Education - LSE offers MSc in law and accounting
The London School of Economics is to launch what it claims is the first UK post-graduate degree to combine law and accounting.
It has unveiled plans to introduce the MSc in Law and Accounting, aimed at qualified accountants and lawyers, in October next year.
The LSE said the decision to set up the course reflected the blurring of boundaries between the two professions.
Michael Power, professor of accounting, said: ‘Lawyers and accountants are concerned with similar problems. It seems highly likely we shall have multi-disciplinary firms within the next ten years.’
He added that the professions’ educational regimes were themselves changing and broadening, particularly in the case of accountancy.
The new masters degree, he said, would look beyond the increasing specialisation and technicality of current professional practice, reflecting the emergence of an interdisciplinary literature and the demands of the changing business environment.
Course director Judith Freedman said there was a growing realisation that the distinction between the two was unreal, both in academic terms and in practice.
English ICA president Chris Swinson is expected to address those attending a launch event later this month.
A two-year part-time course will also be available.