Hi everyone,
I am a 2nd year LL.B. candidate at the University of the West Indies, in the Caribbean (Barbados to be exact) and my career plan is to become a Corporate Lawyer in the United States. I have a B.Sc. International Relations and Economics (First Class Honours) and I was wondering if pursuing the LLM is a good idea. Or should i try to get into doing the Bar exams before I consider doing a LL.M.

I will complete my law degreein 2010 ( May) and I do not want to go to take the Bar in the Caribbean. Can I leave in May 2010 and get accepted to a school to sit the Bar in NY right after.

Does anyone know of the process? Can anyone tell me what to do.

I would really appreciate any information given to me.

Hya,

Whilst doing an LLM can only help your career, making you more marketable to say the least, it is not strictly necesssary. Upon completing the LLB at UWI, you will be prima facie eligible to take the NY Bar Examination in February or July of a given year.

Personally, I think that you should, immediately, after obtaining your LLB, sit the NY Bar Exam. There are a number of companies that provide a preparatory course - with Barbri, the largest of them all. Pieper and Reed Law Group also provide the preparatory course. I do not know if there is a subsidiary group or affiliate in your home country but you can undouubtedly buy the barbri books from ebay - likewise audible dvds etc...

I would do the LLM later. Lets say after you have passed the NY Bar (which you will do), you got a job on Wall Street, you may then decide to do an LLM in a speialised area: Dispute Resolution or Corporate Finance - but to name two!!!

Brother, if you do the LL.M later you may struggle to get into a top school. A few years ago, schools like Michigan, Yale and Harvard had to reach settlements on their warped policy relating to llm applicants already with US bar admissions. The suspicion is that they still retain a hostile unofficial policy on the matter.

Brother, I thank Him for His glory.

Hya!
I appreciate your point but you ought to remember that it is primarily the Law School from which you obtain your LLB or JD that an employer gives more weight. I am not saying that one should not consider the reputation of a Law School for an LLM but you'll find that some of the elite schools may not offer a specialised LLM to suit ones need. In NYC, for example, St Johns is the only Law School to offer an LLM in Bankruptcy and surely, it is not in the same league insofar as reputation as Yale, Harvard and Michigan.

Another point to remember is that, once you have passed the NY Bar, you would have eliminated the possibility of a future employer considering you a risk of failing the NY Bar, thus, making you a bit more marketable, following this episode - you can then do the LLM in a specialized area.

''...I appreciate your point but you ought to remember that it is primarily the Law School from which you obtain your LLB or JD that an employer gives more weight..''

Friend, it is extremely difficult for US law firms to hire entry-level lawyers without a US JD. Aside from immigration issues (which by the way the LL.M eases through the additional year for training - which the firm can then utilize to apply for H-1B), a foreign law degree usually does not provide an appropriate yardstick for gauging the extent of a candidate's capability against that of competing US JD graduates (this is the key point in the debate - irrespective of the degree classification or reputation of the foreign university).

A US LL.M goes a long way in providing a standard for recruitment - although, to a large extent US JD candidates still do not compete with LL.M candidates simply because the latter only spend a year in US law schools and they are also usually foreigners (with the large exception of tax specialists) with immigration and language barriers (to the appropriate extent needed for litigation - excluding largely those from commonwealth countries). In any event, the recruitment scheduling for JDs and LL.Ms heavily shows that they're not competitors. From this you can see that a foreign JD holder is even way behind on the queue in terms of recruitment because there's practically nothing from a US perspective to measure the candidate against others.

I think it is a well-known secret that you usually need a US LL.M to get a chance of a ''look-in'' by US big law firms. My point is should this be your goal (as the OP proclaims), you need to get one from a top school (unless you're a tax specialist or maybe a bankruptcy guy - which everyone is in this climate!) to stand a good chance of fulfilling that goal, and should you sit the bar before applying for an LL.M in the US, you may not get admission into some of the top school because of their warped admission policy over candidates already admitted by a US State bar - unless He shows His face unto you and elevates your candidacy.

We thank Him for His mercy, kindness and protection.

''
...I think it is a well-known secret that you usually need a US LL.M to get a chance of a ''look-in'' by US big law firms.