Does anyone know how a graduate entry LLB + BVC (and called to the bar) is viewed by the New York Bar? I know a GDL + BVC is not enough for them without an LLB; yet a graduate entry LLB being only 2 years does not meet their duration requirement. However, with the BVC one is qualified to practice in England which seems to meet their other rule.

Alternatively, is there anyone here who is a barrister (with LLB or otherwise prior to the BVC) that knows which states allow you to sit in that case?

I am trying to decide between changing my 3 year graduate LLB over to 4 years to meet NY requirements or just wrapping the 3 year next year and doing the one year BVC instead.

Actually, the BVC in itself does not qualify you to practise as a Barrister in England & Wales. Even though you are usually called to the Bar upon having passed the BVC and before you start pupillage, you do not obtain your practising certificate (which gives you full rights of audience and allows you to practise independently as a Barrister) from the Bar Council until you have completed pupillage. As a matter of fact, to hold yourself out as Barrister in the context of the provision of legal services before you have obtained this practising certificate would amount to serious professional misconduct. (Note that this is the current position; if you start the BVC in 2008 or later, you will not be called to the Bar unless you have completed both the BVC and pupillage.)

Yes, I agree. It is unclear though how the NY Bar views this: is a 'call to the bar' enough? I asked someone at the bar council this and they said normally a BVC + LLB is enough for the NY Bar, but a BVC + GDL is not. They were however unclear regarding a graduate LLB + BVC (it IS an LLB but duration is not met). As for your terminology apparently you can use the barrister title when called but CANNOT imply you can give legal services (non-practising barrister). I looked in to this too - this is apparently what many commonwealth students do right now, they do the BVC, get called, and then go home to their home country and practice or take additional training if needed.

The long and short of it is it looks like I have to either extend the LLB for another year - or do the BVC for 1 year +, maybe, a pupillage too - no easy task as getting a pupillage is hard and I would never work for that kind of money anyway. (Some only pay 10K with the max I have found at 40K, and those have about 1% acceptance rates!!!) I make about 75K right now in finance here in the city so if I had to do a pupillage too I guess my only option is an extra LLB year - a shame as I think the BVC would be more interesting, especially with the 2 year weekend programme they now have which allows people to keep working.

Since the bar of england has now thrown out def. of call for 2008, when you complete the BVC you are now called to the Bar.

Does anyone know if an LLB (2 year therefore does not meet durational req of NY Bar) + BVC and call to bar is enough for NY Bar? Or does one also need pupillage also?

I need to decide this summer as I can shift to the 3 year regular LLB but Id rather do accelerated LLB + BVC as would learn more and it is only an extra year of school, but want to qualify in NY eventually.

As far as i am aware, unless the rules have been changed recently, a 3 year LLB meets the JD equivelent educational level required to sit for the NY bar.

I know that in some states in order to be eligible to sit for their bar exam an LLB graduate from say the UK would need to have been practising law for at least 5 years.

Doing the BVC + pupillage in the UK entitles an individual to have rights of audience and to practise law in any court in the UK. The BVC alone is merely a vocational qualification but necessary to practise at the bar.

It seems therefore that if one wishes to practise law in the USA options for being eligible to take bar exams in the USA are available with only a 3 year LLB (as a qualifying law degree or QLD i.e. recognised by the bar council and law society). However, the contentious point appears to be whether an individual who successfully passes a USA bar exam will have any luck securing employment against the competitive JD graduates.

Rumour has it that USA firms are reluctant or express preference toward JD graduates rather than foreign educated lawyers. It is not unheard of for foriegn educated lawyers to find their place in a USA firm but in my, not so extensive, research this seem to be typically in commerical firms who operate internationally.

The position regarding say criminal and human rights lawyers appears to be more tenuous and i am not aware of any great number of law firms specialising in these areas or for that matter who take on foreign educated lawyers.

As your question relates specifically to the NY bar...if you are in any doubt call them. For my part i understand that a 3 year LLB suffices to be eligible to sit for the bar.

Being called to the bar appears to bear little significance without actual law practise behind you.

My position is similar...I have a 3 year LLB and intend to practise in the USA after completition of a masters degree in the UK. However, though i may be eligible to sit for the bar exams in both NY and California I am finding it difficult to gauge what my employment prospects are like particulary since i am interested in international human rights and criminal law. moreover i want litigation experience and am therefore not completley happy with with the idea of working for an NGO.

I am sure there are lawyers in the USA who specialise in the practise of my aforementioned areas of interest. If you have any ideas about how they realise their practises do let me know.

Hope this has been of some help.

You make good points. I should be more clear, I am near completion of a 3 year part time LLB, which is the same as a 2 year accelerated degree. This does not meet the durational requirement. My option is to switch the the 4 year part time which DOES qualify for NY Bar as many students as my school have sat for it out of that program. (I attend Birkbeck and work full time at a financial firm in the UK) The downside of this is the degree is exactly the same - essentially I would be forced to take another year of LLB courses to have exactly the same line on my resume. Working in the UK a law degree in general looks good on your resume - I already have an MBA in finance and want NY bar qualification because I do a lot of work with an Mergers / Transaction focus as well as transfer pricing and the NY bar is a good qualification to have in London due to international focus. I know a few people (ex pat americans) that went this route and had little trouble transfering as lawyers to the NYC office after a couple of years in London; one actually shifted to a magic circle (clifford chance) due to the NY bar and lots of good experience.

One thing to remember, your past experience is also important. My firm has a number of LLBs and JDs and MBAs from various schools but other than entry level work your financial experience etc is more important - the degrees are just white collar union cards really. One ex pat I know in particular is proud of himself as he did an English LLB at westminster (NOT a great school by any means) but had good financial experience, passed the NY Bar and now works at a big law firm in NY which typically only recruits from top US firms. Dont underestimate the value of your international experience, it will set you apart more than you think.

Good luck.