"I’m Michael Butler, Director of the Professional Law Institute. Congratulations on receiving an offer to study Law & Professional Practice at The Dickson Poon School of Law.  

"We often get asked by new students "what should I do to prepare for the course?" You will probably appreciate that there will be core text books for each of the many law subjects you will study.

"However, if you are keen to get a little familiarity with the study of law and becoming a lawyer, I’ve put together some tips and next steps on how you can prepare for starting with us"

- Michael Butler, Director of the Professional Law Institute 

Read: The Secret Barrister 

This was written by an anonymous barrister, it provides an unrestrained view of the issues facing the criminal justice system and a succinct explanation of the history of our legal system and how the legal system works.

Watch: annakbek | everything legal

Annabel, one of our former students who has now secured a training contract, has created great content on TikTok where she acts out some key cases we study and provides some great study tips. Follow her @annakbek.

Plan: Get Into Law: Make Your Leap From Student To Solicitor (Meera Patel)

If you want to start thinking about your legal career, this is the book worth getting. Meera is a former law student at King’s who was first in her family to go to university and worked for a number of major law firms. Her book is succinct and practical as to the steps you can start to put in place.

Be curious

As much as anything else, it’s important to be curious about the big issues we all face as a society and how the law may affect these. For example, have you considered what may have gone wrong with the legal process in the British Post Office scandal? How should we regulate the use of Artificial Intelligence? How should companies be required to consider and act on environmental issues?

Postgraduate careers information session - 18 August 2026

Watch the online session with our Careers Consultant Andreas Gaitzsch exploring the UK legal job market, how to get ahead in your career, and how King's can support you.

Download the presentation slides here. 

• Law careers services: We offer coaching appointments, application advice, practice interviews, workshops and more. 
• Preparing for after your postgraduate degree - Careers in law in the UK: Presentation and resources from our careers advisor 
• Let's Talk Law: Check out our podcast with interviews from a range of professionals sharing their experience at King's and how they moved into their chosen career.

Join the community group to connect with fellow offer holders ahead of enrollment.

You'll first need to create an account with UniBuddy Community before joining the group created for you which is called Law & Professional Practice - Postgraduate

This community is exclusive to King's offer holders and provides you with a platform to ask questions and chat with your peers.

International students are reminded that it is their responsibility to ensure that their study programme meets their visa requirements both during and after the programme.

In particular, under current immigration rules, obtaining the PGDip Law and Professional Practice does not qualify for a graduate visa.

Get in touch

Email Michael with any questions at michael.butler@kcl.ac.uk.    

Tours 

Take a virtual tour of Strand Campus - home of the Dickson Poon School of Law.