Legal education

Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals (attorneys and judges) or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law (such as politics or academic) or unrelated (such as business entrepreneurship).

Legal education generally

Legal education encompasses both academic and vocational studies. In order to obtain a law degree, students are required to acquire an academic grounding in the legal system of their jurisdiction. In order to practice as lawyers they are sometimes also required to demonstrate that they have learned professional skills, for example advocacy and analysis. In some countries the two elements are both included with the law degree programme, while in other the vocational element of legal education is separate from and undertaken after the acquisition of an academic degree. In the United States, vocational study can be a part of a legal education, but is usually not gained until one has actually begun practicing law -- education tends to be formal, doctrinal, and theoretical.

In addition to the qualifications required to became a practising lawyer, legal education also encompasses higher degrees such as doctorates, for more advanced academic study.

In many countries other than the United States, law is an undergraduate degree. Graduates of such a program are eligible to become lawyers by passing the country's equivalent of a bar exam. In such countries, graduate programs in law enable students to embark on academic careers or become specialized in a particular area of law.

In the United States, law is a graduate degree, which students embark upon only after completing an undergraduate degree in some other field (usually a bachelor's degree), and is considered to be a graduate or professional school program. The undergraduate degree can be in any field, though most American lawyers hold bachelor's degrees in the humanities and social sciences; legal studies as an undergraduate study is available at a few institutions, like the University of Massachusetts Amherst. American law schools are usually an autonomous entity within a larger university.

Faculty of law is another name for a law school or school of law, the terms commonly used in the United States. This term is used in Canada, other Commonwealth countries and the rest of the world. It may be distinguishable from law school in the sense that a faculty is a subdivision of a university on the same rank with other faculties, i.e. faculty of medicine, faculty of graduate studies, whereas a law school or school of law may have a more autonomous status within a university, or may be totally independent of any other post-secondary educational institution.

In addition in some countries, including the United Kingdom, the final stages of vocational legal education required to qualify to practice law are carried out outside the university system. The requirements for qualification as a barrister or as a solicitor are covered in those articles. See advocate for details of the requirements for qualification as an advocate in Scotland.

United States

(The following information can also be found cross-listed at "Education of Lawyers in the United States")

The Education of Lawyers in the United States is generally undertaken through a law school program.

The professional degree granted by U.S. law schools is the Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.). Once a prospective lawyer has been awarded the J.D. (or other appropriate degree), he or she must pass a state bar examination in order to be licensed to practice as an Attorney at Law.

The Juris Doctor (J.D.), like the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), is a professional doctorate. The Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.S.D.), Doctor of Judicial Science (S.J.D.), and Doctor of Comparative Law (D.C.L.), are research and academic-based doctorate level degrees. In the U.S. the Legum Doctor (LL.D.) is only awarded as an honorary degree.

Academic degrees for non-lawyers are available at the baccalaureate and master's level. A common baccalaureate level degree is a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies (B.S.). Academic master's degrees in legal studies are available, such as the Master of Studies (M.S.), and the Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.). Such a degree is not required to enter a J.D. program.

Foreign lawyers seeking to practice in the U.S., who do not have a Juris Doctor (J.D.), often seek to obtain a Juris Master (J.M.), Master of Laws (LL.M.), Master of Comparative Law (M.C.L.), or a Master of Jurisprudence (M.J.).

Legal education in the United States normally proceeds along the following route:

Undergraduate education (usually 4 years)
Law school (usually 3 years)
Judicial clerkship (optional and uncommon (less than 10%) -- usually lasts 1 year)
Admission to the bar (usually by taking a state's bar exam)
Legal practice

Law School

A law school is an institution where prospective lawyers obtain legal degrees. In the United States, law is a graduate degree, the pursuit of which students undertake only after having completed an undergraduate degree in some other field (usually a bachelor's degree). The law school program is considered to be a graduate or professional school program. The undergraduate degree can be in any field, though most American lawyers hold bachelor's degrees in the humanities and social sciences. American law schools are usually an autonomous entity within a larger university.

In most other countries, law is an undergraduate degree and graduates of such a program are eligible to become lawyers by passing the country's equivalent of a bar exam. In such countries, graduate programs in law enable students to embark on academic careers or become specialized in a particular area of law.

In most cases the degree awarded by American law schools is the Juris Doctor, or J.D., degree. In contrast, the LL.B. degree is still the standard qualification in other common law jurisdictions, mostly in the Commonwealth of Nations. Other, higher, degrees that are awarded include the Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) and the Doctor of Juridical Science degree (J.S.D. or S.J.D.).

Once a student has graduated from law school he or she is expected to pursue admission to the bar in order to practice. Requirements for membership the bar vary across the United States.

Canada

See also List of law schools in Canada

In Canada, the situation is somewhere between that of the U.S. and the majority of the rest of the world. Law is a professional degree, and while technically most schools will allow people to apply to study law after only two years of study in an undergraduate programme in another field, the vast majority of those who are admitted have already earned at least an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.

United Kingdom

See Legal education in the United Kingdom

Australia

In Australia the situation is similar to Canada. Most reputable universities offer law as a graduate course (LLB, 3 years), undergraduate course (LLB, 4 years) or combined degree course (eg, BSc/LLB, BCom/LLB, BA/LLB, BE/LLB, 5 - 6 years). Some of these also offer a 2 year postgraduate JD program. Students in combined law would spend the first 3 years completing their first bachelor degree together with some preliminary law subjects, and then spend the last 2 years completing the law degree. Alternatively, one can finish any bachelor degree, and providing their academic results are high, apply for graduate entry into a LLB program. Notable law schools are at ANU, Monash, UNSW, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.

Japan

The Japanese legal education system is driven more by examination than by formal schooling. The profession of barristers, known as bengoshi, is highly regulated, and the passage rate for the bar exam is around three percent. Most attorneys must take the exam three or four times before passing it, and a number of specialized "cram schools" exist for prospective lawyers. After passing the bar exam, prospective lawyers undergo a one-year training period at the Legal Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan. During this period, the most capable trainees are "selected out" to become career judges; others may become prosecutors or private practitioners.

In 2004, the Japanese government passed a law allowing for the creation of three-year . The 2006 bar examination will be the first in Japanese history to require a law school degree as a prerequisite. In the past, while there has been no educational requirement, most who pass the examination have earned undergraduate degrees from "elite" Japanese universities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Waseda, Keio and Chuo.

A number of other legal professions exist in Japan, such as patent attorneys (benrishi), tax attorneys (zeirishi), scriveners, etc., entry to each of which is governed by a separate examination.

References

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