The ILEX Graduate Fast-track Diploma
Your law degree counts towards becoming a legal executive lawyer
The ILEX Graduate Fast-track Diploma is the qualification for law graduates who wish to complete the academic part of the legal executive qualification. Having your law degree means that you do not need to study any more law subjects. You just need to acquire the legal practice and professional skills elements of the qualification. To become a qualified legal executive lawyer (a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives) you must also satisfy ILEX's requirements for qualifying employment, which are covered in the 'How to qualify as a legal executive lawyer' section. If you are already working as a paralegal, it is highly likely that your current employment will count towards your five years' qualifying employment. You can enrol on courses with ITC at any time of year. If you have already studied a Legal Practice Course you are exempt from all academic study and can become a Graduate Member of ILEX on payment of the relevant exemption fees.
What will I study?
The ILEX Graduate Fast-track Diploma is made up of two ILEX Level 6 practice units and one Level 6 professional skills unit – Unit 22 Client Care Skills. One of the practice units must link to a law unit that you have studied as part of your degree. A list of the practice units and the law units to which they relate is given below. These are for reference only - no law units are studied as part of the ILEX Graduate Fast-track Diploma. The course fees are £570 for each practice unit, and £375 for the Client Care Skills unit, amounting in total to £1515, which is significantly less than a Legal Practice Course.
Membership and assessment fees are also payable to ILEX. The total cost, including these fees, is £2187, which includes 2 x administration fees of £10 each for revision days for the Practice units, and a £10 administration fee for the Client Care Skills workshop. The cost is significantly less than the Legal Practice Course.
The three units Civil Litigation, Conveyancing and Criminal Litigation all relate to a core law degree subject, so if you choose any one of these three units then you can select freely from the other practice units for your second choice. You should be careful if you wish to study two units, neither of which are related to core law degree subjects, for example The Practice of Employment Law and The Practice of Family Law. In this case you must have studied either Employment Law or Family Law as an elective subject within your law degree.
Entry requirements
To be eligible for the graduate fast-track route to becoming a Graduate Member of ILEX, you must have achieved, within the last seven years, a qualifying law degree as recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. You need to register as an ILEX member in order to be eligible to sit an ILEX assessment, and this can usually be done just before you wish to submit your application for exam entry . To enrol on an ITC course you must have access to a computer with an internet connection and a personal email address. A minimum technical specification is given here.
If you have already studied both a law degree and an LPC you do not need to study the ILEX Graduate Fast-track Diploma. You can become a Graduate Member of ILEX by paying exemption and membership fees to ILEX. To become a Fellow of ILEX - a qualified legal executive lawyer - you will need to satisfy ILEX's requirements for qualifying employment. See the relevant section here.
See also
Application
Apply on-line, or download and submit the course application form below. The application form gives advice on fees, package options and instalment options, as well as information on how to apply if your studies are being funded by your employer.
Download application form: Application form for Graduate Fast-track Diploma courses 2011-12
Download: ILEX Graduate Fast-track Leaflet
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