International Law (tilda n co. read! ;))

[Bugz]

I'm hoping to go into law at Uni (I know it's 2 years away but meh) and I'm wondering about how it works in terms of international law.

My aim was to go to uni in England and gain all the qualifications - work here for a while and then continue work in America/New Zealand under American/New Zealand law. Is this possible/feasiable? I don't really want to be moving to America principly to go to Uni.

Do unis in England offer worthwhile International Law or is it possible to study for a certain country so to speak at Uni?

Thanks.

edit - I intend to ask the helpful guy who gives info on uni/a-levels etc. but his not in school for a while yet & i'd like to get a slight indication now-ish.

 

[Succi]

Browse the uni websites and look at the course prospectus to see if they offer that course

 

[psyco]

doesn't a law degree take like 10 years?

 

[Congax]

doesn't a law degree take like 10 years?

Takes five years in Belgium, I think. I doubt that it takes double the time in England.

(altho, you brits are pretty stupid )

 

[Bugz]

Browse the uni websites and look at the course prospectus to see if they offer that course

The unis offer international law but from what i can see they just focus on international situations rather than actual laws.

@Pysco - takes 3 years if you're a clever & dedicated cloggs i do believe.

 

[tris-]

all i can offer is that you can specialise in european law, to the best of my knowledge.

for my self, european law is being forced upon me.

i havent seen a course here that teaches the law of another country, but to be fair i havent looked either.

 

[Roalith]

From what I know, certainly civil law differs wildly between the UK and US. I imagine the same applies to criminal law. Having a UK law degree might give you a leg up in practice within another country as a law secretary of some form, but I'd say you'd be going back to square 0 in terms of actual level of knowledge.

 

[psyco]

@Pysco - takes 3 years if you're a clever & dedicated cloggs i do believe.

well... i meen the transition between collage and a job in a firm(cause you have to train VERY specifically, and work as a secretary for ages)

 

[Ormorof]

3 years for a law degree then an extra X amount of years depending on what you want to do with it right?

 

[Lamp]

I have a law degree (LLB) and a postgraduate diploma in Legal Practice. The degree takes 3 years, the postgrad 1 year.

Why do you want to do International Law ?

 

[Bugz]

I have a law degree (LLB) and a postgraduate diploma in Legal Practice. The degree takes 3 years, the postgrad 1 year.

Why do you want to do International Law ?

I'm interested in moving and discovering other parts of the world - the US being one of the places I could see - I figured having a law degree to suit this would be useful.

However, i'm thinking it may be better to stick it out in England and try to develp into a barrister / judge after serving enough time as a solicitor.

 

[Lamp]

In my honest opinion, a business degree will make you much more marketable. Alternatively, do the International Law degree, say in France or Belgium, and then do a MBA in International Finance. The MBA will set you back at least $100,000 for an Ivy League place in the US, and probably half that if you go to the London School of Economics.

To become a solicitor the classic route is a law degree, the Legal Practice Course, followed by 2 years of articles.

To become a barrister, again its a law degree, Bar Finals, then Chambers. Takes longer, and if you're REALLY good, you'll be a millionaire by 40

To become a judge, you typically need to have been in the Bar for 15+ years, be of impeccable standing (no criminal convictions), married, etc etc. VERY very hard to become a judge. Take years. And you don't automatically get to be one. The selection process is extremely rigid.

Check out the Law Society's web site for starters. Good Luck !!

 

[Bugz]

In my honest opinion, a business degree will make you much more marketable. Alternatively, do the International Law degree, say in France or Belgium, and then do a MBA in International Finance. The MBA will set you back at least $100,000 for an Ivy League place in the US, and probably half that if you go to the London School of Economics.

To become a solicitor the classic route is a law degree, the Legal Practice Course, followed by 2 years of articles.

To become a barrister, again its a law degree, Bar Finals, then Chambers. Takes longer, and if you're REALLY good, you'll be a millionaire by 40

To become a judge, you typically need to have been in the Bar for 15+ years, be of impeccable standing (no criminal convictions), married, etc etc. VERY very hard to become a judge. Take years. And you don't automatically get to be one. The selection process is extremely rigid.

Check out the Law Society's web site for starters. Good Luck !!

Well what I'm after is a somewhat interesting job, a secure job and defiently a competitive salary (i.e somewhat like 50k+ - hopefully stepping into 100k+).

The job doesn't bother me much but i'd rather it was law/economics/business as these are what i'm interested in.

I've dabbled on the Connexions website given to me but the salaries don't seem to be wholy accurate & of-course they're very situational.

 

[Lamp]

I work in an investment bank and earn a fantastic salary. But the hours can be long

 

[Bugz]

I work in an investment bank and earn a fantastic salary. But the hours can be long

It's certainly something to consider & it would seem a waste to not use the higher maths avalible to me =/

I think I need to re-see this connexions guy and discuss my options a lot more.

edit - changed your quote

 

[psyco]

what do a lawyer and sperm have in common?

 

[Tilda]

Bugz, most UK uni's will offer you an LLB, this is the standard law degree, you will most probably have to do some sort of EU law in this (by EU, I mean the law relating to the European Union, and not the laws of the individual member states).
At Southampton, you can opt to do a year abroad in Singapore, france, belgium, germany etc etc, although for some you have to speak the language. I guess that for some other unis this is similar. You gain then, an LLB with International Studies or something like that. However I dont think it would qualify you to work in the US.

Some things to think about.

The main US firms have offices in london and will accept UK applicants, although often these are post qualification only.
London is probably the legal capital of the world, in that, a huge number of companies and law firms center their dealings on london.
If you want to travel, most, if not all top 10 law firms have international offices and offer secondments etc there.

NZ is similar to the US, although it runs basically on the UK system, the wages paid are significantly lower than in the UK, and the calibre of work lower.

One route for barrister which has more security etc is to do your LPC (legal practice course) and then become a solicitor for a few years, so you pay off your debts, buy a house, save some cash, and then do your BVC (Bar vocational course) which is potentially faster and less stressful than comming out of uni into an area where the competition is huge and you have the potential to be £40,000 in debt before you start earning.

If you're certain you want to go into law, one other option is this. I'll say this about it first, its not for everybody, you have to be a strong charachter and bright to pull it off.
Law firms demand generally a 2:1 or 1st degree to get a training contract. Law is a hard degree. Its easy to get a 2:1 in something like business or geography. So the route is, get plenty of work experience in law, so you know you want to do it, do an easy degree, get a high 2:1 or a first. Do the GDL (Graduate diploma in law (its a conversion course that takes you an extra year and effectivley teaches you the vital bits of a law degree in 1 year)) then do the LPC and get a training contract without having to work so hard at uni. However, from what I've seen of people who have done this route, they either struggle as just decided on law having left uni, or are really good, often have family members in law and breeze through.

I hope this helps bugz, if not, feel free to pm me, ask here, or I can send you my msn.

Tild

 

[Succi]

business isnt easy fyi

 

[Garaen]

Only do Law if you want to be a lawyer or legal adviser etc (don't take it because it sounds fun and you don't know what you want to do after Uni), and only do it if you can get into a decent Uni (imo!). There are quite a few people who take the course and think they're going to finish and become a top lawyer for a firm and earn a massive salary. It's a pretty mickey mouse course in the low ranked Unis imo; people take it because they can't think of anything else to do.

 

[Lamp]

You don't need to be super intelligent to do a law degree, but its not a soft option. Its hard. You need to put a LOT of work into it. The Legal Practice Course is even more intense. For that, I was studing 7 days a week, for at least 12 hours a day.

 

[Iceforge]

While I do not know if you can be graduated in American/New Zealand law while being in the UK or anywhere in EU for that matter, I highly doubt that you are the only one who has ever wanted to make that change, hence it would be surprising if there is not a course aviable for those who want to learn the differences, like a 6 months further training that explains the differences.

 

[Asha]

are you talking about practicing international law in the USA or practicing USA law in the USA...?