Will adcomms care that I took a "shortcut" in my career? Forum

[shadypines_ma]

Hi everyone. Longtime lurker, first time poster.

I am an American living and working in a European country (let's call it Country A). I work in a field wherein a legal qualification/being an attorney is a huge asset. However, if I were to become an attorney in Country A I'd have to start from scratch and it would take me 7 years. Since there is EU reciprocity, Country A will allow people with legal qualifications from any other EU country to work here as an attorney as long as they use their original title.

Country B's process would take me 1.5 years. I know I will be here at least another three years, so obtaining legal qualifications would be a huge benefit to my career. I also know I want to move back to the US thereafter and apply to law school. However, it's really not a secret that going through Country B to practice in Country A is a huge shortcut (so much so that thousands of people every year in Country A do this exact same process).

Will adcomms care that I take this "shortcut"?

[crazywafflez]

I can't speak for all nations nor adcomms, but if you're thinking something like a GDL in the England/Wales, you're fine. Adcomms won't really know this stuff nor care. What you do for your previous work history/ education nobody cares about (unless you failed or did something illegal etc).
Take the shortcut and work or whatever and then apply to US law schools later down the road.

[nixy]

I can’t imagine they would care. It would be one thing if you were trying to get it to count for credit at a US law school or something, but you’re not, and otherwise, no one will have a problem with you taking the path that will most benefit your career.

[shadypines_ma]

I can't speak for all nations nor adcomms, but if you're thinking something like a GDL in the England/Wales, you're fine. Adcomms won't really know this stuff nor care. What you do for your previous work history/ education nobody cares about (unless you failed or did something illegal etc).
Take the shortcut and work or whatever and then apply to US law schools later down the road.

It's exactly something like that! It's actually becoming qualified in Spain but living in Italy. Since I speak both languages fluently, I'm really tempted to go this route.

I am wondering if I would be steered towards an LLM after being a foreign-qualified lawyer, but I really want to get the JD and do the whole three years. Thoughts?

[crazywafflez]

Where do you want to practice in the US? I don't believe all states accept an LLM/LLB combo to practice (New York does though).
I'd go the JD route if you want to be somewhere that isn't NYC. But perhaps somebody with more knowledge than myself can chime in. I seriously considered doing the GDL and then LLM combo, but I'm from the heartland and wanted to return and knew it would be a tough sell with that combo.
I'd def take the JD route though if you have the scores to get into a T6+Penn or a T14 on a substantial scholarship.
A lot of this will really depend on your goals.

[nixy]

Where do you want to practice in the US? I don't believe all states accept an LLM/LLB combo to practice (New York does though).
I'd go the JD route if you want to be somewhere that isn't NYC. But perhaps somebody with more knowledge than myself can chime in. I seriously considered doing the GDL and then LLM combo, but I'm from the heartland and wanted to return and knew it would be a tough sell with that combo.
I'd def take the JD route though if you have the scores to get into a T6+Penn or a T14 on a substantial scholarship.
A lot of this will really depend on your goals.

I think this is correct, a lot of states will make you do a JD anyway, or at least, anything that your foreign qualifications didn’t cover (so I know someone with a Canadian law degree who had to do 2 years in a U.S. law school to be able to sit the bar here). The other thing is that I think Spain/Italy are going to be civil law jurisdictions, rather than common law, which may complicate things? (Most of the foreign-trained lawyers I know of doing an LLM were from common law jurisdictions.)

In any case, I can’t imagine any law school is going to have a problem with you doing the full three years just because you have a foreign one-year degree.

There are some schools that will let foreign-trained lawyers finish in 2 years by giving credit for some of your prior education - you’d still have a JD but in 2 years. You could look into that, but there are pros (finishing sooner/paying less) and cons (going through the standard OCI process on a different than normal schedule).

[shadypines_ma]

Thanks, all!

So to answer some questions:

1) I want to practice in NYC. I'm from NYC, so my goal is going back home.
2) My CAS GPA is a 3.87. I've yet to take the LSAT. I have a 160 diagnostic and took one practice test after two weeks of studying and got a 166. I've been putting off studying further because if I am enrolling in this course in Spain I'd have to do that full time + working full time. I'm (tentatively?) confident I can pull a score in the 170s with enough work.
3) You're correct--Spain and Italy are civil law, so I'd rather just do the whole JD.

Do any t14's offer the abbreviated two year JD? I would imagine not.

[nixy]

I think Northwestern (and no, I don't mean the accelerated JD program they used to have and got rid of, I mean 2 years for foreign-educated lawyers), but I'm not certain. There was someone posting about this a few years back and I remember them listing Northwestern, I think, but I haven't looked into it myself.

[stevengnehs]

Thanks, all!

So to answer some questions:

1) I want to practice in NYC. I'm from NYC, so my goal is going back home.
2) My CAS GPA is a 3.87. I've yet to take the LSAT. I have a 160 diagnostic and took one practice test after two weeks of studying and got a 166. I've been putting off studying further because if I am enrolling in this course in Spain I'd have to do that full time + working full time. I'm (tentatively?) confident I can pull a score in the 170s with enough work.
3) You're correct--Spain and Italy are civil law, so I'd rather just do the whole JD.

Do any t14's offer the abbreviated two year JD? I would imagine not.

Duke does, with a top tier Chinese college