LSE LLM 2019-2020

Prior to my arrival at LSE, I did a couple of internships in corporate law. I realised that I liked the field and wanted to deepen my knowledge by studying it at a postgraduate level. However, I knew that I did not want to limit myself to it only. I wanted to explore areas of law completely new to me, which would sort of make me get out of my comfort zone. That is why I decided to enrol in finance courses as well. So far, I did not regret my choice even for a minute, even though, I must admit, it has been far from easy for me.

I ended up choosing two finance courses - The Law and Practice of International Finance and International Financial Law. At first I feared that it might be too much for me or the courses may overlap, but turns out that they do not, and, on the contrary, compliment one another very nicely. They are taught by two different professors, both of whom I find to be brilliant.

As someone who knew very little about international financial transactions and had no clue as to what distinguishes net positions from asset-backed ones (still not sure, but I am working on it), I felt pretty lost at first. But gradually, having attended introductory lectures and started reading up on the subject, I realised I can do this. The world of international finance always fascinated me cause it is the area of law that is constantly in the news and has basically become a part of popular culture by now. At the first lecture professor referred to the Big Short movie several times while talking about financial crises. It also inspired me to subscribe to Economist. You may want to ask why I did not subscribe to Financial Times instead, which would be a more obvious choice in this context, but LSE gives you free access to the digital version, so I had no need to do that. 

I am also very pleased with the fact that LSE Department of Law is currently running a series of extra-curricular lectures for LLM students on the Law and Regulation of FinTech. One of its topics is the challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence in finance, and how they can be addressed through regulation. It is a nice bonus to the discussions that we have in class. 

An LLM student can engage in a wide range of activities at LSE. The centre of social life here is the Students’ Union comprising more than 200 societies. They include national and cultural groups, special interest societies uniting those who enjoy things ranging from hitch-hiking and yoga to wine and chocolate, or academic ones dedicated to competition law, venture capital and many more.

In order to join a society, you need to pay a symbolic fee which usually amounts to 1.5-3 pounds. Once you are a member, you get regular updates regarding society’s upcoming events via email. Each society has a committee that gets re-elected annually, so if you join early enough in the term, you can apply for a position within it.

Law society is probably the most popular one among LLM students. It not only organises festive (and not-so-festive) socials throughout the academic year, but also a wide range of career events such as application workshops, breakfasts with law firm representatives and other recruiting events. This term I attended law society’s flagship event called Know the City Legal Forum which took place at Allen Overy’s office. The event consisted of panels and Q&A sessions delivered by lawyers who work in the city to demystify the term 'commercial awareness'. I found it very useful because it provided an insight into the different practise areas and sectors as well as the state of the market and pro-bono opportunities offered at magic circle law firms. That particular event, like many others organised by the law society, also gave students a chance for informal networking with legal professionals. 

The other group that I’ve joined is LSE Pro Bono Matters. It’s a postgraduate group that volunteers to work for social justice, protection of human rights and furthering public interest causes. This student organisation is coordinated by the law department. As its members, our main role is to assist internal and external organisations and practitioners on human rights cases and international strategic litigation as well as doing research and writing reports for non-profit organisations. I’m very excited to be part of it and we’re currently doing research for a project on reunification of child refugees with their families in the EU. 

Finally, I’d like to briefly tell you about Students’ Union facilities. Apart from a couple of stores, in one of which I saw this beaver toy (which happens to be LSE’s mascot), there is the main building which comprises several cafes, study spaces, a faith centre where you can go to pray and a gym. 

I personally prefer the 6th floor cafe of the Students’ Union building to the LSE library. Although it’s much smaller and it gets pretty loud there at times, the cafe is very cosy and I find it easier to concentrate when I study there. Plus, if you get hungry, you can eat right there without having to think about where to leave your stuff while you exit the library in search of food. But it’s clearly a matter of choice - some of my classmates find it harder to study anywhere but the library or their room.

During the first term students are expected to take 4 courses, each comprising half a unit. Some modules consist of lectures and seminars, others are seminar-based. Although the interactive nature of the latter means that most of the time it’s the students talking and expressing their views on a proposed topic, quite a large part of a seminar is actually a mini-lecture by the professor which is usually done at the beginning. This is a very convenient way to recap all the main ideas and concepts that you studied while doing the required reading. 

The reading lists for each course are uploaded on Moodle, an online learning platform used at LSE. On a course’s page you can also find various resources for studying such as audio and video files, lecture slides, links to video recordings of lectures as well as links to scholarly works recommended for reading. To give you an idea of what it looks like, I attach to this post a screenshot of the Moodle page (intro part) for the course I took this semester - The Law of Corporate Finance. Although it was quite hard at times due to the subject’s complex nature, I enjoyed it immensely. 

The semester is divided into weeks and each week you examine a different topic in your course. There are 11 weeks, with Week 6 being a reading week, that is, you don’t have any lectures or seminars and are supposed to be catching up on all the studying you didn't do or write a formative assignment. But in reality, a lot of people prefer to spend the reading week traveling. I personally went to Scotland and although I loved it there, I probably should’ve stayed and studied in the library the whole week because the workload was very heavy and demanding.

Throughout the term, you can complete a formative assessment which is basically an essay of 1,200-1,500 words. It’s in no way compulsory, but highly recommended because by getting your professor’s feedback you can dramatically improve your writing skills in time for the exams in summer. Your essay is marked but it’s not counted towards your degree, so it just gives you an idea of what kind of grade you can potentially get at the final exam. Some of the formatives are due in the reading week, but it really depends on the module and its instructor. For some of the courses you can choose one of the three options to submit a formative essay throughout the term. I think it’s designed for large-sized courses where it’s rather difficult for the lecturer to mark the assignments in one sitting and give meaningful feedback to each student. 

What I absolutely love about my program is that the law department at LSE organises many events as part of LLM Specialist Seminar Series in Financial, Corporate and Commercial Law. As a student who chose the corporate law specialism, I was very happy to attend talks by leading scholars (both from UK and US) on topical issues of corporate governance as well as other related subjects. Also, we had a lecture delivered by one of LSE professors on finance which was very useful for me personally because I had very basic knowledge of finance concepts underlying the law and it really helped me with my corporate finance law module.

The first month of my LLM journey was so busy and eventful that until now I’ve hardly had time to reflect on it. Adjusting to my new life as LSE student has been a little overwhelming, but very exciting: registering for the program, choosing modules, meeting fellow students from all over the world during welcome events and many more.

Prior to my arrival in London, I had doubts as to whether it’s a good place for a student as opposed to small university towns with slower life pace. But despite being situated in the city centre, right next to the Royal Courts of Justice, LSE campus has a very peaceful vibe which makes you forget that you are in one of the busiest world capitals. Plus, I feel very lucky to be living in a student hall within 5 minutes walking distance from LSE, and also very close to Covent Garden and the theatre district.

Due to the fact that the LLM program is very international, with students from different backgrounds, during the welcome week we had introductory lectures about the English legal system and EU law. Also, I found very helpful postgraduate law option fairs that were designed to help students decide which modules to choose for the year ahead. In essence, each professor did a short presentation of his/her module(s), and after that took questions from the audience. 

At LSE you are expected to complete a total of eight courses, one of which is compulsory for everyone - Legal Research and Writing Skills. The latter will be assessed by a master dissertation to be submitted by the end of summer. What I found peculiar is that you can write your dissertation on any legal topic irrespective of your chosen modules. However, if you wish to focus on a particular area of law and have a specialism to your LLM, your dissertation topic has to fall within it. 

Also, each student on the LLM is assigned an academic mentor from the law department who you can turn to for advice. Basically, your mentor keeps track of your academic performance and general wellbeing throughout your time at LSE and regularly contacts you to arrange meetings. Interestingly, your mentor is often specialised in a different area of law than the one you choose to specialise in at LSE, however, it doesn't preclude them from giving you valuable advice on course choice and other aspects of your academic life.

One of the highlights of my first weeks at LSE was a welcome reception at the Law Society on Chancery Lane - home to professional body of solicitors in England and Wales. Despite the fancy setting, it was a great opportunity to socialise with law department professors in a rather informal way and commemorate the start of this exciting new life as LLM students at LSE.

Coming from an education system where the relationship between students and their professors is supposed to be very formal, I find it helpful to be able to approach your teachers and talk to them outside classroom.