Kaplan buys Altior to boost law firm links

Kaplan Professional, the company behind Nottingham Law School's London arm has taken over Altior in a bid to boost its post-qualification legal training offering.

Cardiff-based Altior runs the Professional Skills Course (PSC), which is compulsory for all trainee solicitors to complete as well as management and business skills management trainings for lawyers. The deal follows the acquisition by Kaplan Professional of Hawksmere last year.

Kaplan Professional chief executive Peter Houillon said he hopes the deal will have a positive knock on effect on Kaplan Law School's relationship with law firms and thereby deliver more Legal Practice Course (LPC) clients. Kaplan Law School currently has just on LPC client, Chicago-based Mayer Brown.

"[The deal] will help us to strengthen our growing relationships with law firms and is part of our strategy to put a very attractive alternative proposition in the legal training space whether it's student or post-qualification training," explained Houillon.

Kaplan Law School opened its doors to its first cohort of students in September 2007 and is hoping to double its numbers for the 2008/09 academic year to just over 150.