International Qualification.

[EllieBranagh]

Good Afternoon,

I have a question that I would like some advice on whether it personal or professional.

I am really struggling to gain any type of legal job specifically paralegal work, I admit my academic record is a bit hit and miss, my epilepsy has caused problems with exams and ended up withdrawing from my LPC both for health and another reason. I always get responses from firms with no substantive feedback, I know they are dealing with excessive applicants and I understand that. However, if I do not know what went wrong or what they really need I am not going to improve, and could find myself going round in circles.

Therefore, I am wondering whether to take my original route for law qualification. During college I really wanted to study in America and qualify in the US. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to NYU and Berkeley in California, however, this did not work out as I was deemed not disadvantaged to gain financial help (single parent household). So, I made the hard decision to withdraw from the universities for this reason as it was way too expensive for the duration and completed law school here. but not as prestigious to those. Looking at my situation now, I am determining whether to take the leap and start studing for the American bar, but still deciding which as I planed to see whether or not I could pass the NY Bar once there and vice versa.

This would result, if I pass the bar and their character test like ours, I would be a qualified US lawyer but not a UK lawyer (eligible for NY bar not the CA) and wondered whether this would be impressive and help me stand out? The route to being dual-qualified something I have always desired to be will mean I have qualified in reverse order; US qualfied --> UK qualified. I am aware I will be still required to the take SQE and if not gained in the US, the QWE part of qualification here. The focus I have is the QWE and using that with SQE, but also have advantages of already having a qualification so I can do cross-board transactions. I hope to work in-house with the tech giants but I am aware in my circumstances, I cannot be narrow minded rather opening my options.

Thanks for reading, again I am open to advice or even opinions on this decision.
Ellie Branagh

 

[Hana (aaah I want a TC)]

Hey Ellie!

I have never been in your situation before, but I wanted to drop a message to encourage you, whatever you choose to do! It must have been really difficult to face those situations during your degree - a law degree is difficult enough, nevermind experiencing such debilitating health problems along with it.

In terms of advice - how far into the application stage do you get to? How much do you leverage your experiences? If you have a 2:1, then you should be okay grades-wise. And even if you don't, the firms will take into consideration your extenuating circumstances. If you are getting to interview stages, it might not be the grades, but your interviewing technique.

Even if it's a grade lower than 2:1, you should be okay for paralegal work, because it will be your experience beyond your grades that will matter in getting a role. If you do not have any that you gathered during you undergraduate degree (which is perfectly understandable), or even during your A-Levels (prizes, etc, anything that would demonstrate your passions or skills), some options would include volunteering, tutoring, or approaching some local law firms personally and offer to do some free work.

In terms of going to the US, would you just sit the bar, or would you go to law school to become a JD? Law school there is much different, and you might be upheld to certain grade requirements, i.e. your undergraduate results. Additionally, to qualify, you would have to meet this criteria.
If it's just sitting the bar, it would seem like a better decision would be to study here and impress with your SQE results. You probably already have some legal knowledge in this jurisdiction from your degree, so it would be much easier for you. And cheaper!

I'm more than happy to look at some of your applications and give you some pointers, drop me a message.

 

[EllieBranagh]

Thank you Beneath,

I did manage to gain a 2:1 amongst my chaos from my condition and started my LPC, however, I could not pass the written exams due to the mixed feedback from my exams. I did pass all my practical exams and that boosted my confidence at the beginning of the course, but I just did not pass the whole with all the effort and taking my feedback seriously when paying for the resists. Therefore, I decided I needed a mental break from it and was encouraged to take the SQE instead, which is something I am looking into also as that is also not cheaper when you add all the costs up together.

Unfortunately, I could not gain any legal work experience as the roles asked for prior experience to be considered, but I am still applying for vacation schemes, also applying to companies that need paralegals rather than law firms solely. This has been just as difficult, they to want the prior work expereince in the role or within that sector (corporate and commercial). It has not been straight sailing I was told from college and during my undergraduate degree, which may be my fault when not looking at stats or being underprepared for the rejections as part of it.

In regards to my pursuit to the US approach, your right that their education system for law is totally different, such as their degree is 4 years long and then having a further study for which ever bar your want to take. For example, the CA bar is more focused on state laws and applying them directly to 'real life scenarios' and the NY bar is on state laws. Both exams are 2 days long and have lots of MQC and their application of the law is much higher percentage for overall pass/fail. This direction for legal working was my main focus through college and invested a lot of time with their applications, taking 3 A-Levels plus a external project, which again I feel has distracted me from our own route to qualification by needing to achieve a high GPA. However, I was 18 and thought everything was simple after getting through that round and I was on route to qualifying under US jurisdiction. I am suitable to take the NY bar as I have completed their 'equivalent academic requirements', but not the CA bar as they want you to be qualified solicitor first and does not apply to me. I hope this makes sense as its complex to describe.

I am now focusing more on my qualification here as representative of the US bar said, gaining qualification here would put me in better step job wise over there and showing the determination to expand skills sets. Given my focus changing throughout my undergraduate and LPC course, I have been looking through the SRA website about alternative means to qualifying in the UK, one of which was highly interesting via the Irish solicitors being exempt from SQE 2 as they are in our jurisdiction. However, the confusing part was regarding the SQE 1 and something I am conducting research in, as I am part Irish from my mums side and told I have the right to move there providing I give proof of my heritage and passport. Is this something you have expereince or further knoweldge in? I feel I have asked too many questions and do not want to appear like I have done my research.

I have attached an application I made to firm, however, the firms application page did not let me copy and paste their questions. I attached my CV and wonder whether seeing what I have accomplished will provide a better insight. I appreciate your time for looking through my message and reading my application questions.