Hi. I'm a UK LLB graduate recently qualified as a solicitor. Currently working for a small legal aid firm just outside London. I dislike this type of work and it also doesn't pay very well. So far the law hasn't improved my standard of living, which is one of the main reasons I went into law in the first place.

Am now thinking of doing an LLM inext year (2006/07) n the US, hopefully at a top 50 law school, with a view to sitting either the New York or California bar exam and then returning to Europe to work for a US firm in the UK or Italy.

What are the chances? Is it possible to get a job at a US firm without a number of years of experience in an international law firm i.e., on the basis of one's qualifications alone?

I'm afraid I can't address most of your email but I just wondered if you were eligible to sit the NY Bar without an LLM? As an LLB graduate you should be if it was from the UK and fulltime. Cost of an LLM seems a lot to pay if you don't want to practice in the US.

ANyway, good luck