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Report on sitting for the NC Bar
Posted on March 24, 2002 at 03:56:15 PM by George
Pappas
Dale
When applying for the LLM, do you know if there is there any requirement
to have any other degree other than the LLB i.e. four year pre-requisite
undergrad degree?
That’s a good question. For purposes of entering the legal profession in the
US, you are required to have both an undergraduate degree plus your J.D. Note,
the LL.B is a first degree, not a post graduate degree. In order to enter law
school in the US for a J.D., you must first have an undergraduate degree. It is
not clear what the LL.M admission rule is; however, at Widener, I had to also
evidence my pre-law degree. You should check with the admission rules for your
Specific University.
Also, did you have to wait the additional year, as Susan T will have to in
Canada, in order to get accepted, due to the delay in getting your last years'
marks of the LLB? If so, is there any way, if a person started
with the LLM application process early enough, that the law school would review
all information you could submit to date, without the final piece, and
therefore, when you did submit the final year grades, they could conceivably
make their decision in time to allow you to start that current year, instead of
waiting another full year?
No. You don’t have to wait until you finish your LL.B in order to apply. You
can be accepted by your US law school subject to completing your degree. Of
course, you must submit your undergraduate and LL.B grades earned to date in
order for the US law school to start the evaluation. Again, I doubt whether you
can be accepted into the LL.M program without an undergraduate degree – the
LL.B alone is not enough.
I have been in touch with Duke University as well as Emory University.
Each of these universities now claim to have an LLM program specifically
designed for international students, and I am seeing this more and more with
other law schools. What I found interesting is that they appear to let you take
core subjects within the LLM, which would greatly assist us in becoming familiar
with US cases, as well as differences in legal terms. They also insist on a
legal writing course as well, which I think would be a must. However, some of
them speak in terms of "foreign students who have already received their
law degrees from their mother country", and this makes me wonder what their
position may be with me.
I find it appalling that some US law schools will only permit foreign students
with the same degree to apply for their LL.M programs and not permit US citizens
to apply. That’s an equal protection 14th Amendment violation in my book.
Yes, many ABA LL.M programs are flexible enough to let you take JD courses. Some
LL.M programs are actually geared toward introducing US law to foreign law
graduates. For students who wish to practice in the US, this is a must. You must
learn US Constitutional law, US Civil Procedure, US Professional Responsibility,
and of course, US legal writing. The LL.B’s offered from England do not offer
these courses, and it is a serious omission which much be rectified. Other LL.M
programs are focused on core areas like taxation, corporate law, etc. Even in
these core LL.M areas, you must understand US constitutional law, contract,
civil procedure and legal writing.
However, some of them speak in terms of "foreign students who have already
received their law degrees from their mother country", and this makes me
wonder what their position may be with me.
LL.M applicants who are US citizens with LL.B’s from the UK are rare;
therefore, the LL.M admission rules in place with most US ABA LL.M programs are
geared toward non-US foreign law graduates. Don’t get hung up with this issue,
just apply to your school, and let them come back to you with any questions
otherwise, you will muddle the process and perhaps make more life complicated
for yourself.
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