Hey guys,
I'm currently a second year law student at Kent University (ranked 16th in the UK) and have developed a quite acute interest in practising in the USA, particularly NY, I'm well aware of the difficulties of it, just think its worth pursuing the dream :) . I've got numerous lots of work experience at UK law firms, spent a summer in the US at a 'Camp America' scheme and a few other extra curricular things to bolster my C.V. So, I'd like to know;

1. Do I need to get an LLM from a law school in the US to take the NY bar?(I simply cannot afford a J.D.)
2. I am fully aware that the job prospects are slim for foreign trained lawyers at the moment but is it eventually something I could aspire to with the right amount of experience in the US
3. Given I'm not at a tip top UK law school what are my chances of getting into a good US LLM school?

I appreciate that anyone reading this will probably have read all this before, but any help would be great!

Hey. You do not need an LLM in a US law school to take the NY Bar if you have an English LLB (don't know about other ones). A GDL is not sufficient, but that is not an issue for you. Having said that, pursuing an LLM in a top US school will boost your chances.
As for getting into a good LLM in the US, you'll stand a good chance if you get a first class and have other things on your CV, such as pro bono work.
Best of luck!

Hey, thanks for the reply!
I was looking at the LLMs and obviously financing is an issue. I mean what are my odds of a scholarship? if i couldnt get a scholarship the only legitmate NY LLm i could afford is Buffalo-which I understand is just inside tier 1.
Does it matter where I study for my LLM?
Thanks

I would think that it matters to some extent, but it all depends on your ambitions and the people you meet on the way. It is hard for me to comment on your chances of a scholarship. My only advice is, apply and see what happens. Best of luck

Orig Post: You might want to consider taking the NY bar without the LL.M. The LL.M may not really improve your employment chances, unless you go to a school heavily recruited from like Harvard, etc.

If however, you want to take an LL.M for purely personal growth/professional growth and you're sole aim for taking it isnt to gain employment in ny, I'd say go for it.

Orig Post: You might want to consider taking the NY bar without the LL.M. The LL.M may not really improve your employment chances, unless you go to a school heavily recruited from like Harvard, etc.

If however, you want to take an LL.M for purely personal growth/professional growth and you're sole aim for taking it isnt to gain employment in ny, I'd say go for it.

You dont need an LL.M to take the NY bar if you grduate with a U.K. 3 year LL.B

Oh, ok, thats useful! if the LLM won't be much help what course of action would you recommend? thanks

If 'realism' is what you want...the truth is the legal profession is fiercly competitive right now, perhaps more so here than in the UK. Judging from your original post, you seem to to have connections with U.K. firms, if you realistically expect to recieve a training contract from a decent firm, you're better off staying in the U.K. Unless you've worked on cross-border deals with these firms in the u.k., youre skills are, in truth, not transferable to U.S firms.

If youre really bent on working/living in the U.S., by all means take the LL.M or maybe some other course, but do your research first :)

Hope this helps.