Hi all,

Having taken the Legal Practice Course in London but never trained in a UK law firm, I have taken and passed the NY Bar exam. With this qualification, I moved to Hong Kong last year to look for work in a US law firm. However, despite my 2 years experience as a litigator (assistant) in a UK firm, all my applications had been turned down, stating the fact that although I have passed the New York Bar exam, I do not have experience in NY law, nor do I have an American JD / US LLM.

On the other hand, I speak Putonghua and I believe this is an asset to many US firms. I therefore intend to find work in a local law firm in Beijing / Shanghai, work for two years and simultaneously study the Temple University LLM in International law (in conjunction with Tsinghua U) to obtain my qualification and experience that way. I believe the program offers the chance of converting into a JD after yeaer 1. I believe my chances of finding work in a US law firm in China / HK would increase significantly after having gained experience in Chinese law as well as completing a US LLM.

What do you guys think about my approach? I have read some threads re Temple U's LLM and it does not look very promising?

Putonghua is Mandarin, isn't it?

Perhaps you may have to learn Cantonese to work in Hong Kong?

I am British Chinese and I know Cantonese fluently and I am proficient in Mandarin.

What do you think of Temple University? Are they Tier 1? How many US universities are there?

According to USNEWS ranking, Temple U. is in 1st tier, ranked 58th.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php

I cannot tell it is good or not, but, in my opinion, if your profile is good enough and have enough financial support, studying in top20 or top50 is the best way. (about 50,000 $ per year).

if it's below 50, it's no longer 1st tier, but 2nd tier

hi seems like u have done a lot of research on this. Iam a practising lawyer from India and am a bit confused wht to opt for a JD/LLM. Was wondering whther u cud tel which shcools offer chance of coverting from LLM to JD after the first yr. cheers