veezus

Hi,

I'm currently doing A-Levels but my dream has always been to move to Australia. After A-Levels I plan to study law at university and then I want to become a solicitor in Australia and it's on the Skilled Occupations List, but obviously the British Legal System and Australian Legal System are not entirely the same and laws would not be the same so the process would not be the same as it would be for an occupation such as plumber or accountant where the work would be almost the same as back in the UK.

What would be my best option for moving to Australia? Would it be to do my degree in law and then qualify as a solicitor in Australia or would it be better for me to qualify as a solicitor in the UK and then move? Or would doing my undergraduate degree in Australia be a simpler process as I would not rule that out if it made more sense than the options.

not2old

see if the info in the link below helps answer some of your questions

https://www.collaw.edu.au/what-we-of...dents-lawyers/

http://www.nicholas-scott.com/upload...0Australia.pdf

spouse of scouse

Hi and welcome to BE.

If you want to move to Australia as a qualified solicitor, you'll need to have sufficient points under the migration points scheme, and you'll also need to have your skills and experience assessed as suitable by the relevant assessing body. In the case of a solicitor/lawyer, the assessing body is the State Legal Admissions Authority. Each State/Territory has its own web address. I'd imagine that a successful assessment would include the need for post qualification experience, but you can research that on the relevant State/Territory site.

The issue you have with the above is that professions and trades move on and off the SOL and CSOL, so no one can predict if solicitor will still be there in any given year. It doesn't really matter though, if a solicitor is the profession you want to be in then if I were you I'd keep going with my studies in the UK, then when you've completed them you can see how the land lies in Australia for migration.

I don't know much about student visas sorry, only that I'm pretty sure you'd need to pay international student fees.

You're obviously bright and focused, an excellent start to your future plans. Best of luck.

moneypenny20

You'd definitely have to pay international fees if you did uni here, as well as finding the money for accommodation and day to day living. Whilst no one knows where Solicitor/Lawyer will be on any list in years to come, if you want to be a Lawyer regardless I would do all my studying in the UK, get some experience under my belt and then look at Aus and all that that would entail.

You could take a gap year after school and get a WHV to explore Aus for a year, see if it's really somewhere you want to live. The actuality of living here is somewhat different to dreaming about it.

Australia isn't going anywhere. It'll still be here in 10 years and in the meantime you'll be training for something you want to do. Good luck with it all.

MelVan

I agree with moneypenny20, get qualified and admitted in England first and get some experience under your belt.

If you join one of the English global commercial firms with offices in Australia (several of the magic & silver circle firms) and practise in a readily transportable / cross border area such as banking or commercial transactions, or intellectual property, you will increase your prospects of being able to come to Australia. Very "domestic" areas such as criminal law, employment law and property law are less transportable.

Just to add some relevant info about becoming a solicitor in Australia with English legal qualifications: the State legal profession regulating bodies in Australia require overseas lawyers (even from England, the source of virtually all our laws!) to study for and sit several exams under our version of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme. Even once you're an experienced UK solicitor, you will have to study at least Australian constitutional law, administrative law, property law and ethics to qualify for admission in Australia. Depending on the subjects you studied for your law degree in the UK and your practice experience, you may also have to do Australian civil and criminal procedure and criminal law.

(It's a far cry from when I worked in London as a solicitor many, many years ago - with an Australian law degree and several years' post admission experience, I only had to do ethics and trust accounting under the old Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test to be admitted as a solicitor in England. This has changed now to be as hard as we make it for overseas lawyers!).

davoaj

I looked into this a few years ago and would second MelVan's comments.

Once qualified in E&W, it's far from straight forward to gain qualification in Aus, which is required in order to pass a skills assessment.

Quicker and more cost effective to get over there with a global firm or as a 'consultant' with an aussie firm on a 457 visa.

joeyballantyne

Agreeing with moneypenny here - an example law degree as an international student will cost you $27,300 as opposed to residents/citizens cost of $10,600 - that cost is per year