About ELS

The “English Law Studies (ELS) Course” provides comprehensive in- class training in English Law to Spanish Law undergraduates.

ELS also offers a unique opportunity for Students from the UK or Ireland or other ‘Common Law’ jurisdictions to qualify as Spanish lawyers whilst keeping up with their English Law studies to certify as professional paralegals, and to prepare for the SQE or FE-1 examinations.

An accredited combination of Spanish Law (Continental Civil Law) and English Law (Common Law) provides a new dimension to the modern law student who hopes to forge a career as a ‘Global Lawyer’ on the bigger international stage.

A ‘Global Lawyer’ is defined by the Association of Global Lawyers (AGL) as:

“a lawyer who possesses suitably accredited academic, vocational and professional training and/or relevant work experience in the two major legal systems on the planet; ‘Common Law’ and ‘Continental Civil Law’, along with a high level of Specific proficiency in English and at least one Continental European language, together with the personal and reputational standing to be able to give competent and ethically appropriate legal advice to the highest standards of skill, expertise and professionalism in the law and practice of both systems when assisting corporate and individual clients in general or specific cross-border legal issues“.

History of the ELS Course

The ELS Course was designed and pioneered at the University of Malaga (UMA) by John Brebner in 2009 (founder and current president of the “Asociacion de Juristas Globales – Association of Global Lawyers” [AGL]), and was taught there exclusively as an own-degree course for 11 years. Since 2020, its teaching has been taken over by AGL and from its centres in Malaga and Madrid is now open to students of law attending public universities in or in the vicinity of those locations,

Plans are currently underway to live stream the ELS Course to remote classrooms in other locations in Spain and beyond see: https://studyenglishlawinspain.wordpress.com/agls-live-streamed-remote-classroom-training-3/

ELS is presently the only course providing a full English Law training programme in Spain that leads directly to professional qualification in the UK. More information about the ELS Course can be found AGL at https://studyenglishlawinspain.com, and about AGL and its objectives at: https://associationgloballawyers.lawyer.

Course duration

ELS combines compulsory in-class learning (Class contact time – CCT) with guided independent study time.(IST).

The academic and related skills training stage of ELS has a duration of 3 years (Levels 1-3) and includes all the traditional English Law foundation subjects together with other compulsory topics.

Students will normally begin the academic stage of the ELS Course in their 2nd. year at university in Spain and complete it in their 4th and final year. Students who begin the course in the 1st. year of university will complete this stage at the end of their 3rd. (penultimate) year of the Spanish degree course.

See: https://studyenglishlawinspain.wordpress.com/study-programmes/

The professional training stage takes a further year and will normally coincide with the 4th and final year of the Spanish degree course.

Completion of ELS Level 3 leads to the grant of ‘the Institute of Paralegals’ “Diploma of English Law Studies (D.ELS)”, and at Level 4, to the “Approved English Law Adviser (A.ELA)” status and registration with the Professional Paralegal Register (PPR).

Students successfully completing ELS level 4 will be well prepared to sit the examinations for admission as Solicitors in England and Wales (SQE) and in Ireland (FE-1).

The workload

At each ELS Level, students face a workload of one 4-hour session/week of Class Contact Time (CCT) for 35 weeks each year and approximately 6 hours/week of guided Independent Study Time (IST) between September and june. Attendance at classes is compulsory. Failure to self-perform in IST will seriously handicap students’ progress and their possibility of achieving the cut 0f 70% (average continuing assessments mark) to advance to a higher ELS Level.

Language admission proficiency level and progress

A minimum level of CEFR C1(-) in both English and Spanish is required for admission to ELS Level 1.

‘Third Language’ training is encouraged and compulsory in Malaga.

To qualify at ELS Level 3, students must be certified by AGL as proficient in both English and Spanish at level C1(+)/C2 and at a minimum level of B2 in a ‘Third Language’.

Course qualifications and accreditation certificates

On successfully passing at each ELS Level (minimum pass mark = 70%), students receive an AGL Diploma and are automatically entitled to move to the higher Level. A pass mark of between 50% and 69% provides the student with a ‘Certificate of Attendance’ (provided the student has attended a minimum of 85% of CCT) and to admission to the higher Level at AGL’s discretion.

On passing at Level 3, students are awarded AGL’s English Law Training Certificate (Academic and Vocational Standard) and the Diploma in English Law Studies (D.ELS)’ of the Institute of Paralegals (IoP), becoming eligible for registration and certification in the UK on the Professional Paralegal Register (PPR) at Tier 2 or 3 depending on relevant work experience (RWE)

Students successfully completing Level 4 are awarded AGL’s English Law Training Certificate (Professional Standard) and the IoP’s  ‘Approved English Law Adviser (A.ELA)’ status leading to eligibility for registration and certification in the UK on the Professional Paralegal Register (PPR) at Tier 3 or 4 depending on RWE

PPR registration at Tiers 3 and 4 counts towards the ‘Common Law’ training part of the dual-training requirement for AGL accreditation as an ‘Associate Global Lawyer’ or ‘Global Lawyer’ respectively. The corresponding ‘Continental Civil Law’ part of the dual-training requirement can be satisfied with a Law Degree at an approved Spanish University or other higher education centre and a ‘Máster en Abogacía’ or equivalent vocational experience (See Menu: FAQ’s for more details at: https://studyenglishlawinspain.com.

Professional students

The ELS Course provides an intense 2-year training programme for professionals whose business finds them increasingly involved in global transactional work that demands a high standard of English and Common Law knowledge and practice skills. and who wish to qualify as a ‘Solicitor’ in England and Wales or in Ireland. (See Menu: ‘English Law Studies (ELS) Course para Titulados’).