Hello everyone,

I am a student who has just completed his (equivalent of) LL.B. and LL.M. in a civil law country of Europe. I would like to become qualified to practice law in England and Wales and have a question I would like to ask you, and I hope you could answer.

To become qualified to practice law in England and Wales, can I start the LPC and become qualified via that route because I already hold a first law degree of another country (with a civil law jurisdiction)?
Or do I, even though I have studied (civil) law for more than 4 years, still have to do the GDL first, and after that do the LPC?

I have also read about the QLTS (of the SRA). As a student with a first degree in law in my home country, can I become qualified by doing the QLTS? This would be a considerably shorter process than doing the LPC as well as the GDL-then-LPC route.
I am not sure, however, if a graduated student of a civil law country can do the QLTS, or that you need to have work experience. The SRA says you need to be a 'qualified lawyer'. What does this mean? Does it mean that I need to have obtained my first degree in law of my home jurisdiction, or that I need to be fully able to appear in court under my own responsibility. In my country we have a 'trainee' period for beginning lawyers (who just graduated), which means they have exams while they are already working as lawyers, and can only open their own office and work completely independant after completing a period of 3 years working as a lawyer under supervision of an elder.

I hope someone can advice me on both matters.

Many thanks in advance,

Best Regards,

Vermeer

Hi Vermeer,

With any luck, I can help you with this. In order to be able to continue to the LPC, you need to have completed a number of compulsory modules in UK law, including criminal law, contract, equity etc. Without those modules, you would not be able to obtain a certificate for the completion of academic study, which you would require from the Law Society of England and Wales to proceed to LPC. On that basis, I believe you will need to do the GDL in which you will complete those compulsory modules.

There may be some exception to this rule for international students that I, as an English student, am not aware of; and so I would suggest that you approach to the Law Society of England and Wales for their confirmation.

I would suggest that you could not do the QLTT unless you are qualified to practice in your own national country. I can explain what this means only by way of analogy. In England, you will complete the LPC and a two year training contract in order to become a solicitor. Once you have been admitted to the Roll of Solicitors, you are then "qualified" as it were. Same with at the English Bar, you will do BPTC and one year's pupillage before you are "qualified". You will need to have completed the equivalent process in your own national country in order to be able to transfer. In any event, you could then apply to become a solicitor and/or barrister by virtue of being a Registered Foreign Lawyer.

Again, I could be wrong on that by virtue of exceptions, so please consult the Law Society.

I hope that this helps in any event.

P x