Advice needed - Canadian law student interested in British firms

Hi everyone,

I'm a student in my second year at a reputable Canadian law school and I'm interested in working for an international British firm as a solicitor. From my understanding, I will have to complete a training contract and the LPC in order to be qualified, even if I am not set on working in the UK specifically.


Some background info:

In Canada, law school is a three-year second-entry program that can only be entered into with at least two years of undergraduate study (though the vast majority, including myself, have a full four-year Bachelor's degree). It's technically not a Master's program (though it's generally viewed as one), but is not a typical undergraduate program either. I have what would be translated to a first-class honours standing for my undergraduate degree, but have a lower second standing for my law degree, based on the same translation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British...al_comparisons), though I don't think that the translation is applicable to a Canadian JD program. I will be completing my studies in April 2011.


Some questions:

When should I apply for training contracts?

What are my chances of finding a TC with a big firm (including in its international offices)?

When should I apply for the LPC?

Having a foreign degree (though also from a common-law jurisdiction), are there any other requirements that I should be aware of?


Thanks for your help!

150 views and no responses? Can't anyone be a little helpful and share some advice please?!

[Del]

Hey Canuck

is 'Canuck' slang term for a Canadian national?

I do not know much about these things, have you spoken the solicitors regulation authority? Check out their website and also the law society website.


Would it be easier to qualify in Canada and then do the QLTT?

[unlikelyheroine]

You should check with the SRA here whether your law degree is a qualifying law degree for the purposes of qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales. Although it's from a common law jurisidiction, I think it's unlikely to fit the bill on its own. Off the top of my head, I would guess you would have to take some English law modules on the GDL (the conversion course) or maybe even do the whole GDL course, all depending on how the Law Society views it. I think checking your degree's status is the first thing you should do.

Del, the term is indeed slang.

Thank you for the responses, both of you. I remember looking at the SRA website, as well as a couple of PDF's from there, but couldn't find anything specific. I guess I should contact them directly.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do the entire GDL, but would only have to take a couple of courses (European Union law likely being one of them). It seems that doing the QLTT after qualifying here would be fairly quick, as I would only have to do one head of the QLTT (based on this website: One World Studies - QLTT) after qualifying as a lawyer here, which only requires one year of articling after graduation. However, my concern would be whether I would be an attractive candidate having no experience in the type of firm I wish to practice in (i.e. a large British international business firm). Maybe I should apply for some vacation schemes and hope for the best?

[Del]

I don't see why taking the QLTT would go against you, personally I would probably do that because it's far less long-winded.

I don't know whether you guys have to do the TC like us, but at the moment trying to get a TC in the UK is very hard. Would you be in a better position applying for legal jobs and qualifying in Canada?

Well I would have just thought that firms would prefer that newly qualified solicitors have had training with them, or firms of a similar nature, which would not be the case with me if I skipped that and instead wrote the QLTT immediately after I qualified in Canada. After law school in Canada we are required to do a year of articling, which is somewhat similar to a TC. These articling positions are not easy to get at the moment, but it's nowhere near as difficult as securing a TC, from my understanding.

[Del]

hm, maybe you need to contact firms directly to get their views on whether qualifying in Canada would go against you?

[fangso1145]

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