Master’s Degree in Legal Practice

Competences

Generic competences

• GC1.- The student must acquire updated general knowledge about the different aspects of legal practice.
• GC2.- The student must be able to systematically understand the relevant information, its legal context and how to apply it to complex situations, taking into account how it affects the party he/she represents.
• GC3.- The student must master the techniques that will allow him/her to obtain and analyze information, evaluate its relevance and validity, synthesize it and adapt it to the technical-legal context in question.
• GC4.- The student must be able to deal with complex and unpredictable legal situations in a systematic and creative way, with critical judgment, with incomplete information, taking risks, making decisions and communicating them to any type of audience.
• GC5.- The student must be able to communicate adequately both orally and in writing, using the most current technologies.
• GC6.- The student must be able to act autonomously in the planning and implementation of projects and legal decisions.
• GC7.- The student must be able to carry out different roles within a legal team.
• GC8.- The student must be able to recognize the need for change and must have the necessary skills to provide legal counseling correctly on its management.
• GC9.- The student must be able to act autonomously within a framework of responsible freedom.
• GC10.- The student must be able to add value through his/her knowledge and skills in legal practice.
• GC11.- The student must master techniques to face and solve complex problems efficiently.

An actual correspondence has been sought between the proposed generic competences and those developed in similar educational entities in other countries in the area of influence, especially in the EU. It is evident that this relationship has been found in the identity between courses taught and studied in the various education systems and the competence objectives that are projected. Likewise, the United Kingdom's Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Benchmark Statements for Master’s Degrees have been consulted.

Specific competences

Specific competences focus on a series of particular competences, which have been defined with the same procedure as the general ones and, of course, based on RD 775/2011.

• SC1.- Know and know how to apply procedures for determining, billing and settling fees and expenses associated with the profession.
• SC2.- Know and know how to pragmatically apply the organizational, management and commercial environment of the lawyer's profession, as well as its associative, fiscal, labor and data protection features within the legal framework.
• SC3.- Know, know how to organize, and plan the individual resources for practicing law in its different organizational modalities.
• SC4.- Know and know how to apply the professional deontological rights and duties in the lawyer's relationships with the client, the other parties, the court or public authority, and between lawyers
• SC5.- Know and assess the different responsibilities related to practicing law, including the basic operation of free legal assistance and the promotion of the lawyer's social responsibility.
• SC6.- Know how to identify conflicts of interest and know the techniques for their resolution, establish the scope of professional secrecy and confidentiality, and preserve independence of judgement.
• SC7.- Know how to develop interpersonal skills and abilities that facilitate practicing law in relation to citizens, other professionals and institutions.
• SC8.- Know how to identify the provision and organization requirements that are decisive for providing legal advice.
• SC9.- Know how to develop skills that allow the lawyer to improve the efficiency of his/her work, and enhance the global functioning of the team or institution in which he/she carries it out, by accessing information sources, knowledge management and the use of applied techniques and tools.
• SC10.- Know how to present facts orally and in writing, and elicit legal consequences through arguments, taking into account the context and the recipient being addressed, in accordance with the modalities inherent to each procedural area.
• SC11.- Know how to carry out professional work in specific and interdisciplinary teams.
• SC12.- Possess, understand and develop skills that make it possible to apply the specialized academic knowledge acquired in the Bachelor's Degree to the changing reality faced by lawyers in order to avoid situations of injury, risk or conflict in relation to the entrusted interests or his/her professional practice before courts or public authorities and in advisory functions.
• SC13.- Know the techniques aimed at researching and establishing facts in the different types of proceedings, especially the production of documents, examinations, and expert evidence.
• SC14.- Know and be able to integrate the defense of clients' rights within the framework of national and international jurisdictional protection systems.
• SC15.- Develop skills and abilities to choose the correct strategy for defending clients' rights, taking into account the demands of the different fields of professional practice.
• SC16.- Know the different techniques for reconciling interests and know how to find solutions to problems through methods other than legal action.
• SC17.- Be able to face professional deontological problems.
• SC18.- Be familiar with the functioning and problems of institutions related to practicing law.
• SC19.- Be aware of the reality and work of other legal operators, as well as professionals related to practicing their profession, understanding their relevance.
• SC20.- Be familiar with the practice of the professional career and the possible types of activity.

Calendar and Schedules

Admission

Admission Process

The admission process consists of the following phases:

Submission of documentation

The following documentation must be sent by post or courier to the Postgraduate Admissions Section:

• Completed Admission Application.
• Updated Curriculum Vitae.
• Photocopy of DNI (only Spanish candidates) or passport (only foreign candidates).
• Photocopy of Transcript / Academic record (completed or in the last year of the university degree).
• Two passport-size, color photographs.
• Document that proves the candidate has a B2 Intermediate Level in Spanish (for non-Spanish speakers who wish to study the Master's degree).

Proficiency test

Once all the documentation has been received, and it is verified that the submitted degree grants access to a Master's degree, as established in Arts. 15 and 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, candidates must take the proficiency test of the chosen program, which is carried out by the Department of University Development.

The test is taken in person in Madrid and in various Spanish cities and, additionally, it can be taken remotely for those applicants residing outside of Spain.

The proficiency test, which intends to analyze the student's capacity to complete the Master's program, assesses the applicant's profile and abilities, so it does not require prior preparation and allows the student to receive more comprehensive and personalized advice on his/her academic and professional options.

The proficiency test consists of three parts. The first is an aptitude test that assesses the maturity of the student, as well as analyzes the reasons that lead him/her to study at this University. The second is a Spanish level test, where appropriate, for those students who cannot prove that they have the required level, in which the Intermediate Level must be reached; and the third phase is a face-to-face or telephone interview with the Coordinator of the Program in which he/she is enrolling, or with the Department Head.

Once the aforementioned proficiency test has been passed, the candidate holds a personal interview with the Coordinator of the Program in which he/she is enrolling or with the Department Head.

2.- After the admission tests, the Admissions Committee analyzes the results and the documentation submitted by the candidate, and approves or rejects the application. The candidate receives written information about his/her admission, about the process of formalizing his/her enrollment in the Program, and about the final documentation to be submitted, duly authenticated.

3.- Formalize registration and enrollment

After registration, the candidate proceeds to formalize his/her enrollment, choosing the courses online and completing the required information. Throughout the process, the candidate is in constant contact with the Department of University Development and with the academic managers of the chosen Program, who will advise him/her on any questions.

The weighting of the different phases are as follows:

- Admission test: 25%

- Interview: 25%

- Academic record of previous studies: 50%