Fairly strange application situation Forum

[jackson724]

Hi everybody, so this is a pretty weird one for you.

Basically here's my situation: I'm an American college graduate (BA Political Science - unique, I know) but I'm currently in my first year of an accelerated 2 year LLB (English law degree) in the UK. When I was an undergrad, I did a semester abroad and really liked it here and for a variety of reasons I was so sure that I could see myself having a life here, practicing law here, etc. But now, I'm rethinking this and have come to the conclusion that I'd like to get my JD after all so that I can practice in the US (Texas specifically, as I have connections to the legal market there) and be closer to my family.

My undergrad GPA was not stellar (~3.3) and the first and only time I took the LSAT was not a good enough result to really make up for it (158). As for my grades now, exams haven't happened yet so nothing is set in stone but if January exams were any indicator I'd say I'm around the top 20% of my class.

Ideally, I'd like to apply to the University of Texas and to the University of Houston and I really want to get scholarships as I already have quite a bit of debt from undergrad, so I know my LSAT will need to come up. The earliest I could apply is for the next cycle, which would mean I would already have a law degree, albeit an LLB instead of a JD, by the time I started law school. So yes, this is the strange situation I find myself in.

Anyway, my questions for you are these: Should I even bother applying or will the whole LLB thing put them off? If I should apply, should I retake the LSAT (and possibly take a year off to study for it)?

Thanks in advance for your help and please let me know if there's any more information I should provide.

[Jchance]

I doubt anyone here would know, you are better off contacting their Admission office, they'll have a better answer for u.

[apples89]

I actually spoke to someone from U of Edinburgh about how law transfers work. IIRC, the law degree in the UK is a 4 yr program similar to undergrad over in the US, and she said that some states will accept that as enough to take the bar (I believe she used NY as an example). Other states you apply for the LLM programs and that will be sufficient. And of course, some other states don't see the UK degree as legitimate at all and you need to start over.

Don't quote me on this, but this is what a representative from U of Edinburgh told me at a graduate fair. You should also probably seek out the help from admissions and state bars to make sure.

edit: minor correction on NY

[SPerez]

Don't worry about the LLB being a negative. I'd figure most places will see it as an interesting addition like a prolonged study abroad. I don't do LLM work, but I was pretty sure that a mere LLB alone is not enough to take the bar in any US state. I could see it as possible IF the person also was already licensed in the UK and had a certain number of years of practice.

Some states would allow you to sit for the bar with a US LLM, which would be just 1 year, making that possibly a faster, cheaper option than a JD. (Whether that would be a "better" option, I have no idea.) I believe New York and California are such states.

Unfortunately, Texas isn't one of those states. I'm told they require you to have actively practiced law for 5 out of the previous 7 years. (Check out the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Exam Requirements for a list of states that allow LLMs to take it straight-away.)

Dean Perez

[NapoleonXV]

I doubt this would be a problem. I know quite a bit of Chinese applicants doing LLB in China and then JD in US.

[jackson724]

Don't worry about the LLB being a negative. I'd figure most places will see it as an interesting addition like a prolonged study abroad. I don't do LLM work, but I was pretty sure that a mere LLB alone is not enough to take the bar in any US state. I could see it as possible IF the person also was already licensed in the UK and had a certain number of years of practice.

Some states would allow you to sit for the bar with a US LLM, which would be just 1 year, making that possibly a faster, cheaper option than a JD. (Whether that would be a "better" option, I have no idea.) I believe New York and California are such states.

Unfortunately, Texas isn't one of those states. I'm told they require you to have actively practiced law for 5 out of the previous 7 years. (Check out the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Exam Requirements for a list of states that allow LLMs to take it straight-away.)

Dean Perez

Thanks so much for your reply. The LLM definitely looks like a good option so I'll look into that. I really appreciate the response, thanks again!