Hello, I'm a Singaporean and am going to complete the University of London's External LLB in a few months time, and am thinking of going over to UK or to the US to 'complete' my degree. (since Singapore doesn't recognize external degrees to be eligible for bar admission) Any idea how the 'good' us/uk universities look at the UOL external llb? Also, since i already have the external llb and technically am going to re-do the course, do the UK universities allow this? thanks!
I suppose the main question is what is your ultimate goal. If it is to practice law in England then you already have a law degree and I would suggest just going on to do the LPC. If your goal is to practice law in the US then I'm not sure, you might want to look at LLM programs, but given that the each state sets its own admission requirements it really depends on which state you are looking at. I believe that a LLB + LLM without being licensed in a foreign jurisdiction does not work that well for bar admission any longer, but this is something you are better off not taking my word for. If your goal is to practice law in Singapore then I guess the question is why go to school overseas, but if you must for whatever reason make sure the degree you get will fufill your needs in terms of your ultimate goal. I don't know how US universities look at the external LLB. As far as I understand it is well respeced by English universities.
There is another US option, I think a few states still offer an apprenticeship option. Since you will hold a law degree from ,I assume, a GAAP school you might qualify for such a program. But I'm not an expert on this as Dr. Bear.
oh thanks alot! btw, how are the employment prospects for a fresh foreigner uol external grad in the uk or in the us? much appreciated as always!
I would say not very good for the USA (unless you graduate from a prestigious law school or have good connections). I have friends who obtained a JD degree and passed the bar exam in California. One started a patent law company and is doing very well (his first degree is an engineering degree). The others could not find a job with a law firm, one started his own business and it took about 5 years before he had a stable income. The others went back into aerospace, two as engineers and one as a buyer. Apparently a high percentage of law graduates end up working for low salaries in insurance companies or in government.
The job market is terrible for lawyers in the USA. Big firms have laid off many attorneys. Some small firms have gone under. I know of one job recently paying about $50K USD. The prospective employer told me that he stopped counting the applications when he got to 250, that they just kept rolling in. Scary. I have no idea what the job market is in the UK. But this recession is world-wide, so it may not be rosy there either. If you have a particularly rare and needed specialty, or a book of portable business (clients and the money they bring), then job prospects are considerably better.
In England there are perpetually more law graduates than training contracts available, or at least that's the common wisdom. Having said that I think that a determined individual with good qualifications will generally manage to get a training contract somewhere. It might not be at the money you want, and it might not be in the locale you want, but I think flexible candidates usually find something.
In Singapore, there is very few lawyers in proportion to population. I think a career in law in Singapore would be great. But you will need to check out of the list of universities that are approved. I think it is best to check with the Law Society in Singapore.
