjoyed learning about the Rome Convention. If you follow the structures that they give you in the SGSs, it is easy to score in the high 70s-80s.

Corporate Finance/Debt Finance:

Pick one of these if you aim to get into Corporate/Commercial/Banking law as these subjects are often the prerequisite for these areas. While these areas are often seen as generally difficult, they will be easier to grasp if you have a solid basis of BLP and Company law.

Employment Law:

Generally a very easy and relatable subject. Many of us have some form of work experience, and even if we don’t, we have definitely heard stories from others. The employment law chapters are quite short, the topic is very practical and structured. For this subject, you need to be someone who is able to spell out obvious details, put themselves in the shoes of others and ensure that meticulously follow structure and don’t get lost in the small details. May be able to score really well with this easy module.

Family Law:

Choose this subject if you want to help people who are vulnerable and/or in a difficult situation, you will be able to make a massive difference. You must be able to strategise well in this module, you must be able to pick the best option for your client in their situation. Creativity is key, you must be able to understand the different interpretations of the law and apply the facts well.

Immigration Law:

Often very structured, you must be able to follow the structure and apply it to your client’s case. The chapter is generally shorter than for other subjects and with EU law currently being removed, you only need to prepare for 9 SGSs.

Intellectual Property and Commercial Law:

Very interesting module – half of it is Intellectual Property and half of it is Commercial law. While never boring, it is also intensive and it is only recommended for those who have studied Intellectual property law previously as a lot of the basic law, that is necessary for you to be able to solve problems, will not be discussed. This module will encompass all intellectual property rights which you have learned during your LLB and will fit these into 5 SGSs with virtually no time to understand the basics. For exam, don’t focus on the details, but instead, try to add commercial knowledge to your application.

I hope this brief summary has helped you!

Good luck!