Hi I would like to know if the holder of the new Melbourne JD can apply to do the UK BVC, without having to go through the GDL in the Uk. Thanx Priyanka

Any view welcome! Priyanka :-)

Hi. You need to enrol in one of the Inns first. They have really strict average score requirements for uk students, but I'm not sure about lawyers from other jurisdictions. I think you may have to do the GDL, but you could ask for exemptions. You could contact them perhaps:
http://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/about/ourcommittees/qualificationscommittee/applicationforms/

Hope that helps.
I have a similar query, except I'm not done with my degree yet. Do you have any suggestions for me(mine's the post before yours)? What's the job market like in melbourne?

Hi Priyanka,

I'd be very surprised if a Melbourne JD would get you onto the BVC because you wouldn't have any experience of English law.

I know Australian law and English law are very similar, but there are differences, particularly in the area of property. As an Australian-admitted solicitor you have to pass the QLTT to get admitted in England and Wales, and I would think there'd be some similar hurdle to getting onto the BVC.

Hi. Thanx for your reply.
Hmm, but the QLTT is just a 2-3 days' test that foreign lawyers have to pass before becoming directly eligible English solicitors.
The BVC, on the other hand, is a one-year course which has to be undertaken before becoming eligible to practise as English barrister. In the light of this, do you still believe that I'll need to undertake another "similar hurdle" in order to become eligilble for the BVC, despite holding an australian qualifying law degree (3 years of studies on top of a 4-year bachelor)?

If this is true, then it can be concluded that it is far easier to gain admittance as English solicitor since the QLTT is only a test.

The QLTT requires not only the test, which is supposedly pretty straight forward, but at least two years of PQE, at least one of which must have been in England and Wales, so there's a little more to it than just the test itself.

In any case, I suggest you contact the College of Law: http://www.college-of-law.co.uk - they're the ones that offer the BVC, so they're the ones who are most likely to be able to advise you. Remember that the BVC does not guarantee you a job as a barrister either - it's pretty competitive by all accounts...

Let us know how you get on!

Hi. Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, I am afraid you have got it wrong concerning experience. Please check it on the SRA at: http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/qltt/apply/qltt-experience.page

Here is their extract:


Anyway, thanx to post any update if you can. :-) Priyanka

Fair enough, but call them to double check.

It was my impression, from speaking personally with the College of Law late last year, and from talking with a close friend who works in HR at Clifford Chance that the requirements were changing or had recently changed so that you had to spend at least a year working in English law - obviously that could mean working for a UK law firm in an overseas office, but you'd have to pick up English law experience nonetheless.

Anyway, I'll be curious to hear how you go with the BVC. What about if you qualify as a barrister in Oz - is there a way to get admitted as a barrister in the UK that way?

Im not yet sure, but I think I will be eligible for a "Bar transfer test". I read this somewhere and need to confirm it with the Bar Council. You know something about it?
Cheerz
Priyanka.