Getting Opportunities and Accreditation in Canada
So you're obtaining your law degree from the University of Leicester and have made the decision to go back to Canada. The thing is, having a law degree in the UK does not mean that you have a law degree in Canada. There are some tests that you will have to take to get an equivalent law degree.
- You will have to register with the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) in your final year (do not apply any earlier than March) and arrange with the university to send your transcripts over.
- Once the NCA provides the list of remaining courses that you will need to obtain your equivalent Canadian law degree, you have two possible methods of doing it:
- You can apply to a law school in Canada to complete the remaining courses; or
- You can do self study. Self study is where the NCA provides a syllabus to you and you study at home. The tests are organized 4 times a year (January, May, August and October) and they will be pass/fail.
- Here are the tests you will mostly likely be required to take:
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2-Year LLB (Senior Status)
Graduating with a 2:2 or 2:1 or a 1st without any marks under 50% will have about 7 exams:
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3-Year LLB
Graduating with a 2:2 or 2:1 or a 1st without any marks under 50% will have about 5 exams:
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Important to Note:
- A third-class degree from the UK will result in the NCA denying your application for accreditation.
- Professional qualifications and experience will be taken into account when determining competency and post secondary education experience. In addition, the nature of the academic institution attended, academic performance, grades, and class standing obtained will be factors taken into consideration when determining competency in the above subjects.
- If you have failed or have a low mark in a private law subject (Tort, Contract, or Property) you may have to do that exam as well.
- Those who do not have 2 years of undergraduate studies at university level beforehand, (i.e. - a student who applied from High School) will most likely have to do 1-3 additional exams.
- A reference letter is not a necessity for accreditation.
- Please see the NCA website for more information.
- The NCA also has a FAQ page.
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This image shows the official grade equivalencies for Canadian students, as of March 2013. This will help potential employers get a better idea of the marks that you earned. |
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Tips for moving on to the UBC LLM program in Common Law
By: Ken Craig III, Esq.
Hi. If you are in the UK right now and want to do the UBC LLM program in Common Law after life in Leicester:
Request three reference letters for the Faculty of Graduate Studies at UBC as soon as your grades are available. Let Joanne Chung at UBC know that they are coming. Send them a resume too. The document checklist is: two official transcripts, three reference letters, and a resume/CV. No LSAT, and no personal statement required.
Make sure that Leicester has arranged to send all of the required documents to the NCA as soon as the grades are released. There is no need to wait until graduation, but they all have to (should?) be sent there together in one courier package. Decide how many NCA's you will actually write; you are going to be back in Canada for a while so you might as well do some and be able to choose courses more widely at UBC. If you got more than 7 NCA's, it will be hard (impossible?) to take all of these courses at UBC within the 30 credits of the Common Law LLM, although you can take as many courses that year as you like. (Check this with Joanne Chung or Doug Harris there.) The deadline for applications with a May start date is December 1st. Applications are made online and decisions are given by email with a letter following.
They say they are going to let in 'some' people in September and throw them right into Canadian upper year courses, and then allow them to do the accelerated first year in the following spring. Wow. This will involve getting conditional early acceptance based on your UK first year grades. If this is not the way you want to go, remember that it involves cooling your heels for 11 months between UK law school and UBC. Anticipate an indecisive Christmas waiting for UBC to make up their minds as this will not happen until January (26th in my case), and prepare for this to get really complicated as your friends enroll in the October and January NCA sittings and write multiple exams, others go into LLMs and JDs and you don't, and you wonder about whether or not the 28 grand to UBC is really worth it.
If you get the 7 NCAs that I got, I think it will look this this in terms of courses:
May - September:
September - December:
January - April:
Also, there is Professional Responsibility Law 468 (3 Credits) [I have already written the NCA exam for this]. All of these except this last course are given in your choice of semesters one or two.
Other than that: write the exams, kiss the girls, and say goodbye to the real beer.
Hi. If you are in the UK right now and want to do the UBC LLM program in Common Law after life in Leicester:
Request three reference letters for the Faculty of Graduate Studies at UBC as soon as your grades are available. Let Joanne Chung at UBC know that they are coming. Send them a resume too. The document checklist is: two official transcripts, three reference letters, and a resume/CV. No LSAT, and no personal statement required.
Make sure that Leicester has arranged to send all of the required documents to the NCA as soon as the grades are released. There is no need to wait until graduation, but they all have to (should?) be sent there together in one courier package. Decide how many NCA's you will actually write; you are going to be back in Canada for a while so you might as well do some and be able to choose courses more widely at UBC. If you got more than 7 NCA's, it will be hard (impossible?) to take all of these courses at UBC within the 30 credits of the Common Law LLM, although you can take as many courses that year as you like. (Check this with Joanne Chung or Doug Harris there.) The deadline for applications with a May start date is December 1st. Applications are made online and decisions are given by email with a letter following.
They say they are going to let in 'some' people in September and throw them right into Canadian upper year courses, and then allow them to do the accelerated first year in the following spring. Wow. This will involve getting conditional early acceptance based on your UK first year grades. If this is not the way you want to go, remember that it involves cooling your heels for 11 months between UK law school and UBC. Anticipate an indecisive Christmas waiting for UBC to make up their minds as this will not happen until January (26th in my case), and prepare for this to get really complicated as your friends enroll in the October and January NCA sittings and write multiple exams, others go into LLMs and JDs and you don't, and you wonder about whether or not the 28 grand to UBC is really worth it.
If you get the 7 NCAs that I got, I think it will look this this in terms of courses:
May - September:
- Law 505 Public Law (5 Credits)
- Law 525 Criminal Law (5 Cr) [Edit: Crim is not actually being offered in summer 2012, only Constitutional Law and Contractual Remedies from which I am exempt. The brochure said it would be offered, so it may be in the summer of 2013.]
September - December:
- Law 210 Administrative Law (3 Cr)
- Law 230 Corporate Law (4 Cr)
- Law 270 Civil Procedure (3 Cr)
January - April:
- Law 280 Evidence (4 Cr)
- Law 399 Advanced Criminal Law (2 Cr)
- Law 560 which is a paper based on a seminar or workshop course you take. I will have to see how that plays out.
- Law 260 Advanced Criminal Procedure (2 Credits) (maybe take a Graduate Seminar/Tax Law or Advanced Legal Research?)
Also, there is Professional Responsibility Law 468 (3 Credits) [I have already written the NCA exam for this]. All of these except this last course are given in your choice of semesters one or two.
Other than that: write the exams, kiss the girls, and say goodbye to the real beer.
Taking the UK Legal Practice Course to Meet NCA Requirements
By: Laleh Hedayati
University of Leicester Senior Status LLB graduate and DeMontfort University Legal Practice Course graduate.
The NCA treated my LPC as having completed 3 exams for it: they accepted it for Corporate Law, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. When I first completed my 2-year Senior Status LLB I was assessed with 7 exams:
Usually, the NCA will assess students who have the regular 3-year LLB with 4-5 exams depending on their performance and results. The four core courses: Canadian Administrative Law, Canadian Constitutional Law, Canadian Criminal Law, and Foundations of Canadian Law are always required of every graduate, and everyone has to write them regardless of whether or not they have a 2 or 3-year LLB.
The LPC was a tremendous help for me in many ways. Not only did it help to exempt me from the three non-required exams that I would have had to write, but it also gave me a practical advantage over many other people when it came to securing an articling position in Canada. I have friends who graduated with the LLB in 2011, and still haven't been able to secure a position. I was able to find one, luckily, in a really good firm within 3 months of arriving back in Canada.
The LPC is a very good practical course. Law school is very theory-based, and as important as it is, it does not train us well for the practical aspects of a career in law. The LPC was great, because it taught things that were not taught in Law school. Practical things such as Practical Legal Research, Legal Writing, Advocacy, Law Clinic, and Drafting are all so very helpful. Every course in the LPC was useful in so many ways.
In my first two months of practice I've already used my interview skills, drafting skills, research and memo writing skills, as well as appeared before an officer of the court and used my advocacy skills. I cannot tell you how much it has assisted me both in feeling more confident at work as opposed to feeling overwhelmed because I am in a new work environment, and practicing law is like learning a new language. It has also most certainly helped me get ahead of a lot of other applicants when it came to getting the job I wanted, because I could market myself better by showing my employer that I had practical experience as a result of the LPC.
If there is any advice that I can give to Canadian students studying abroad with the view of obtaining an LLB, my advice is this: The Legal Practice Course is a unique course designed to introduce students to the practical aspects of a career in law. The benefits of doing the LPC are extraordinary, as they prepare you very well for the practice of law. The courses introduce you to areas of law that you will come across no matter what specific area of law you may choose to pursue. The instructors are extremely helpful and are experts in their fields, you learn skills that you will use in your legal career on an everyday basis.
I would recommend the LPC to anyone who is interested in a legal career and even those who aren't sure whether or not they will pursue a career in legal practice. Because the LPC adds to the theoretical aspect that Law school focuses on, it is certainly a good investment for any recent law graduate that is looking to enter the workforce.
University of Leicester Senior Status LLB graduate and DeMontfort University Legal Practice Course graduate.
The NCA treated my LPC as having completed 3 exams for it: they accepted it for Corporate Law, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. When I first completed my 2-year Senior Status LLB I was assessed with 7 exams:
- Corporate Law
- Evidence
- Professional Responsibility
- Foundations of Canadian Law
- Canadian Constitutional Law
- Canadian Administrative Law
- Canadian Criminal Law and Procedure
Usually, the NCA will assess students who have the regular 3-year LLB with 4-5 exams depending on their performance and results. The four core courses: Canadian Administrative Law, Canadian Constitutional Law, Canadian Criminal Law, and Foundations of Canadian Law are always required of every graduate, and everyone has to write them regardless of whether or not they have a 2 or 3-year LLB.
The LPC was a tremendous help for me in many ways. Not only did it help to exempt me from the three non-required exams that I would have had to write, but it also gave me a practical advantage over many other people when it came to securing an articling position in Canada. I have friends who graduated with the LLB in 2011, and still haven't been able to secure a position. I was able to find one, luckily, in a really good firm within 3 months of arriving back in Canada.
The LPC is a very good practical course. Law school is very theory-based, and as important as it is, it does not train us well for the practical aspects of a career in law. The LPC was great, because it taught things that were not taught in Law school. Practical things such as Practical Legal Research, Legal Writing, Advocacy, Law Clinic, and Drafting are all so very helpful. Every course in the LPC was useful in so many ways.
In my first two months of practice I've already used my interview skills, drafting skills, research and memo writing skills, as well as appeared before an officer of the court and used my advocacy skills. I cannot tell you how much it has assisted me both in feeling more confident at work as opposed to feeling overwhelmed because I am in a new work environment, and practicing law is like learning a new language. It has also most certainly helped me get ahead of a lot of other applicants when it came to getting the job I wanted, because I could market myself better by showing my employer that I had practical experience as a result of the LPC.
If there is any advice that I can give to Canadian students studying abroad with the view of obtaining an LLB, my advice is this: The Legal Practice Course is a unique course designed to introduce students to the practical aspects of a career in law. The benefits of doing the LPC are extraordinary, as they prepare you very well for the practice of law. The courses introduce you to areas of law that you will come across no matter what specific area of law you may choose to pursue. The instructors are extremely helpful and are experts in their fields, you learn skills that you will use in your legal career on an everyday basis.
I would recommend the LPC to anyone who is interested in a legal career and even those who aren't sure whether or not they will pursue a career in legal practice. Because the LPC adds to the theoretical aspect that Law school focuses on, it is certainly a good investment for any recent law graduate that is looking to enter the workforce.