INTRODUCTION

The Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs is the most innovative, ambitious project of the future within the graduate programs in legal affairs at IEDE Business School.

The Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs at Universidad Europea de Madrid has been designed to adapt our graduate offer in legal affairs to the current trends in Europe and to the new European Higher Education Area. This Master’s Degree responds to the current demand for law professionals with strong corporate training who are able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge necessary to meet the challenges of legal practice and business at an international level.

The new organizational structure of today’s law firms, in the most important multinational cases, is similar to that of a company, establishing the need for professionals with adequate training who can take on more complex specialized cases and issues that go beyond the national scope.

The law firms and companies with international operations need more employees every year and the selection of the ideal candidates for these positions has become a very competitive task. Law firms need assets and are contacting graduate and business schools in search of talented students. In this way, Law graduates who can demonstrate that they have the skills required by law firms and company-based legal advisers, find it easy to secure a place in the job market.

Future lawyers with the proper specialization, such as that obtained by students in the Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs, who can demonstrate that they have the managerial skills and competences required, a “corporate vision with an international perspective”, and a high command of English, will undoubtedly find themselves strongly positioned within the job market.

Decision-making, leadership, teamwork, acceptance of responsibilities, rigor, planning, coordinating, negotiating and problem-solving are the competences focused on in this Master’s Degree. We train our students to be the ideal candidates in the selection processes of international firms and legal practices, as well as in companies with international projection.

Big law firms and companies with international projection (whose turnover in areas such as commerce, labor and taxes has grown spectacularly in recent years) are the most demanding when it comes to the profile of the candidates they are looking for to join their firms.

These firms and companies demand law students with strong legal and business training, a good academic transcript, competent professionalism, a high level of English, a corporate vision, and an international perspective.

The opportunities for further specialization are very important, especially in the sectors that are regulated on an international level: banking and finance, energy, mining, water, real estate and urban planning, telecommunications, mass media, pharmaceuticals, etc.

All of the aforementioned factors demonstrate a need to offer society an officially recognized graduate program that satisfies the professional demands of law firms, legal practices, and consulting companies at a Master’s level; and which trains legal experts specialized in the corporate sector at an international level, who are fully equipped to meet the challenges of today’s job market, as well as tomorrow’s.

This is the primary objective of the Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs at Universidad Europea de Madrid.

UNIQUE ADVANTAGES OF THE MASTER’S DEGREE

From the methodological point of view, the Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs focuses more on the practical aspects of active learning, answering to the systematic demand of the professional world and following the basic guidelines for recognition within the framework of higher education in Europe.

Through this methodological renewal, we intend to ensure that the law professional who fulfills the Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs is fully prepared to: interpret, manage and draw up legal papers, in accordance with the sources and general principles of law; make use of new technologies and demonstrate true critical-reasoning abilities; present arguments and know how to use the law to convince and provide solutions adapted to each real situation proposed in the area of “business and finance at a national level, and more especially at a international level”.

This is the profile currently demanded in the job market; a law professional who possesses more than training in itself, but who also has aptitudes for continuous improvement, lifelong learning, flexibility, common sense, perseverance, and discipline; a professional who possesses skills and competences such as oratory, authority, creativity, leadership, and the ability to manage, negotiate, and plan; a professional with a legal conviction, who knows how to use new technologies and has a good command of English. These skills are essential in order to respond adequately to the current professional demands of the national and international job markets.

In conclusion, it can undoubtedly be deduced that the most sought-after and recognized law professionals in terms of salary and professional level, come from the international multi-sector area:

• Spanish law firms with growing international projection.
• Multinational law firms who operate in Spain.
• Auditors and consulting companies.
• Legal advisors in large and mid-sized companies, both Spanish and multinational, who operate in an increasingly international environment.

The Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs is the perfect attribute with which to broaden your scope, and has been conceived as a way to specialize in the area of legal affairs in international business and finance, focusing on satisfying the demands of today’s job market in the legal sector at a national level within a global framework.

More than one thousand five hundred hours provide the student with a solid, practical education, based on the Case Study Method, studying and solving international legal practical cases in order to perfect the student’s analytical skills and improve their ability to resolve problems.

Student Profile

The Master’s Degree in International Legal Practice and Business Affairs is designed for: Graduates in Law or Law and Business with advanced knowledge of English, a global and international perspective of business and corporate operations, and who wish to become specialists in legal and corporate practice at an international level.

UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS

• The program design combines legal, corporate and financial content (MBA modules: Management Skills, Corporate Finance, Business Valuation) placing special emphasis on practical training through the Case Study Method, Problem-based learning, and Cooperative learning.
• International modular content using a sector-based focus on business law: Taxation, Commerce, Labor, and Dispute Resolution at an international level.
• A cross-disciplinary focus that combines economic and financial analysis of corporate operations and legal practice: Workshop on the Analysis of Legal and Economic Sectors.
• Periods of study abroad in Shanghai (two weeks) in an intensive program called “Doing Business in China”, which provides insight into Chinese regulation.
• The possibility of carrying out 50% of the modules in English ensures that students will learn the correct use of this basic communicative tool in the practice of international law. This Master’s Degree offers students the opportunity of broadening their possibilities to two languages.
• A faculty of highly-regarded professionals in the practice of international law and finance.
• A Graduation Project involving the preparation of a legal ruling on a strategic international operation.
• Professional internships in firms and legal departments of multinational companies.
• The participation in educational activities outside the classroom, including visits to companies, trade fairs, legal trials, seminars, conferences, and so on, in order to receive comprehensive, applied training.

Prior to the arrival of the Bologna Process, having a Master’s Degree meant increasing your professional opportunities. Today, having a Master’s Degree from IEDE Business School means having an international perspective, an officially recognized degree, and a sure place in today’s job market, thanks to our professional internships. Without a doubt, enrolling in this program is a wise decision.

This Master’s Degree has been designed for the following individuals and groups:

• Persons holding an undergraduate degree in Law or the Double Degree of Law and Business.
• Professionals with a high level of English who wish to specialize in international legal practice, law firms, or legal consultancy.
• Companies and law firms that need to train or specialize certain members of their staff (proficient in English) in the world of business operations and international legal practice.

The defining features that make this program unparalleled on the market are as follows:

• Officially recognized
• Overseas Stay (2 weeks in Shanghai)
• Bilingual (with optional Business English module)
• Mixed content of financial and corporate law (MBA modules in: management skills, corporate finance, business valuation) with special emphasis on practical experience through the use of case studies, and learning through cooperation and problem solving.
• Modular international content with a sector by sector focus on business law: Fiscal, Mercantile, Labor and Dispute Resolution at the international level.
• A mixed approach that combines economic and financial analysis of business operations with legal practice by way of the Workshop in Sectoral Corporate Law.

Through this Master’s Degree and its innovative methodology based on real case studies in law, students acquire skills in responsible leadership, decision-making, team coordination, negotiation and problem-solving. Another central pillar in this education is adherence to professional legal ethics, rules and guidelines. Therefore, a graduate of this program is an ideal candidate for recruitment and hiring by law firms or any company with an international focus.