ULSTER University is offering the first computing law course in the UK and Ireland to try to “build the tech-savvy law graduate of the future”.
With a growing number of global law firms setting up bases in Northern Ireland, the university has created a course combining corporate law, computing and innovation.
UU’s Legal Innovation Centre, in partnership with legal and tech leaders, has launched the course which straddles both a Masters in Law (LLM) and a Masters of Science (MSc).
It is hoped the course, which is taught at the Belfast campus, will help address the growing adoption of technology by law firms around the world.
With 50 per cent computer science and 50 per cent corporate, financial and tech law, it aims to develop a multidisciplinary graduate – a tech-savvy lawyer or a computer science graduate with a knowledge of legal and financial services.
Modules include corporate law, derivatives and financial markets, technology and internet law, professional software development, data science and business intelligence with students receiving instruction from experienced lawyers.
Graduates of the course, which is just concluding its pilot year, can pursue a range of career opportunities, including law, banking, technology and financial services.
Stephen Bartlett from Citi, which provides two placements and a prize fund, said: “The delivery of legal services is evolving quickly, and depends increasingly on the overlapping disciplines of data science.
“Ulster University’s new ‘Corporate Law, Computing and Innovation’ course is an exciting opportunity to acquire the practical knowledge and skills that are much in demand, as legal practices of all types equip themselves with the resources they need to support markets, commerce and society in the new data-centric era.”
Jane Hollway, director of the Ulster University Legal Innovation Centre, said: “Lawyers are operating in this dramatically changed landscape and with that comes the demand for the multidisciplinary lawyer.
“Firms are seeking lawyers and professionals with computing skills or computing technologists with corporate skills – the ‘unicorn’ graduate.
“Aligned with this, tech graduates with an understanding of corporate and financial landscape are highly sought after.
“The input of our international leaders in industry makes the course highly practical and our graduates, highly employable and future-proofed in terms of their skillset.”
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