Hii.. I did my LLB from India and have been in the profession for the past 3 years. I have just applied to NYU@NUS and would like to know :

1. Does the NYU@NUS degree sell in Australia ?

2. After taking the NYU@NUS degree will I be eligible to practise in Australia ?

3. What are the requirements, considering that I have done my LLB from India and will probably do my LLM from NYU@NUS ?

please asdvise.

Thanks.

Hi there,

You might want to have a quick read on the earlier discussion board with regards to gaining admisison into Australia.

I have tried to help you the best I can from my personal knowledge:

1. Most employers in Australia only require a LLB/JD degree. Of course, there are students who finish up their basic law degree and proceed to a LLM straightaway. However, this would probably give you an edge in interviews but nothing substantial in terms of pay when you start of as a lawyer. In the broad sense, its just a paper to distinguish you from the crowd.

2. You will need to satisfy the practical and academic requirements in order to practise in Australia. Depending on which State you want to get admitted in, the procedures differ. However, the more popular states to get admitted into are Victoria and New South Wales where the LPAB will assess qualifications on an individual basis. You might want to consider getting it assessed before taking up your NYU@NUS qualification because LLBs from India might require an additional 1 to 2 years of study before you can be admitted (I am not sure on this aspect).

3. Your situation before and after doing the LLM would more or less be the same. Unless, of course, you are able to do some 'Priestley 11' subjects within the LLM which I highly doubt so.

In summary, my advice is:
1. Submit your qualifications to the relevant authorities in Australia for assessment. This will determine the amount of time you require to get admitted in Australia.
2. Talk to them about your intended studies at NYU@NUS and whether it reduces the subjects you need to get admitted (i highly doubt so though).

I will try to help if you have further queries.

Regards
Greg