In-house Practice Diploma (February 2026)

The training will focus on:

• Key regulatory requirements for in-house lawyers
• Core Legal skills, including, contracts law and management, AI and legal tech as well as essential employment law for in-house practitioners
• Core Practice Skills, including commercial awareness, common business risks and influencing skills for in-house lawyers

By the end of this diploma, you will be able to:

• understand your duty to provide a competent service to clients
• identify the most effective forms of communication for client care, evaluate strategies and techniques for promoting effective team-working and for to maintain and enhance your own professional wellbeing
• apply knowledge of regulatory and ethical standards to identify appropriate boundaries in client relationships
• be familiar with the regulatory obligations and be able to effectively manage the risk of ethical problems arising
• identify the elements of a valid contract and how to draft precise and enforceable clauses
• consider the main key points when advising businesses on the legal consequences of employment status, employment contracts and the key elements of the SRA Code of Conduct for solicitors in employment matters
• gain insights into understanding, managing and building working business relationships across both internal and external stakeholders

Course format

This course is self-paced and provides best-practice guidance by incorporating practical activities, collaborative tools, and interactive scenarios designed to boost your skills and help you remain competitive. It consists of an interactive presentation for each module with knowledge checks, reflection points, and scenarios throughout the course.

Knowledge checks feature throughout the course as an opportunity to test and apply your understanding. Each module also has an optional assessment to boost knowledge retention. Please note, these do not form part of the final assessment.

Assessment

There will be an open-book reflective assessment which provides learners with a proven, structured route from description to action, helping them analyse their learning, surface the emotions that shape performance, and set concrete next steps – an approach shown to deepen learning and support continuous professional development.

You will receive the reflective assessment form at the beginning of the course to allow you to work on your submission throughout the duration.

Your submission should be no more than 500 words in total and must be submitted before the deadline of 5pm on Monday 18 May 2026. You’re only allowed one submission attempt.

Live 1:1 professional development session

After you’ve completed all modules, activities, and submitted your reflective assessment, you’ll book a live 1:1 professional development session with a course facilitator.

In this 1-hour virtual conversation, you’ll discuss the key insights from your reflective submission, explore any questions or areas you’d like to develop further, and discuss ways you can apply your learning in your current role. The session is tailored to you – confidential, focused, and designed to turn reflection into tangible next steps for your ongoing professional development.

Digital credential

Following attending your live 1:1 professional development session you’ll need to complete the feedback form.  On submission of your feedback, and providing all prior activities are completed, you’ll be awarded a shareable digital credential as evidence of your achievement that can accompany you wherever your career takes you – a quality mark you can add to your website or promote on social media to show clients that you’re competent and compliant in core legal, professional and personal skills.

Assessment dates

The assessment deadline is 5pm on Monday 18 May 2026.

Online accessibility

Our modules conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. However, some members may require an alternative version for accessibility purposes. This is available upon request via our contact us form.

Also, if you need alternative arrangements for submitting your assessment, please get in touch.

Meet the Experts
This diploma was developed by three industry experts.

Dr Emma Jones	Helen Carr	Francesca Lee