Hey wisey. I'm not hugely knowledgeable about this but I'll give it a shot.
First of all you need to know that there are two different types of lawyer in the UK. Solicitors deal more with civil cases and prepare cases which will be taken by barristers in the upper courts. If you want to divorce your husband or buy a house, you see a solicitor. Barristers work in the higher courts and are more likely to do big criminal cases. If you murder your husband or burn down a house, you'll need a barrister.
You can do a Bachelor's degree in law which starts you on the path to becoming a solicitor or barrister. However, if your first degree is not in law you can do a so called 'conversion course' rather than having to do a whole degree. This probably applies to you. So, you would have to do a Common Professional Examination (CPE), a senior status law degree or a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). It costs up to about £5,500 to do one of these (and it may very well cost much more if you're not a UK student, but I'm not sure how much). After this I think you usually start an apprenticeship or pupillage, then you have to do a bar exam if you want to be a barrister. http://www.lcan.org.uk explains all this in much more detail.
First of all you need to know that there are two different types of lawyer in the UK. Solicitors deal more with civil cases and prepare cases which will be taken by barristers in the upper courts. If you want to divorce your husband or buy a house, you see a solicitor. Barristers work in the higher courts and are more likely to do big criminal cases. If you murder your husband or burn down a house, you'll need a barrister.
You can do a Bachelor's degree in law which starts you on the path to becoming a solicitor or barrister. However, if your first degree is not in law you can do a so called 'conversion course' rather than having to do a whole degree. This probably applies to you. So, you would have to do a Common Professional Examination (CPE), a senior status law degree or a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). It costs up to about £5,500 to do one of these (and it may very well cost much more if you're not a UK student, but I'm not sure how much). After this I think you usually start an apprenticeship or pupillage, then you have to do a bar exam if you want to be a barrister. http://www.lcan.org.uk explains all this in much more detail.
I'm not sure about the good places for law but the Law Society lists the course providers http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/becomingasolicitor/qualifying/legalpracticecourse/courseproviders.law.
There are only abut 30 of the conversion courses so I think they're probably all much of a muchness.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Lxxxxxx
Reply
Leave a comment