Dear all,

next year I am going to commence my LLM studies at the Edinburgh Law School. Among the main criteria for selecting this particular school I would mention the fact, that it is the only school (at least the one, which I was able to find online so far), which offers an LLM by distance learning in IP, e.g.their Intellectual Property Law or Innovation, Technology and Law programms.
Now, the purpose of this post is to get some feedback from those of you, who has already studied some of the disciplines mentioned above or is studying right now.
Since there's enough time till the enrolment for the next academic semestre will be open I would like to make sure, that this study programm will meet my expectations in terms of the value of time /money dedicated to the studies in question.
A feedback, especially from the non-academic staff is greatly appreciated and of course, a feedback concerning other Law Schools is also welcome. The cost of studies and the name of the School are not my main concern. What in my case really matters is the knowledge gained during the studies.

Thank you all in advance.

Andrey

Justsky, I have applied to the LLM @ Edinburgh by distance as well. I got accepted and start in September. My experience with the university admission team has been most excellent. I took the part time 3 year route. We start mid-September.

There are other schools that do LLM but after all my research and dealing with admission teams on those, as far as online options, in my honest opinion Edinburgh was the perfect choice. Great reputation as an institution, excellent teaching staff, great feedback from past students, fair tuition, good payment options - the list goes on. I applied to Queen Mary and Strathclyde and got accepted as well but at the end chose Edinburgh.

I live in Canada by the way.
I work in information security and compliance for a very large computer/consulting company, and part of the IP degree program (40%) focuses on computer/tech law. All of the subjects are very relevant to my work. Down the road I'd like to teach. Initially corporate training (part-time) and maybe post a research degree I can move into teaching full time in my older years (that is quite far from now :))

Weather you study by distance or in class - at the end of the day, most of what you absorb will depend on your own research/reading etc. They appears to have a good discussion forum for engaging students. I've 'just' started posting myself. There is some suggested preliminary reading that i've been doing which is very good.

The scope of the program is very international from what I can see. Content appears to cover UK/EU/USA/Canada/AU and even some Asia. It's not like the LLB programs where you are studying and qualifying to practice law. This is an academic degree.

I was conducting an audit today and our data-centers have international clients and there were so many questions flying around about laws affecting cross border data flow, intellectual property related right - and no one (including me) had answers

Sorry I can't comment on similar programs as I've not been in any. I have been working 10 years post my bachelors so just coming back. Online and self study are nothing new to me. Quite honestly I prefer this method over classes for these kind of subjects.

If you need to contact someone at Edinburgh - send an email to Clare Neilson. She is the distance LLM contact for IP and is excellent to work with. Her email is: clare.neilson@ed.ac.uk

She should be able to help you with admission. I think you can start in September (still 3-4 weeks left) or January as well. If you need any more info you can post here or message me.

Good luck
Paul

Hello Paul,

thanks a lot for your reply in this post. I've really appreciated your feedback and information you've shared with me and the others.
As a matter of fact, I have to admit that the staff at this school is very helpful and polite indeed.
Well, now I have no excuses any longer for not to commence my studies next year (have still some other commitments to finish). In fact, I've posted this thread here simply in order to reassure myself a bit more.

Lastly, I'd like to ask you to post the list of the suggested preliminary home reading you've mentioned in your recent post (if you don't mind).

Take care

Andrey

Hi Andrey! No problem at all. Like you, I did some pretty solid research on UK, USA and EU universities (distance) and even 2 months post my acceptance - am still firmly sticking to Edinburgh.

The preliminary readings I mentioned are actually part of the eScript portal site. It is web based study portal - nicely organized for you. You get this access (in addition to other portals) when you sign up with the Univ. You will get a login to the eScript portal which has discussion forums and a resource section which contains these written lectures.

The topics are basically:
-UK and Western Legal Systems (things like common law, branches of law, case law, how to read/analyze a case - comparisons and terminology)
-Details of the UK Legal System
-Scots Law
-International Legal Systems
-Contextual case studies

There are tons of linked resources within these pages (for more clarification). Also I believe we'll get access to WestLaw, LexisNexis etc as well in September.

This material is not mandatory, but recommended to warm you up a bit before the actual course material. They actually have questions in the readings which you respond to in a discussion rooms where you share your thoughts on various matters pertaining to the study material. I actually like online forums - works just fine (kind of like what we are doing right here) :)

Best regards
Paul