Hi,
I am a civil law graduate.
this is not common law (L.L.B) but civil law (L.L.L.).
from University of Ottawa in Canada.

Now I want to practice law in Europe or elsewhere..
Do you know in which country/jurisdiction I could practice and
what are the further studies necessary?

Concurrently, if I do have to get a common law degree (L.L.B),
do you know any institution (across world) who would let me graduate in less then the usual 3-4 years considering I have my civil law degree?

Thank you so much for your help
Marko

Dear Marko,
If you are actually qualified then I would check the regulations of the English Law Society regarding conversion to English qualification. Notwithstanding your LLL degree, you may benefit from Canada being a Commonwealth jurisdiction.

If you are not qualified then your best bet in the English system is probably to go for the GDL(Graduate Diploma in Law),the one year conversion course for law. I would check with any of the law schools who run this first whether you get any exemptions as a result of undertaking a civilian law degree.

Note the GDL does not qualify you to practice in England and Wales. You would still need to get a training contract with a firm with an office in England and subsequently undertake the one year Legal Practice Course and two years training. So in all one year GDL, one year LPC, two years training..but then you are fully qualified.

One tip if you do try this route I would recommend having a look at Canadian first and US firms second, who are based in London and offer training contracts. Hope this post is of help.

Professor Alan Riley
LLM Programme Director
City Law School
City University
Grays Inn Place
London
WC1R 5DX
Electronic Mail: alan.riley.1@city.ac.uk