PeteJJ

Hi

Me and my partner are looking to move to Canada, she is just finishing her training contract in the UK, what does she need to do so she can practice law in Canada? How long will it take and how much does it cost?

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

Pete

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

Can you clarify, do you mean from a visa point of view, or just from a getting licensed point of view?

If the latter, then a quick search will give you some relevant threads that hopefully have some info in, such as this one - http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...canada-893307/

And our resident lawyers will no doubt be along to help later.

Good luck with it all.

Reeders

A UK lawyer cannot work in Canada as a lawyer, only a licensed Canadian lawyer can. To become a licensed lawyer in Canada you must pass the Licensing exam for the province in which you intend to practice. Pretty simple really.

So taking Ontario as an example, start reading here:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=ontar...hrome&ie=UTF-8

Here is an interesting article as well:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...article534984/

dbd33

More than you ever wanted to know:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/maple...-exams-744173/

Almost Canadian

This ^^^

Once she has obtained her Certificate of Equivalency from the NCA, she will then need to article in whatever Province she wishes to practice. I am in Alberta. In Alberta one completes the "Bar Exam" (known as CPLED) during one's articles. It cannot be taken without articles. Other Provinces may be different and you will need to look at each Law Society's website to determine what their requirements are. I believe that, in Ontario (Law Society of Upper Canada) the bar exam is written prior to articles (a bit like the LPC and training contract).

I finished my articles 2 years after I had started the Application with the NCA. If I could provide her with one piece of advice, it would be to apply to the NCA while she is in the UK and write the exams in the UK. That way, when she arrives in Canada, she will be in the same position as a Canadian law graduate, with the exception that most Canadian lawyers will have no idea what her law degree actually means. By that I mean that, while they will know what an LL.B. is, they will have no idea what a first, 2:1, 2:2, etc. is and will need to see her transcripts which will almost certainly disappoint them as Canadian LL.B.s are marked out of 100% and so a good mark is 85% plus. As she is likely aware, such a mark is almost impossible to achieve in the UK.

As for the cost: she will need to write whatever exams the NCA dictate. When I went through it, IIRC the exams were in the region of $450 each. The books are very expensive and this is all I used. At the time, Alberta's universities did not allow NCA students to pay to attend classes. Other universities do, so she may wish to attend classes.

If she coped with the LPC, she has nothing to fear from the NCA's exams.

Vulcanoid

Don't (broadly) disagree with any of this, but to clarify/expand some; she will be rare as a young lawyer in Canada with an LLB, (almost?) every English-speaking university switched to issuing JD (Juris Doctor) degrees in the last ten years to reflect that it's a second-entry professional degree. Canadian graduates are finding it increasingly hard to find articles, as new schools open and existing classes expand sizes, and for foreign graduates it's harder. None of this means she can't become a qualified lawyer, plenty of people do it every year, but it does mean things are stacked against her. Often, British/Australian law degrees are seen as being done by Canadians who couldn't get into Canadian schools, so she may have that additional stigma to overcome until she explains she had no Canadian connections at the time.

And University of Alberta certainly takes NCA students now - to the extent that JD students complain their NCA counterparts are a cash cow, to their detriment.

GermanytoCanada

My wife is a UK qualified lawyer with approx 18 months PQE. She has just finished her NCA exams in April. Luckily, she only had to sit the five compulsory exams and no more. It took her 10 months in total to complete whilst working full time.

It has cost us about €3500-4000 to do including exams, external exam fees (to sit them in London), books etc so not cheap but hopefully worth it. Travel costs were on top of this.

She is now looking for articles - they recruit about a year in advance and each province has different deadlines so worth checking it all out early.

The good news is that being a foreign qualified lawyer with the 3 years (inc TC) experience gets you lots of Express Entry points so at the current points level, you should have no problems being selected for PR.

If she does decide to do this, I can recommend the University of Toronto book shop for the texts. They shipped 8 big books to Germany for €75, saving a few €100 over what the publishers had each quoted.

Good luck and feel free to PM if you have any questions.

Almost Canadian

I sincerely doubt that there will be many hiring on behalf of law firms that don't know what an LL.B. is.

I agree with the highlighted text above. I had practised in England for 10 years before I relocated to Calgary. At an interview with the partners at a "top tier" Canadian law firm, I was actually asked by one of the partners if I had attended law school in England simply because I wasn't good enough to be accepted into a Canadian law school. He didn't believe me when I responded that, as someone living in England, that intended to practice in England, attending a university in England appeared to me to be the sensible thing to do. I left the interview about 5 minutes later.

For some reason, the Canadians that attend law school in the UK seem to chose Cardiff. I had a discussion once with a Judge in Calgary. He believes that he is the reason why. His father was Welsh and they relocated to Canada when the Judge was a youngster. It was suggested to him that he should go to Cardiff and reconnect with his roots. He loved it and told everyone upon his return how great the experience was.

macadian

The ability to obtain thousands of dollars in compensation for some one who was the victim of their own stupidity!

Vulcanoid

I never suggested people wouldn't know what it was. The point is, it will be different, where almost every other applicant for any given role will have a JD. Sometimes, being different is good, helping you stand out. This isn't really one of those times.

rawsalad

My wife is a UK barrister though she has never been able to practice as a barrister. She presently runs her own office under the OISC licence.

I was thinking of how she could practice law in Canada. He has her CoPR now and intends to land in April, so no time for qualifying in the UK.

I have heard that exams and such are expensive - foreign lawyers just seen as cash cows the way foreign doctors are - and LSUC are buggers.

How hard would it be to work as a paralegal and qualify as a notary?

Almost Canadian

That depends upon in which Province she intends to move to. For example, in Ontario, paralegals are licensed and she would have to go through their licensing requirements.

When I arrived in Calgary, I advertised myself as a paralegal, as I couldn't call myself a lawyer. When I attended interviews, I was interviewed by lawyers. They couldn't understand why a lawyer would want to work as a paralegal. When I explained that I couldn't work as a lawyer for 2 years, they still didn't get it.

In Alberta, all lawyers are automatically Notary Publics, something that does not happen in England and Wales. I don't know if non-lawyers can become Notary Publics as then can in England and Wales. She will have to do some digging to discover that.

Lawyers and paralegals do not work alongside one another as they do in the UK and, over here, they are glorified secretaries. Secretaries here are called legal assistants and they have "legal assistant" qualifications which they must pass to be able to call themselves one.

rawsalad

Thanks for that info. Did you have to go through NCA as well? My suspicion is probably yes.

Almost Canadian

Yes. 10 years ago.

Former Lancastrian

Now depending on what type of layer she wants to be and passing the NCA exams there may be other things she has to consider

Criminal Defence Lawyer = Doesn't care if they know their client is guilty will look to find a technicality within the law to get their client off regardless of how heinous the crime was. Lobotomy is optional though preferred.

Immigration Defence Lawyer = Not as hated as above but shares similar traits.

Divorce Lawyer Mmmm tough one if she gets me the house, dog, truck and a wad of money then she's the bees knees. If on the other end then my professionalism kicks in in not describing what she is

Real Estate Lawyer providing their fees are reasonable never had a problem with one.

Corporate Law must have the patience of a saint to ensure a case lasts years before its resolved and has absolutely nothing to do with stringing it out to make more billing hours.

Trademark & Copyright Law used by large companies to ensure small companies don't produce don't copy their goods or use their name.

Im sure there are other practices I might have missed and will refrain from any Lawyer jokes.

Im sure AC might have a reply for me