Legal Action Taken Against Law Course

An Oxford graduate who failed her Legal Practice Course in 2005 is taking legal action in the High Court against her LPC provider, claiming £100,000 compensation for ruining her career.

The Legal Practice Course is the course all budding solicitors have to attend and complete before moving on to a training contract with a law firm. Now Maria Abramova is claiming that the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice failed to adequately prepare her for the exams taken in the LPC year by not coaching her in crucial exam techniques. She is also claiming to have developed psychological difficulties taking legal exams since her experience at the Institute. All liability is so far denied.

The obligations owed to a student by a law school will be found primarily in the contract entered into between the two parties. However, regardless of the exact terms of the contract (which may in fact include terms excluding liability) the law is able to imply terms into the contract, and one would imagine that one of those implied terms might reasonably be that the law school ensures the course was of a satisfactory standard. The courts may also accept an implied term that the course should reasonably prepare a student for professional examinations and be fit for purpose. This relates to the specific allegation that there was a failure on the part of the law school to properly coach Ms Abramova in examination technique.

The next and more difficult stage of the case will be for Ms Abramova to establish the causative link between breach and loss along with the quantification of that loss. Ms Abramova is claiming £100,000 in damages, which she will have to prove she has lost out on. Additionally, Claimants are always under a duty to mitigate their losses, and Ms Abramova has not gone on to qualify as a solicitor.

Ultimately high levels of dissatisfaction, leading to the possibility of further cases such as this one, are likely to arise simply because, as fees increase for courses it is likely the students will demand higher standards.

 

Oliver Kew

Published on 18/02/2011