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Difference between revisions of "How Do I Become a Lawyer?"
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LSAT stands for Law School Admission Test. All North American law schools require that you write this test before you apply for admission. The LSAT is run by a private testing company, not by any particular school, and tests are offered on a quarterly basis in cities across the continent. If I recall correctly, the same exact test is written by thousands of people across Canada and the US on the same weekend. Your score is not a percentage, it's a weighted score. In other words, the result you get is a statement of how you ranked compared to the thousands of other people who wrote the test. If you ranked in the 50th percentile, for example, you did as well as half the people that wrote the test. If you ranked in the 80th percentile, you did better than 80% of the people that wrote the test. | LSAT stands for Law School Admission Test. All North American law schools require that you write this test before you apply for admission. The LSAT is run by a private testing company, not by any particular school, and tests are offered on a quarterly basis in cities across the continent. If I recall correctly, the same exact test is written by thousands of people across Canada and the US on the same weekend. Your score is not a percentage, it's a weighted score. In other words, the result you get is a statement of how you ranked compared to the thousands of other people who wrote the test. If you ranked in the 50th percentile, for example, you did as well as half the people that wrote the test. If you ranked in the 80th percentile, you did better than 80% of the people that wrote the test. | ||
At this point you're probably wondering what the LSAT is. Put simply, the LSAT tests your vocabulary, language skills and inductive and deductive reasoning. There are fill-in-the-blank questions, questions testing your understanding of a <span class="noglossary">brief</span> essay, and logical reasoning tests. There's also an unscored essay section. | At this point you're probably wondering what the LSAT is. Put simply, the LSAT tests your vocabulary, language skills, and inductive and deductive reasoning. There are fill-in-the-blank questions, questions testing your understanding of a <span class="noglossary">brief</span> essay, and logical reasoning tests. There's also an unscored essay section. | ||
At least one company that I'm aware of sells study guides and actual past LSAT exams that you can test yourself on; you can find these sorts of study guides at places like Chapters and your local university book store. | At least one company that I'm aware of sells study guides and actual past LSAT exams that you can test yourself on; you can find these sorts of study guides at places like Chapters and your local university book store. | ||
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Law school in Canada is three years long. At the end of it, if you've graduated, you get an LL.B., a "Bachelor of Laws," or a J.D., a "Juris Doctor" or doctor of laws. First year is generally the toughest, since that's when you realize that law school is entirely unlike any other schooling you've ever had and the curriculum is standardized, with little room for personal choice. | Law school in Canada is three years long. At the end of it, if you've graduated, you get an LL.B., a "Bachelor of Laws," or a J.D., a "Juris Doctor" or doctor of laws. First year is generally the toughest, since that's when you realize that law school is entirely unlike any other schooling you've ever had and the curriculum is standardized, with little room for personal choice. | ||
Law schools are generally fairly uptight about how they process their students. In your undergrad you probably asked for or knew someone who asked for academic exemptions and leaves of absence and things like that. In law school you are expected to be career- | Law schools are generally fairly uptight about how they process their students. In your undergrad you probably asked for or knew someone who asked for academic exemptions and leaves of absence and things like that. In law school you are expected to be career-focused and have your mental and personal house in <span class="noglossary">order</span> before you start, and, as a result, this sort of academic leeway is rarely and parsimoniously dispensed. | ||
Is law school fun? No. Is it as hard as you've heard? No, not at all. Once you've figured out how law school works, it'll be smooth sailing for you, as long as you know how to apply yourself and have halfway decent work habits. Remember, the study of a thing is a lot different than the practice of a thing. | Is law school fun? No. Is it as hard as you've heard? No, not at all. Once you've figured out how law school works, it'll be smooth sailing for you, as long as you know how to apply yourself and have halfway decent work habits. Remember, the study of a thing is a lot different than the practice of a thing. | ||
One last point about law school. Give your first year a good go. Try your best but don't be devastated by the difference between your undergrad marks and your law school marks. Do your best to apply what you learned in first year to your studies in second year. Your second year marks are critical, for the reasons | One last point about law school. Give your first year a good go. Try your best but don't be devastated by the difference between your undergrad marks and your law school marks. Do your best to apply what you learned in first year to your studies in second year. Your second year marks are critical, for the reasons that follow. In general, you can relax a bit in your third year. | ||
==Articling== | ==Articling== | ||
Articling is the second-last hurdle you have to pass before you become a lawyer. Articles are a kind of year-long apprenticeship, just the way masons, fabric dyers and carpenters apprenticed to <span class="noglossary">master</span> crafters in the middle ages. The point of articles is to give you a hands-on introduction to the practice of law under the tutelage of a senior lawyer, your ''principal''. As an articled student, you are insured by your principal and are permitted to | Articling is the second-last hurdle you have to pass before you become a lawyer. Articles are a kind of year-long apprenticeship, just the way masons, fabric dyers and carpenters apprenticed to <span class="noglossary">master</span> crafters in the middle ages. The point of articles is to give you a hands-on introduction to the practice of law under the tutelage of a senior lawyer, your ''principal''. As an articled student, you are insured by your principal and are permitted to practise law in a certain limited capacity. You are also subject to certain restrictions and requirements of the provincial law society and its rules of conduct and practice. | ||
The law school doesn't hand out articles, however. You have to find them yourself. Articling is a job; an articled student is an employee of his or her principal, and you've got to apply for the position. | The law school doesn't hand out articles, however. You have to find them yourself. Articling is a job; an articled student is an employee of his or her principal, and you've got to apply for the position. | ||
The vast majority of law students apply for articles at the end of their second year of law school, after the marks have been released. The articles <span class="noglossary">will</span> start almost immediately after third year ends, so people usually spend the summer after second year scrounging for employment. As a result, your second year marks are critical to your ability to obtain articles. | The vast majority of law students apply for articles at the end of their second year of law school, after the marks have been released. The articles <span class="noglossary">will</span> start almost immediately after third year ends, so people usually spend the summer after second year scrounging for employment. As a result, your second year marks are critical to your ability to obtain articles. For the same reason, your third year marks are a lot less important, since you have, hopefully, already found articles. | ||
No matter what, you must have articled before you can become a lawyer. As a result, it is critical that you find an articling position if you want to | No matter what, you must have articled before you can become a lawyer. As a result, it is critical that you find an articling position if you want to practise law. | ||
==PLTC: The bar admission course== | ==PLTC: The bar admission course== | ||
All provincial law societies require law school graduates to complete both their articles and a bar admission course before allowing you to | All provincial law societies require law school graduates to complete both their articles and a bar admission course before allowing you to practise law. In British Columbia, the bar admission course is a three-month course called PLTC, the ''Professional Legal Training Course'', and it's completed during the year in which you article. Sometimes your principal <span class="noglossary">will</span> pay for the cost of the course; some articles don't provide for this and you'll have to pay the course tuition yourself. | ||
PLTC is an academic introduction to the basics of actually | PLTC is an academic introduction to the basics of actually practising law in the real world, from client interview techniques to professional ethics to common <span class="noglossary">trust</span> <span class="noglossary">account</span> errors. PLTC is not fun; it is boring, tedious and unpleasant. Nevertheless it is a critical course that you must complete with near-perfection if you want to work as a lawyer. When I did PLTC, you had to have a minimum combined exam and exercise score of 11 out of 12 points, or 91.66%, to pass. | ||
==Admission to the bar== | ==Admission to the bar== | ||
When you've completed PLTC and your articles are almost complete, your principal <span class="noglossary">will</span> have to furnish the law society with a sworn declaration stating that you are ready and <span class="noglossary">competent</span> to | When you've completed PLTC and your articles are almost complete, your principal <span class="noglossary">will</span> have to furnish the law society with a sworn declaration stating that you are ready and <span class="noglossary">competent</span> to practise as a lawyer. You must ensure the law society gets your principal's declaration or you <span class="noglossary">will</span> not be ''called to the bar'', which is a term for the formal ceremony admitting you as a lawyer. PLTC <span class="noglossary">will</span> forward your marks to the law society for you. | ||
==Summary== | ==Summary== | ||
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Good luck! Give me a call if you'd like. | Good luck! Give me a call if you'd like. | ||
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[JP Boyd]], March 24, 2013}} | {{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[JP Boyd]], March 24, 2013}} | ||
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{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=how}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=how}} | ||
[[Category:How Do I?|B]] | |||
{{Creative Commons for JP Boyd}} | |||
