Master of Laws

The Master of Laws (official qualification) is designed to allow students to acquire the following skills:

Basic

BS6 – Possess and understand the knowledge providing the basis or opportunity for the original development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context.
BS7 – Students must be able to apply the knowledge acquired and their problem-solving ability in new or unfamiliar environments within broad (or multidisciplinary) contexts connected with their area of study.
BS8 – Students must be able to integrate knowledge and deal with the complexity of formulating judgements based on information which, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on social and ethical responsibilities tied to the application of their knowledge and judgements.
BS9 – Students must be capable of communicating their conclusions (and the knowledge and reasoning on which they are ultimately based) to specialist and non-specialist audiences in a clear, unambiguous manner.
BS10 – Students must possess the learning skills allowing them to continue studying in a manner which must to a great extent be self-directed or autonomous.

General:

GS1 – Develop a detailed and reasoned understanding of theoretical and practical aspects of the most common legal areas in professional practice, and the working methodology within the organisational systems most often found in the sphere of advocacy.
GS2 – Apply the knowledge acquired and a capacity for problem-solving in new or unfamiliar contexts in the legal environment inherent to professional advocacy.
GS3 – Combine legal knowledge with social and ethical responsibilities tied to the practical application of the Law through professional advocacy.
GS4 – Communicate conclusions (and the knowledge and reasoning on which they are ultimately based) to specialist and non-specialist audiences in a clear, unambiguous manner.

Specific Skills:

SS1 – Possess, comprehend and develop abilities allowing the application of the specialist academic knowledge acquired during the degree course to the changing reality faced by lawyers in order to avoid situations of harm, risk or conflict in connection with the interests entrusted to them or their professional practice before courts or public authorities, and in an advisory capacity.
SS2 – Be familiar with techniques focused on ascertaining and establishing the facts in different types of proceedings, in particular the production of documents, witness questioning and expert witness evidence.
SS3 – Incorporate the protection of customer rights within the context of national and international jurisdictional protection systems.
SS4 – Be familiar with the various techniques to reconcile interests and be capable of finding solutions to problems through out-of-court alternatives.
SS5 – Be familiar with and able to apply professional ethical duties and rights in a lawyer’s relationship with a client, other parties, the courts or public authorities, and among lawyers themselves.
SS6 – Evaluate the different liabilities connected with professional practice, including the basic functions of the legal aid system and the promotion of social responsibility on the part of lawyers.
SS7 – Identify conflicts of interest and understand techniques for their resolution; establish the scope of professional secrecy and confidentiality, and maintain independent judgement.
SS8 – Uncover the decisive demands for performance and organisation in offering legal advice.
SS9 – Apply in practice the organisational, management and commercial context of the legal profession, in addition to the legal framework for partnerships, taxation, employment and personal data protection.
SS10 – Develop skills and abilities to make the right strategic decision in support of clients’ rights, taking into account the demands of the different spheres of professional practice.
SS11 – Work more efficiently and promote the overall functioning of their team or institution through access to sources of information, knowledge of languages, knowledge management and mastery of applied tools and techniques.
SS12 – Understand, successfully organise and plan the available individual and collective resources in pursuing the various organisational formats employed in the legal profession.
SS13 – Present verbal and written factual accounts and draw legal consequences by argument depending on the context and the intended audience, and where applicable, in accordance with the inherent formats of each procedural sphere.
SS14 – Undertake professional tasks in specific and multidisciplinary teams.
SS15 – Develop interpersonal abilities and skills to facilitate legal practice in relations with the general public, with other professionals and with institutions.

The objective of the Master of Laws is to provide the participants with the applied legal training to be able to successfully practice law. During the training period at CUNEF, a solid theoretical and practical base in the applied legal system will be acquired, as well as the analytical tools and aptitudes necessary to facilitate, develop and familiarise the participants with the legal procedural practice in the different areas of public and private law.

• At CUNEF, we have a wide range of specialised options that will allow you to choose the master’s programme that best suits your professional expectations and personal concerns. So you will be able to continue your postgraduate training with a special emphasis on one of the following options:
  • University Master for Entry to the Legal Profession – Diploma in International Corporate Law.
  • University Master for Entry to the Legal Profession – Diploma in Business and International Taxation.
  • University Master for Entry to the Legal Profession – Diploma in Technological and Internet Law – (Legal Tech).
• CUNEF graduates have an outstanding professional record. The professional profile of CUNEF graduates is highly sought after by companies and institutions in every sector of economic and business activity. More than 6,000 alumni over 40 years have paved the way. In fact, CUNEF alumni fact hold executive positions at the leading private banks operating in Spain, IBEX 35 blue-chip companies and the main auditing and consultancy firms.
• The postgraduate courses offered by CUNEF will give you the opportunity to form part of a talented, prestigious and productive professional network of lecturers, students, alumni and collaborating companies, which will unquestionably lead to tangible and intangible benefits in terms of your professional achievements.
• The academic staff comprises active professionals that combine their extensive and successful professional experience with a demonstrable pedagogical ability.
• Our location, in the city of Madrid is a magnificent opportunity to have a close and direct access to the main companies and institutions of the financial sector, consultancy, investment banking, etc. The directors of these companies frequently visit our facilities to share their knowledge, opinions and thoughts with our students, participate in selection processes and deliver presentations at our campus.
• The Master for Entry to the Legal Profession is a unique programme at a national and international level.
• The practical aspect of the teaching (reflection, analysis, action and evaluation) of all the subjects, aimed at the acquisition of knowledge applied to taking legal decisions, is complemented with supplementary professional work experience at one of the companies that habitually work in conjunction with CUNEF.
• Extensive scholarship programme aimed at the best academic profiles, awarded by the Spanish Banking Association Foundation or by CUNEF, as well as work experience scholarships sponsored by companies and institutions in conjunction with CUNEF.
• CUNEF has an internal quality assurance system and every year submits the for Entry to the Legal Profession to an inspection by the Complutense University of Madrid, in order to review and improve the programme.

The goal of the postgraduate programmes in law at CUNEF (master’s and executive programmes) is to help the participants, and their employer organisations, to strengthen their executive and professional performance. During the year of training at CUNEF, a solid theoretical and practical base in the legal environment will be acquired, as well as the analytical tools and aptitudes necessary to facilitate, develop and familiarise the participants to successfully practice law.

The Master for Entry to the Legal Profession is for Law graduates wishing to develop their professional career as lawyers. The student profile for the 2018-2019 academic year is as follows:

Class size: 52 students.

• Geographic origins: 100% from Spain
• Academic background: Law (100%)
• Gender: men (30.3%), women (69.7%)
• Age: average age (23 years of age) and an age range of between 21 and 25 years of age
• Prior professional experience: with prior experience (93.3%); without prior experience (6.7%).
• Average grade on university academic report: 7.5/10
• Area of specialisation percentage: International Corporate Law (63.5%) and Business and International Taxation (36.5%).

The Master for Access to the Legal Profession curriculum includes the subjects forming part of the Complementary diplomas as optional subjects. The students will choose whether they want to study a Specialisation Diploma (CUNEF own qualification) when they enrol at CUNEF, which will mean enrolling on all credits for the chosen Diploma (24 ECTS). Students cannot take more than one specialisation. The specific specialisation subjects are supplemented by seminars and other activities.

The Diplomas awarded with the Master for Access to the Legal Profession (MUAPA) are:

• MUAPA – Diploma in International Corporate Law (24 ECTS): The University Master for Entry to the Legal Profession, with the Diploma in International Corporate Law covers during the first year of study the knowledge, techniques and practical working tools required to allow participants to consolidate their knowledge and decision-making capacity in the field of Corporate Law. The programme is intended for graduates in the field of Social and Legal Sciences, preferably those graduating in Law, and also the field of Arts and Humanities, wishing to begin or continue a professional career in specialised corporate legal advice. The Diploma in International Corporate Law (complementary own qualification) has the following curriculum:

• MUAPA – Diploma in Business and International Taxation (24 ECTS): The University Master for Entry to the Legal Profession, with the Diploma in Business and International Taxation allows students to cover during the first year of study the knowledge, techniques and practical working tools required so that participants consolidate their knowledge and decision-making capacity in the field of national and international Business Taxation Advice. The programme is intended for graduates in the field of Social and Legal Sciences, preferably those graduating in Law, and also the field of Arts and Humanities, wishing to begin or continue a professional career in specialised corporate legal advice. The Diploma in Business and International Taxation (complementary own qualification) has the following curriculum

The lecturers on the Master of Laws are expert investigators and professionals of from the legal world. During the year of the master’s programme they will make an active contribution to ensure that your performance, learning and conceptual ideation are clearly strengthened by your time studying with us. The lecturers combine their teaching, research and educational vocation with professional duties as lawyers or directors in their respective areas.

Faculty for the Master of Laws (2018-2019)

The list of academic staff presented here is complemented by external collaborating lecturers, speakers at seminars, workshops or professional certifications, guest speakers at conferences and lecturers from other national and international institutions. These include:

CUNEF has a close and active relationship with the business and professional world. The Careers Service actively manages the company professional placement job offers, as well as the organisation of complementary seminars and activities, the main aim of which is to provide CUNEF students with all the necessary tools and skills, and also the best possible opportunities, to facilitate their incorporation into their first job and improve their professional development.

CUNEF students have the chance to take part in professional guidance activities including the following options:

• CUNEF jobs forum Every year, companies and institutions from different economic and business sectors participate in the jobs forum organised by CUNEF. It provides students and companies the perfect framework for exchanging experiences and discovering the details of all the processes involved in young university graduates starting their first jobs.
• Company presentations and “on-campus” selection processes.
• Companies from the legal, financial, consultancy, auditing and investment banking sectors regularly conduct selection processes, presentations, specific seminars… organised in partnership with the Professional Careers Department and specifically intended for CUNEF undergraduates and postgraduates.
• Practical company placement programmes The external placements are organised prioritising centres associated with the specialisation chosen by the student. A wide range of educational cooperation agreements are in place for this purpose with institutions, organisations and companies, covering a great many operational spheres. Business placements have an external tutor and an internal tutor assigned to them. The external tutor is a professional at the company where the placement is being performed, who directs, guides, supervises and evaluates the student’s practical activities. In evaluating these activities the external tutor appraises the abilities, skills and knowledge demonstrated by the students during their time at the host institution, using an assessment questionnaire designed by the External Practical Placement Coordinators. In order to ensure proper organisation and implementation of external practical placements, for each of the training pathways provided there will be an External Practical Placement Coordinator (internal tutor), who will be a lecturer at the postgraduate department responsible for organising the placements connected with the professional area of the pathway in question. The educational goals of external practical placements are:
  • Understand the different fields of application of Banking and Market Law and Financial Institutions.
  • Give students an insight into the realities of professional life.
  • Integrate and consolidate the skills covered by the qualification in different professional fields.
• Seminars and practical activities for professional practice. Meanwhile, participants attend a range of seminars and workshops focused on underpinning their specialist knowledge and skills for professional practice.
• Employment exchange. CUNEF, in partnership with the CUNEF Alumni Association, administers the job offers regularly announced by companies and institutions.

The professional practical placement (at least 600 hours) are carried out at companies or institutions that have signed the corresponding educational co-operation agreement wherever possible. CUNEF has a wide range of educational cooperation agreements in place for this purpose with institutions, legal practices, organisations and businesses in a range of industrial sectors. In any event, where the placement is performed depends on the agreements in place at any given time, and the offers announced by the partner companies and institutions. In addition to the criteria established in selection processes by each legal practice, company or institution at any given time. CUNEF does not decide who or where; these decisions are instead taken by the legal practices, companies or institutions. It is therefore their responsibility to find a company or institution where students can complete their placement. CUNEF does, of course, offer active advice and support. The students can potentially apply for the recognition of the practical placement subject if they can demonstrate prior professional experience or placements.

Day-to-day teaching activities are supplemented over the year of the master’s programme by an additional range of activities allowing participants to extend their knowledge, underpin their professional focus, gain on-the-ground experience of professional practice, or try out for themselves initiatives and proposals developed by the leading experts in professional financial practice. The Master in Financial Institutions and Markets includes the following complementary activities:

• The “Passport to your future” Professional Guidance Programme:a programme where consultants with extensive experience in selection processes, accompany and help participants on the Master’s in finance programmes strengthen their professional performance. The programme includes three types of activity:
• Practical Workshops during which the participants have the opportunity to know first hand from the experts in selection processes key aspects such as: the guidelines for writing and presenting your CV and the Presentation Letter, where and how to look for employment opportunities, how to tackle the different selection processes that companies carry out and how to know your strengths and your areas for improvement, all with the aim of demonstrating a competitive advantage in the market, etc.
• Meetings with renowned professionals in their respective occupational fields, who give a first-hand presentation of the market in which participants will spend their professional future, along with those professional profiles most in demand, the jobs available to them and the various options offered by companies in their sector.
• Individual mentoring sessions at which professional mentors allow participants to draw on all their know-how so as to help focus the future professional development of CUNEF master’s programme students.
• Seminars – Practical Workshops and Conferences: during the master’s course a variety of specialisation seminars and practical workshops will be organised, as well as conferences, working breakfasts, presentations, etc., which aim to provide participants with access to specialised knowledge, experiences, initiatives and new projects presented by professional experts, who are leaders in their respective fields.
• Supplementary International Stages: once they have completed their master’s programme, those students who so wish can opt for a complementary international training period undertaken at universities or business schools that have a partnership with CUNEF. These periods of international training take place under the aegis of bilateral agreements or exchange agreements, and involve students spending an additional period of training at the partner university, in accordance with the terms set out in the cooperation agreement established between the two institutions

Academic norms:

• Transfer and recognition of credits
• Internal regulation

Official Documentation

• Register of Universities, Centres and Qualifications (RUCT)
• Memorandum
• SIGC
• 2017-2018 Self Report 
• 2016-2017 Selft Report
• 2015-2016 Self Report
• ANECA verification report