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Can lawyers benefit from understanding business? Emphatically, yes.
I am writing this post completely independently of BPP. As a current LPC student at BPP Law School in Holborn, I was very interested to read a recent article about a pilot of a new course to commence in September 2012, thought to be the first of its kind, called “MA (LPC with Business)”. The LPC of course has a formal name in itself ‘Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice’, so it makes complete sense to ‘top up’ LPC modules with further modules to constitute a degree-level course.
I think the critical thing about this new course is that it allows students to study both business and law concurrently. I am one of the few people in the UK to have done postgraduate qualifications in law (LLM) and business (MBA), though there are some very senior people who have done both. I therefore studied business and law separately, and it took me around three or four years in total, but I think a combined Masters for future trainee lawyers is a very good idea.
Most of the general public do not have a good understanding of what business is. The tragedy is most people on completing the GDL do not either, and even the exposure to management theory and practice is limited on the compulsory practice area ‘Business Law Practice’ on the Legal Practice Course. This is limiting, as I believe that corporate lawyers benefit from understanding the business motives of their clients. I don’t believe this is the same thing at all as necessitating a psychiatrist should have a history of severe depression, but I think it’s more similar to a cardiologist wishing to help a patient with his depression so that his heart symptoms get better. This analogy brings out a problem of this relationship – the patient does not probably wish to come to see a cardiologist about his depression, and would prefer to see a specialist psychiatrist anyway about his depression.
You learn things in business management which you simply do not learn in the business law practice course in the LPC. There are too many to list here in this brief personal opinion, but a clear example is how to draft up a business plan. Business students also learn in depth about organisations and culture, corporate strategy, operations, leadership, marketing, economics and (sometimes) innovation. More specifically, there are “learning outcomes” which are clearly beneficial in this context (see for example module 1 of the SJ Berwin “Masters in Law” with Business programme prospectus):
- assess the relevance of concepts of economic theory to the competitive context within which a business operates;
- apply techniques of business and market analysis;
- analyse the determinants of competitive advantage and the techniques for assessing strategic potential;
- examine a range of techniques used by commercial organisations as the basis for formulating a business strategy and creating a strategic plan for leaders in a business;
- consider the challenges presented in implementing a business strategy and achieving organisational alignment; and
- critically assess business practice in relation to risk management, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.
Likewise, you can learn things in postgraduate legal studies which you don’t learn in business, like how to draft up commercial legal agreements, the details of intellectual property and their protection, and the regulation of financial activities in the City. In my LLM (done at the College of Law), the course providers were at pains to ensure you could ‘read’ a complicated commercial law case, knew how to pitch legal services to a client through an oral presentation, and knew how to draft complicated agreements. I have not done these activities to such a detailed level on the LPC.
I don’t think it’s a problem that I never studied these concurrently, however. For example, the award-winning Simmons and Simmons LPC/MBA course allows you to study these subjects side-by-side. Either way, I feel hand-on-heart it’s a brilliant strategy by BPP to offer such an integrated specialised training, which I can see as very appealing to the corporate clients of BPP. As I am clearly not doing these courses myself, I hope you will allow me my strong endorsement of them!
Is Islamic finance getting a boost in the UK?
UKIFS, which was established in March 2010, is the leading cross-sectoral body assisting with the promotion and development of Islamic Finance, both domestically and to represent the UK industry internationally. The Islamic finance sector in the UK received a major structural boost following the integration last week of the UK Islamic Finance Secretariat (UKIFS) into TheCityUK, the independent body promoting UK-wide financial and related professional services. The importance of Islamic finance in the UK financial services has been under scrutiny of late.
The UKIFS tie up with TheCityUK has several important implications. For example, now, Islamic finance appears to be developing a clearer business strategy and purpose. The five UK Islamic banks – Islamic Bank of Britain, European Islamic Investment Bank, Bank of London & Middle East, QIB UK, and Gatehouse Bank – are emerging, it is argued by Richard Thomas, CEO of Gatehouse Bank and chair of the Islamic Finance Working Group at TheCityUK, from the credit crisis as much stronger individual organizations financially, with distinct business plans that complement “rather than crowd the market”.
A number of firm, however, continue to have a formidable presence in Islamic finance, such as Baker & McKenzie. Simmons & Simmons is another such firm. Simmons represented Dubai Islamic Bank as lead arranger on Saudi Binladen Group’s $842m credit facility for a university campus development. Muneer Khan in Abu Dhabi is well recognized as ‘an exceptional Islamic finance lawyer’.
For example, Simmons and Simmons were presented with the “Islamic Finance Law Firm of the Year” gong at the Middle East Legal Awards 2009. The award was given to the company on the basis of the impact it’s made in the Shariah-compliant business world this year. The series of commercial and social relationships the firm had developed within the industry and the deals it has brokered helped to persuade the judging panel of independent experts to give the company the award.
The firm has been involved with a number of challenging and pioneering transactions. It has also given advice regarding the development of a variety of structured Islamic products and funds across the Middle East. The firm’s overall application of best practice has led to the rapid creation of robust products and structures for clients, at reduced cost. Alongside their broad range of services, the Simmons & Simmons team have significant practical experience in liaising directly with the world’s leading Shariah scholars operating in the field of Islamic finance. The team are therefore well-placed to provide clients with end-to-end solutions in Islamic finance. This may involve preparing a comprehensive risk analysis of products – from a Shariah and conventional law perspective – to implementing products in accordance with market-practice and best-practice.
Some features of the working style of their team are noteworthy:
- Proficiency in the Arabic language, enabling us to liaise effectively with Shariah scholars in their native language and produce and review documentation and original sources in Arabic.
- Team members who have studied Shariah and Arabic at the leading Islamic university, Al Azhar.
- Industry-leading know-how on both market standards and best practice in Islamic finance transactions, which leads to robust documentation.
- An unique track record of team-members that demonstrate a strategic commitment to the growth and stability of the global Islamic finance industry.
