Practical Legal Training (PLT)
Welcome to Australia’s Leading PLT Program
One Program. Three Learning Modes.
Discover the flexibility of three distinct PLT learning modes to suit your preferences.
OnlineAvailable Nationally | BlendedVIC, NSW, WA, ACT, QLD, SA | OnsiteVIC |
Duration20 Weeks Learning ModeOnline learning Immersive Workshops10 days via video conferencing | Duration20 Weeks Learning ModeOnline learning Immersive Workshops10 days onsite learning | Duration20 Weeks Learning Mode2 days per week onsite Immersive Workshops10 days onsite learning |
OnlineAvailable nationally | BlendedVIC, NSW, WA, ACT, QLD, SA |
Duration30 Weeks Learning ModeOnline learning Immersive Workshops10 days via video conferencing | Duration30 Weeks Learning ModeOnline learning Immersive Workshops10 days onsite learning |
What you’ll learn & how
Watch this short video to understand more.
Discover more about our PLT
Our Practical Legal Training (PLT) program is designed to help you be the Whole Lawyer by developing your technical capability, adaptability, human skills and character.
This is how it works:
Throughout each rotation, you will be supported by a mentor, who is a practising lawyer, providing personalised coaching to help you develop the skills and values necessary for reflective practice. In addition to mentoring you, they’ll also serve as your supervising lawyer during the rotations. In this role they will guide you through each client file, offering hands-on experience and insights.
While completing your PLT at Leo Cussen, you’ll progress through rotations that simulate the experience of a graduate in a law firm. Here’s a brief overview of each rotation:
Induction: This rotation helps you transition from university to legal work. You’ll be introduced to the key skills you’ll need to develop as a new lawyer, become familiar with the course structure, the pathway to admission, and the legal profession you’re about to join.
Transactions: In this rotation, you will handle client files in the Property Law and Commercial and Corporate practice areas, gaining hands-on experience in these essential fields.
Specialist: Here, you’ll choose two practice areas to specialise in. Options include:
- Administrative Law
- Banking & Finance
- Criminal Law
- Employment Law
- Family Law
- Wills & Estates
Disputes: During this rotation, you’ll work in our simulated law practice environment acting for a business navigating a disputed agreement, get experience appearing in court and represent your client at a negotiation. It’s just like real work but in a learning setting.
Profession Ready: This final rotation is where you draw together all your skills, ready to commence your legal career.
Each rotation is crafted to build on your skills and provide a comprehensive understanding of various aspects of legal practice.
Throughout the PLT program, you’ll engage in immersive workshop learning designed to enhance the interpersonal skills essential for a successful legal career. Immersive learning varies depending on the mode of instruction.
In Blended, Online and Onsite programs, you will participate in three key ‘Immersives’ throughout the program. Each immersive is a multi-day, face-to-face learning block where you will interact with mentors and fellow graduates. These immersive sessions occur during the Induction, Specialist, and Profession Ready rotations.
For the Blended and Onsite programs, these immersives are conducted in person at the designated locations. For the Online program, immersives are held virtually via video conferencing.
From Week 12 onwards, you will participate in the Leo Justice Lab, where you will work in teams to create innovative policy or technology solutions that make a tangible impact on justice. This experience will help you develop essential skills for the future of law, including legal design, and collaborative problem-solving.
Building on the skills you’ve developed through the PLT program, the professional placement offers you a chance to gain practical experience in real-world legal work.
You’ll apply the skills acquired during the program in a professional setting, with the possibility of completing your placement at a law firm, a community legal centre, a government department’s legal office, or in-house.
The professional placement is a mandatory component of our PLT program, requiring 20 days in WA and 15 days in all other states to fulfil admission requirements for legal practice.
Leo Cussen offers a placement coordination service for an additional fee.
Why Choose Leo Cussen?
Our Mentors
J.D, BDSc, GradCert (Arts), Cert IV TAE Australian Legal Practitioner
BSc, JD, GDLP, Australian Legal Practitioner
LLB, LLM, PgDip, GDLP Australian Legal Practitioner
LLB, BSc, GDipArts(Crim) Australian Legal Practitioner
LLB, BA, GDLP Australian Legal Practitioner
BA, LLB, MBus
BJuris, LLB, Australian Legal Practitioner
BJuris, LLB, Australian Legal Practitioner
BA, LLB, Dip Acting
BComm, LLB, LLM
MBA, Cert IV TAE Australian Legal Practitioner Accredited Mental Health First Aid Instructor
Australian Legal Practitioner
LLB (Hons), GDLP
BComm (Hons), LLB (Hons)
Australian Legal Practitioner
Join us for PLT Unpacked in 1 Hour and you’ll get answers to key questions about PLT to help you plan your next steps to becoming a qualified lawyer.
Wednesday 8th October 2025
12:30pm – 1:30pm (AEDT) or 6:30pm – 7:30pm (AEDT)
Online (Zoom) | Free Event
Book A Chat With Us
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Testimonials
For more than 50 years Leo Cussen has been delivering quality legal education. We’ve built a reputation of excellence and we’re proud to see our grads go on to achieve great things. Here’s what some of them said about PLT at Leo Cussen.
Get the skills and confidence you need to start a career in law with Leo Cussen's Practical Legal Training programs available throughout Australia.
Kickstart your legal career confidently through Leo Cussen’s Practical Legal Training (PLT) program, available to aspiring lawyers across Australia. As a leading national provider of Practical Legal Training, Leo Cussen will give you the essential skills and knowledge to succeed in the legal profession, no matter where you are.
Our complete PLT program connects what you learn in school with real-world legal work. Led by experienced legal professionals, you’ll do practical exercises, work on real case studies, and practice simulations to get ready for the challenges of the legal field.
Leo Cussen’s Practical Legal Training (PLT) program offers flexible study options. You can choose to study full-time or part-time, either onsite or online. This flexibility allows you to balance your studies with other commitments, making starting your legal career in any part of Australia easier.
Our experienced mentors will help you develop important skills for communicating with clients and presenting cases in court. You will also receive support from seasoned legal recruiters to improve your job prospects nationwide.
Leo Cussen has been providing legal education for over 50 years. Graduates consistently feel well-prepared and confident as they start their legal careers. Leo Cussen prepares students for the legal profession throughout Australia.
You will have access to a strong network of successful alums and valuable industry connections by choosing Leo Cussen. This will open up diverse career opportunities for you across the country.
Invest in your future with Leo Cussen’s Practical Legal Training and gain the skills, experience, and confidence to succeed. Enrol today and take the first step towards launching your legal career anywhere in Australia.
FAQ's
Leo Cussen’s PLT program can be completed full-time or part-time.
Full-time PLT takes 20 weeks plus professional placement.
Part-time PLT takes 30 weeks plus professional placement.
Professional placement runs for 15 days, and there are options to complete this concurrently with your PLT coursework
Yes – in most cases, completing a PLT (or equivalent course) is a compulsory step before seeking admission as a legal practitioner.
PLT is generally started after you’ve completed your degree, or in some cases, beforehand, when you only have two elective subjects left to do in your studies.
Most students start the PLT after completing their legal qualification at university. However in some jurisdictions you may be able to commence the PLT if you have no more than two elective subjects left to do in your studies.
The course qualifies you with a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP) and eligibility to apply for Admission to the legal profession in any Australian state or territory.
For our Blended and Online programs, there are 10 face-to-face training days (called ‘immersives’). There are 4 immersive days at the beginning of the program, 3 in the middle and 3 at the end.
These days can be attended via video conferencing (for the Online program) or in-person (for the Blended program).
For our onsite programs, there are two days of in-person attendance each week for the duration of the program, as well as 10 face-to-face immersive days.
The attendance days are mandatory and scheduled on specific dates. For attendance dates, please see the Dates and Fees page.
If you are unable to attend a date due to illness or extenuating circumstances, we will work with you to organise a catch-up day.
In addition to your course work, you are also required to complete 15 days of placement in a legal setting. There are options to complete this either during or after your PLT program.
If you would like us to find your professional placement for you, Leo Cussen can organise this for an additional fee (which can be put on FEE-HELP) Please see the Dates and Fees page for details of current fees.
From day one, you’ll be assigned a dedicated mentor who is also an experienced lawyer. Your mentor will guide you through the whole program, and offer personalised coaching as you complete your PLT, get admitted and start your legal career.
You’ll also have access to tailored placement, careers, and admission support to help get you job-ready.
Yes. You will have access to a dedicated careers office staffed with qualified career consultants who have experience in the legal profession. With hundreds of employers in our network and decades of experience, we’ll help equip you with the tools you need to enhance your job search, and get you job ready.
Yes. Leo Cussen provides personalised admission support for every PLT student at no additional cost. This means you’ll get dedicated one-on-one help with your application to become an Australian lawyer.
Yes. The Australian legal profession allows for mutual recognition of admission across all Australian states and territories. If you complete our PLT program in one state/territory, there are pathways to practise law in all other states/territories.
Yes. FEE-HELP is available for our PLT program for eligible graduates.
Yes. Students without access to FEE-HELP can apply for a payment plan.
In our PLT, you’ll learn how to become a lawyer by working in a simulated law firm under the supervision of lawyers. You’ll work on mock files based on real cases. And you’ll learn how to apply what you learned at law school to a real-world setting.
This means you will essentially be treated as a first-year lawyer, and given tasks that reflect the real-world of legal practice.
The cases and files you work on will include:
- Property transaction: you will sell or buy residential property
- Commercial transaction: you will sell or buy a business
- Civil Litigation: you will represent a plaintiff or defendant in a breach of contract case
You’ll choose two practice areas in which to specialise – one from each group:
Group 1: Family Law, Banking and Finance, Wills and Estate
Group 2: Criminal law, Administration law, Employment law
Through running those matters, you will develop skills in areas such as advocacy, negotiation, drafting and client interviewing – all the key skills that employers look for when hiring graduates.
You will also complete a 15-day (20-day in WA) placement in a real legal setting.
No, there are no tests or exams in the Leo Cussen PLT.
Our PLT reflects real-life legal practice. So you’ll only do tasks that lawyers would do. Instead of assessments, we provide meaningful feedback on your simulated legal tasks, and give you an opportunity to resubmit if needed. No more exam pressure!
Yes, there are pathways for international students to complete our Practical Legal Training program.
Leo Cussen has a dedicated International Student team to guide you through the process for completing the PLT and getting admitted. Assistance can be provided in areas such as:
- Visa guidance & support
- Options to complete the course online or onsite
- Quicker pathways to admission for some international students
- Support services, including referrals to migration lawyers
- Tailored career advice
- Access to flexible payment plans
- Pathways for students with law degrees from Australia or overseas
Leo Cussen is approved to provide PLT programs in the following jurisdictions:
ACT – Leo Cussen is accredited by the Legal Practitioners Admission Board of the ACT as an authorised local provider of PLT in the Australian Capital Territory.
NSW – Leo Cussen is accredited by the Legal Profession Admission Board of NSW as an authorised local provider of PLT in New South Wales.
NT – Leo Cussen’s PLT is accredited in the Northern Territory by the Legal Practitioner Admission Board as a conforming interstate program.
QLD – Leo Cussen is accredited by the Legal Practitioners Admission Board of QLD as an authorised local provider of PLT in Queensland.
SA – Leo Cussen is accredited by the Legal Profession Education and Admission Council as an local authorised provider of PLT in South Australia.
TAS – Leo Cussen’s PLT is accredited in Tasmania by the Board of Legal Education Tasmania as a conforming interstate program.
VIC – Leo Cussen is accredited by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board as an authorised local provider of PLT in Victoria.
WA – Leo Cussen is accredited by the Legal Practice Board of WA as an authorised local provider of PLT in Western Australia.
You can view the Terms and Conditions for Enrolment here.
Still got questions? You can contact us – we’re here to help!
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