"Combining modules made me see things from a different perspective and have a greater appreciation of how the law applies to different sectors."
Year of Graduation: 2022Name of programme: LLM in Intellectual Property Law Country: NigeriaCompany: London Borough of Havering
My decision to study at Queen Mary was due to the breadth of modules available. From my research, it offered various modules compared to other universities. As someone that was coming straight from undergraduate studies, I wanted to have many options for my LLM and QMUL fulfilled that for me. I initially applied to study General LLM, but switched to the Intellectual Property specialism to further my interest in business, brand protection, and copyright matters. Another factor was the high ranking of the university coupled with the reputation of the lecturers. This for me meant I would gain high-quality education and an understanding of intellectual property matters. I also received the Roy Goode Scholarship and that confirmed that QMUL was the right choice for me.
The teaching and learning were excellent. The learning was a huge stretch and challenging as expected, but there was a lot of support offered. My lecturers were very nice and provided support as well as responding to emails openly. The dissertation support sessions and the Critical Thinking and Writing in Law classes offered by the PG law were very helpful as a refresher to get to grips with academic writing. I always looked forward to my tutorial classes as I knew there was something to learn, a new insight, and a different perspective on addressing issues.
I absolutely did, and with the wide variety of modules I had so many options. My LLM was in intellectual property, and I picked modules outside of my specialism: e-commerce transactions and, reputation management in media law. It was an opportunity to further my interest in business development, as well as learn about the role of intellectual property in the media environment. It also allowed me to meet people from different specialisms. Combining modules made me see things from a different perspective and have a greater appreciation of how the law applies to different sectors.
Volunteering with qLegal. It was a perfect opportunity for me to meet people across my specialism and collaborate to educate the public on legal matters in IP law for business development. The team at qLegal delivered trainings to equip us with the right skills and this has been useful for my professional development. My qLegal experience complemented my academic learning experience and I was able to apply my learnings to support small businesses on the value IP could add to their business. I will soon be writing a blog to educate small businesses on IP matters.
My advice would be to make the best of the learning experience – it’s a year and it flies quickly. Work on your academics and engage with the support available to help you get your desired grade. Pick modules that align with your interests and passions, as this will make your learning experience more enjoyable and hopefully easier! Attend career events and network with attendees, connect on LinkedIn and start a conversation. This helped me greatly. I started my LLM undecided about a career path, and I was able to use the PG law career service to book a 1:1 appointment to speak to a career adviser. This helped me to gain clarity on the fields I'm interested in. The career service also provides mentoring opportunities, and I got assigned a mentor who really helped me when it came to interview preparation.