INTRODUCTION
The JSI (Joint Study Institute) held its most recent meeting in Melbourne, Australia, at the University of Melbourne Law School. This was the eighth in a series of biennial JSI meetings, which commenced in Cambridge in 1998. They have been hosted by the national associations of law libraries in the jurisdictions over the years, and are now suspended. The meetings provided a forum to discuss issues of relevance for our common law jurisdictions, and to compare our systems as well. One panel discussion this year centred on the differing requirements for legal education, both for the local residents, and also for lawyers from other jurisdictions.
The members of the panel who contributed their charts for this paper were:
Associate Professor Elise Bant, University of Melbourne (Australia), together with Amy Harrington, Associate Director, External Relations Development, Melbourne Law School at University of Melbourne.
Kim Clarke, Associate Vice-provost (Libraries and Cultural Resources) for Research Support, and Director of the Bennett Jones Law Library at the University of Calgary (Canada).
Stephanie Carr, Manager of the Davis Law Library, University of Auckland (New Zealand).
Ruth Bird, Bodleian Law Librarian, University of Oxford (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).
The fifth member of our panel was Billie Jo Kaufman, Associate Dean for Library and Information Resources at the Pence Law Library, Washington College of Law, American University (USA).
The panel discussed the following requirements in the following countries:
England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. We summarised the requirements into a chart, with the exception of the United States, where the requirements vary so much between each of the 50 States. So this paper does not include the US charts, but directs interested readers to the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2013 http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files/Comp-Guide/CompGuide.pdf. This Comprehensive Guide includes a series of state by state comparative tables listing requirements in each jurisdiction. It is not possible to easily summarise this information without leading readers astray.
The JSI panel did not address the prospect of a change in the courses offered in England and Wales, even though the Legal Education Training Review (LETR) was under way, because at the time of the JSI it was not known what the outcome of the review would be. The LETR published its reportFootnote 1 on 25 June 2013.
This paper provides a collection of the charts prepared by the presenters on the Panel, with the exception of the United States, as explained above.
Legal education ranges from the 3 year undergraduate degree offered in England and Wales to the postgraduate JD which is the norm in the United States, and is being adopted in some jurisdictions in Australia and elsewhere. But the variations and requirements are far more nuanced, and for anyone seeking the detail we hope that this collection of resources will be a useful starting point. Links to official sites are included with each chart.
1. AUSTRALIA
Until recently Australia required an undergraduate degree in law which was of four years' duration. The reality was that most students chose to take a joint degree with another discipline – eg Commerce, Arts, or Science. This would result in a 5 year undergraduate degree, followed by a year of graduate training through a college or as a trainee or clerk in a law firm. Students who wished to move on to the bar would do so after completing the traineeship. Several years ago the University of Melbourne introduced a postgraduate JD of 2 to 3 years duration, and other law schools have followed this, so the legal education situation varies from one institution to another. The Australian legal system is regulated at the state level, and as such the specific requirements for admission to practice differs from state to state. Admitted lawyers are able to practice in various jurisdictions under the Mutual Recognition Principle which allows for the admission of interstate lawyers from all Australian states and territories, and New Zealand.
This chart concentrates on the State of Victoria, which is where the JSI was held.
Further reading:
Victorian Law Institute http://www.liv.asn.au/
Council of Legal Education and Board of Studies http://www.lawadmissions.vic.gov.au/
College of Law http://www.collaw.edu.au/
Leo Cussen Institute http://www.leocussen.vic.edu.au/
Melbourne Law School JD website http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/jd
Australian overview http://www.cald.asn.au/slia/legal.htm
Law council of Austraia http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au
2. CANADA
The Canadian system is similar to Australia; the provinces share the responsibility for legal education with the law schools. There is a three year LLB or JD; the LLB is often offered as a joint degree with other subjects. Canada has a fused profession, with lawyers specialising in their areas of practice, and being designated solicitor and barrister.
Further reading:
Legal Education in Canada – official Guide - http://www.lsac.org/jd/choose/canadian/legaledcanada.asp
Federation of Canadian Law Societies' Task Force on the Canadian Common Law Degree, Final Report (2009) http://www.flsc.ca/_documents/Common-Law-Degree-Report-C(1).pdf
Law Society of Upper Canada's Articling Task Force, Pathways to the Profession: A Roadmap for the Reform for Lawyer Licensing in Ontario (2012) http://www.lsuc.on.ca/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147489848
3. ENGLAND AND WALES
Legal education in England and Wales is offered at undergraduate level. There is a review underway (the LETR, cited above). Many of the larger firms offer traineeships to students from disciplines other than law (before the financial downturn this was up to 50% of offers; it is now closer to 30% of traineeships). Specialised training for solicitors and barristers is undertaken at the end of the undergraduate degree and is offered by varied providers.
Further reading:
The Bar Council http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/
Bar Standards Board (BSB) https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/
Solicitors Registration Authority (SRA) http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page
Legal Education Training Review (LETR) http://letr.org.uk/
Legal Services Board http://www.legalservicesboard.org.uk/
ILEX Professional Standards http://www.cilex.org.uk/ips/ips_home.aspx
BPP University College http://www.bpp.com/
The University of Law http://www.law.ac.uk/home/
The Law Society of England and Wales http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/
The Law Society of Scotland http://www.lawscot.org.uk/
The Law Society of Northern Ireland http://www.lawsoc-ni.org/
Faculty of Law, University of Oxford http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/
Bodleian Law Library http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
BIALL Legal Information Literacy Statement http://www.biall.org.uk/pages/biall-legal-information-literacy-statement.html
4. NEW ZEALAND
The requirement for professional post graduate qualifications in law is the undergraduate law degree, although there is a review of legal education underway in New Zealand. A barrister requires 3 years' legal experience prior to being allowed to practise.
Further reading:
New Zealand Council of Legal Education www.nzcle.org.nz
New Zealand Law Society http://www.lawsociety.org.nz/
New Zealand Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel Office) www.legislation.govt.nz
Institute of Professional Legal Studies http://www.ipls.org.nz/
College of Law http://www.collaw.ac.nz/
University of Auckland Faculty of Law http://www.law.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/
Davis Law Library http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subject-guides/law/home.htm
Peter Spiller, Jeremy Finn and Richard Boast A New Zealand Legal History (2nd ed, Brookers, Wellington, 2001).
5. SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND
Although there are similarities to the English legal education system and its requirements, there are enough differences to warrant noting them in more detail below.
Further reading:
The Law Society of Scotland – http://www.lawscot.org.uk
The Faculty of Advocates – http://www.advocates.org.uk
Law Society of Northern Ireland – http://www.lawsoc-ni.org
The Inn of Court of Northern Ireland – http://www.barlibrary.com/about-us/the-inn-of-court/
Queens University Belfast – http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/ProspectiveStudents/PostgraduateTaughtDegrees/ MastersinLegalScience/
6. UNITED STATES
As mentioned in the introduction, the variations from State to State are such that a description of US legal education would warrant an article on its own. There are several common aspects that can be summarised here. Legal education is a postgraduate undertaking. The JD is usually a three year degree taken after the completion of any undergraduate degree of interest to the student. Students must also pass the LSAT – the Law School Admission Test prior to going to law school. Postgraduate admission to the bar of one state does not entitle practise in another state. Some states do administer a multistate bar exam. The profession is fused, so there is no separate practising bar.
Further reading:
The American Bar association has a section on Legal education - http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education.html and is responsible for the standards for accreditation of US Law Schools.
International Law Student site - http://www.internationalstudent.com/study-law/legal-education-system/
CONCLUSION
Legal education requirements in the common law countries covered in the talk at the JSI vary. Some are at national level, others at state or provincial level. Reviews are being undertaken in various jurisdictions, in part as a result of the changing practise of law, and in others as a way of addressing the decline in career opportunities for law graduates. The panel were all in agreement that some form of legal research and writing training was still relevant for lawyers no matter where they were trained, and law librarians continue to have an important role in the provision of relevant training in the rapidly changing and expanding world of local and global legal research resources.
