Career Advice Detail Canada

Law

Gaining Admittance to the Common Law Bar in Canada

Graduates who want to practice law in Canada and have obtained their legal training in another country are required to undergo the NCA assessment process through the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada provides the latest information regarding the NCA process directly to GradLink Canada HERE.

See also information provided to GradLink Canada by the Law Society of Upper Canada HERE.

Canadian Law Graduates from the UK

The number of tests a Canadian law graduate from the UK will need to take as part of the NCA process will depend on a number of factors, including results, qualification-type and prior experience.

As an example, students who have taken the 3 year LLB Law programme and have graduated with a 2:2, 2:1 or 1st class degree and without any modules graded under 50% (this is roughly equivalent to a C average in a Canadian university) will generally be required to take about 5 exams. These are: Foundations of Canadian Law; Canadian Criminal Law and Procedure; Canadian Constitutional Law; Principles of Canadian Administrative Law; Professional Responsibility.

However, the above is a general example, and you should always ascertain your own individual requirements by consulting the Federation of Law Societies Canada.

Working as a Lawyer

There are many fields of law that a lawyer can choose. Often, the many possibilities are divided into three categories:

1. Law in the Public Interest
Working in the public interest may involve working for a public interest group such as the African Canadian Legal Clinic, or the Women′s Legal and Education Action Fund, or doing legal aid work at a legal aid clinic, like the Metropolitan Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.

2. Private Practice
Working in private practice means that you have individual clients, which may be people or corporations. This may involve working at a big firm (over 100 lawyers) or a small law firm. Lawyers often specialize in one area of the law, for example, family law, criminal defence law, corporate law, environmental law. Some lawyers do all kinds of law in their practice.

3. Government
Working for the government means that the government itself is your client. This may involve working as a Crown Attorney prosecuting criminals or working for a ministry such as the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Labour.

Other Options
You may decide that you don′t want to practice at all. There are many ways to use your law degree and to put to use all the excellent skills you learned at law school. Did you know that many politicians have law degrees? Did you know that many CEOs of companies are lawyers? Another option is to use your law degree to teach law, either at a university or a college. Some people use their law degree to do "mediation" or "arbitration," which involves helping people settle their disputes without going to court.