Higher Courts Advocacy Course
for Patent Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys (including online courses)
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(If you are a Solicitor seeking Higher Rights of Audience, please click here)
CPD Training (UK) Limited offers training and assessment for IPReg’s Higher Courts Advocacy Certificate, leading to rights for patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys to appear as advocates in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
The course comprises an assessment in Evidence, Ethics and Procedure; an interim application; an exercise in witness handling such as cross-examination or examination-in-chief; and a trial speech or submission.
All candidates must be UK patent attorneys or trade mark attorneys, and must already hold the Higher Courts Litigation Certificate awarded by IPReg.
Our training course not only teaches candidates advocacy, civil litigation and professional conduct skills; it readies them for the assessment. Our classroom training courses run for 2 days. We also offer online training.
The training and assessment are offered on both a public and in-house basis. We have skilled and highly experienced trainers and assessors. CPD Training is adept at assisting candidates with special needs.
Online training and assessment
IPReg has also authorised CPD Training (UK) to assess candidates for the Higher Courts Advocacy Certificate online.
You may apply to learn advocacy and related skills on your PC with the assistance of one of our trainers. You will be supplied with case studies, notes, exercises, video links and a 3-hour appointment with the trainer.
You may then prepare for the assessments (in evidence, ethics and procedure; interim advocacy; witness handling and a trial speech or submission) and be assessed online.
Dates for online training and assessment are available on application. The inclusive price for the online course is £1,599 plus VAT per candidate. An additional fee may be payable if you wish to be trained and / or assessed individually on a date of your choosing. For more information please complete our Contact Form.
IPReg has set extensive standards. We work hard to ensure that candidates are fully trained to meet those standards. The training is intensive, up-to-date and highly relevant to modern civil practice. It covers such subjects as case analysis, drafting, examination-in-chief, cross-examination, trial speeches, evidence and proof, submissions on the law and professional conduct (including diversity awareness).
Candidates who pass the assessment must then apply to IPReg for the grant of the Higher Courts Advocacy Certificate, which will enable them to appear as advocates in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in civil matters.
Our standard classroom-based in-house course comprises 2 days of training and the assessment. We need at least 6 candidates to make an in-house course financially viable. Please contact us for further details of pricing, course structure and administration. Please note that we do not offer training in criminal Higher Rights of Audience.
Higher Courts Advocacy public courses
From 2024, we have taken the decision to pause all public Higher Rights courses, to focus on our core business of delivering in-house courses to our law firm and patent firm client base. If you are interested in arranging an in-house course, please contact us for more information.
We will consider providing online training and assessments to private individuals and small groups. Depending on numbers, this may attract an additional assessment administration fee. Please complete our Contact Form if you are interested in booking a place.
Feedback
CPD Training (UK) has been accredited to run Higher Rights of Audience courses for solicitors since 2010. It has been conducting online training and assessments since June 2020. Here is some of the feedback.
Stephanie Willbond-Hill / Training and Development Manager, Bristows
“Having worked with you for the first time on Higher Rights training, I was impressed with how straightforward you made it. Your communication was excellent, particularly at times when I was quite demanding! The admin and planning was helpfully uncomplicated and we were very pleased with the overall results. Thank you Peter and Chris!”
Sam Boyling / Joint Head of Office- China, Pinsent Masons
“I am very grateful to you for the time and effort that you put into the training. It was absolutely brilliant and I learned so much in the process. The videos are excellent: they are a must-see; and they do bear a second or third viewing. I went back to them again the day before the assessment. The same goes for your book – I re-read a few key bits on the morning of the assessment to get my head in the right place.”
Michael Polkinghorne / Partner, White & Case, Paris
“It was a pleasure to work with CPD Training on my Higher Rights assessment. The team was professional, responsive, and fun to work with. I would recommend them without reservation.”
You can find more feedback here.
Patent Attorneys Obtain Higher Rights with CPD Training (UK)- September 2013
Before CPD Training (UK) was accredited by IPReg to deliver the Higher Courts Advocacy Course, a number of senior UK patent attorneys completed our Higher Rights course under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s separate regime. This is what they said.
Keith Beresford described the course as "truly excellent and stimulating" and Timothy Powell, a partner at Potter Clarkson LLP said "The content [of the course] takes you through highly practical exercises to a state of experience in previously unfamiliar areas of practice".
Mr Powell, who has 27 years of experience, described the quality of the teaching as excellent. "Peter Lyons is a consummate tutor", he said. "He teaches clearly and with subtlety; and he endlessly observes the delegates. He adjusts the course according to the delegate’s progress".
George Whitten, Vice President at Qualcomm Europe Inc, said the course was excellent because it was very interactive. The trainer had been friendly, open and informative.
Richard Hart from Infineum UK Ltd agreed. He said the course and the teaching had been "thought-provoking, fast-paced, targeted and well prepared".
Robert Jehan of Williams Powell said the trainer was excellent. "He was firm, explains well and has endless energy".
Barbara Cookson from Filemot Technology Law Ltd who has been practising for 21 years praised the interactivity of the training and said the feedback was positive. "No candidate was unduly criticised" she said.
Our Experience Training Patent Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys in Higher Courts Advocacy
Beresford Crump: 2013-2015
Carpmaels & Ransford: 2016
Filemot Technology Law: 2013, 2014
Infineum UK Ltd: 2013, 2014
Ministry of Defence: 2014
Potter Clarkson: 2013, 2014
Qualcomm: 2013, 2014
Williams Powell: 2013, 2014