The first year is essentially academic and is demanding due to both the subjects taught and the amount of work to be furnished. The accomplishments which are evaluated are not only exams but also researches, papers and oral presentations.
The second year is dedicated to a lawyer trainee period with a business or a business orientated public office (Banking or Competition Commission, Bureau of copyright, of telecommunications, etc.). The candidate, in addition to being plunged into a professional activity, has to draw up a paper on, in principle, a subject related to his/her training period. Exceptionally, students having worked as a lawyer in a business for at least three years during the previous five may be exempted from such task.
It is important that the schooling, which is in addition to a university degree in law, not last for more than two years (although the second year is a first employement) and both the programme and the requirements are conceived in this respect. At the same time, the regulations provide for the necessary flexibility for exemptions for good cause.
It is articulated on a number of fundamental courses which last one or two semesters, complemented by seminars on specific and interdisciplinary topics. Each semester, the courses represent eight to ten of hours of classes per week, whereas the seminars consist in six to eight hours per week. The rest of the time is dedicated to the preparation of the classes and the seminars and to the drafting of essays.
The classes are held at the University of Geneva and the programme requires total availability and is therefore incompatible with a professional activity.
The courses require assiduous preparation (in particular extensive reading) of about one to two hours for each hour of class. The definitive programme is presented each year by the programme's executive board.
The topics of the seminars, in principle interdisciplinary, enable an in depth study in a limited amount of time. Depending on the topic, between three hours and two or three half days are reserved for a seminar. Case studies are favoured and will, generally, require a previous lecture or the preparation of assignments.
A small number of exams favours an interdisciplinary approach to the problems. Three exams (of which, in principle, one oral) consisting of the study of complex cases permits the monitor of the global assimilation of all the subjects.
The first exam takes place at the end of the first semester, whereas the other two occur in the session of exams held in the summer. In case of failure, the exams can be taken again during the session of exams held in the fall.
The capacity to outline, in a brief summary, the upshot of a research is an important professional skill. During the first year, students are called upon to draw up three brief essays (five pages) which will have to be satisfactory in form and substance.
To facilitate the candidates search for a high-quality trainee position, as well as to finance a substantial portion of the costs of the programme, the diploma committee has stipulated participation agreements with a number of businesses.
Enrolment in the program does, however, not guarantee the students a trainee position with the sponsors of the programme. MBL participants are solely responsible for finding a company that will hire them during the second year.
Each training period will be the object of a three party agreement to assure that the candidate is followed by a training supervisor within the business and a teacher at the programme. The student will receive a salary equivalent to that paid to a lawyer trainee (currently CHF 2'500.-in second year). After five years of study this is an important factor for many candidates. The payment of a salary also indicates that the business expects the trainee, who is not seen as a visitor to whom a favour has been granted, to effectively exert him/herself. At its end, the training period is evaluated by the company and by the trainee.
The paper drawn up during the second year is, in principle, related to the employment within the company. The topic of the paper has to be approved by the teacher and by the company. Generally, the paper is evaluated jointly with the trainee's correspondent within the business and is the object of a conferral. If the paper is not satisfactory it will have to be improved within the delay granted.
Throughout the second year contacts are maintained with the university and among the students, in particular through seminars and conferences, without however interfering with the availability necessary to carry out the training period.
Businesses as well as public offices frequently seek a member of a bar association to fill the available legal positions. The success of MBL, namely the employment of lawyers with a diploma in business law who have not completed a lawyer trainee period, presupposes a high quality of the teaching and of the candidates. The latter have to have a Master in Law or law degree in Swiss law or degree which is deemed to be equivalent (full legal base information), high proficiency in French and very good knowledge of English. Admission on application file. The law degree grades, knowledge of languages and possible job experience will be taken into consideration. The decision is competence of the diploma committee.
The annual global cost of the programme is about CHF 750'000.- which is basically covered by two sources of financing: the students' enrolment fees and the contributions of the businesses and institutions concerned in the project. The enrolment fee is CHF 7'000.- per student, therefore for two years, whichever is the University (UniL/UniGE) chosen by the candidate.
Le report du programme est reservé pour le cas où un nombre insuffisant de candidats devait être accepté.
The regulations foresee that the complete two year postgraduate schooling is equivalent to 120 credits ECTS. Their exact apportionment among the various requirements foreseen in the regulation is shown in the plan of studies which is approved by the board of the two faculties of law.