Hi I'm an English law student. I've completed my bachelor degree in a non law subject and I'm now half way through the Graduate Diploma in Law in London. I am due to start the Legal Practice Course in september, together these will give me an LLM in law.
My goal is to practice law over in australia most probably sydney. I have already looked at the law society for New South Wales for what I would have to do to convert my English qualification. Is there any point in me doing the LPC in England when I would then have to do more studying in Aus regardless? or do I have to have at least an LLM before I can train as solicitor in Aus? I understand that as I have done a non law bachelor degree I would have to do 3 years more study on top of my UK LLM, is this right? I don't mind doing extra study in Aus but I don;t want to waste time doing uneccesary qualifications in the UK which wont put me in an any better situation when I migrate.
Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi there,

I am not really familiar with the GDL+LPC from London but I will try to help.

Basically, most UK LLB students are only required to complete Constitutional Law + Admin Law at Australia to fulfill the academic requirements. Since your qualification is a GDL, I am unsure if you would be required to complete some additional LLB subjects. With that said, I am 100% sure you do not require a LLM to train as a solicitor in Australia.

In relation to the practical requirements, I have heard that most UK practitioners will only need to complete Trust Accounting and Legal Ethics but this is the best case scenario. I have had a friend from UK who has had several years of practise being asked to complete the entire practical learning training again - but this is Queensland. I have heard that the requirements to gain admission in NSW is slightly lower.

Your best bet would be to send in your qualifications for assessment. They would then tell you what courses you require in order to gain admission. In the worst case scenario where you are required to complete a LLB/JD in Australia, your LLM and/or GDL will most likely count towards your electives, thus leaving you with only compulsory subjects to complete. Also, you might want to look into fully online practical training offered by the Australian National University Legal Workshop. This will allow you to complete them while you are in UK, saving you some time and money.

My advice would be to get your qualifications assessed to determine what academic + practical training you will need to undertake in NSW to gain admission. The latter, can be done while you are in UK.

Drop me a message or reply to this thread if you need any additional information! :) I might be inaccurate on some aspects but the overall geist should be OK.


Regards
Greg

I'll look into the idea for online learning, didnt realise that was an option. I think I will complete the LLM in full in the UK first incase I want to practice in the UK in the future. Hopefully LLB in Australia will not be necessary but I'll email NSW law soc.Thanks for all your advice it is v.appreciated!