The 2+1 (LLB/LLM) Combined Law Degrees

An LLB or JD stand-alone degree no longer suffices as the door opener into a legal career. The conventional practice of law is rapidly evolving into professional legal services; law where necessary but not necessarily the practice of law.

The opening salvo in Ontario Family Law Court Judge Harvey Brownstone's very informative and readable book, Tug of War: A Judge's Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles And the Bitter Realities of Family Court (Toronto ECW Press, 2009), sets the tone for the contemporary legal services market. "Everyone who works in family law, including judges, agrees on two things: family court is not good for families, and litigation is not good for children".

Judge Brownstone and his contemporaries are certainly not suggesting the there's no place for lawyers in family law. The message that is articulated in his book in considerable detail is that family law is now an interdisciplinary profession that requires the blending of legal knowledge and skills with counselling and social work. That message is now coming through loud and clear in the broader spectrum of the legal profession. Take the extreme opposite: corporate mergers and acquisitions. Finance has become intertwined with complex regulatory requirements and consultants and lawyers now work through the mechanics of "the deal" as a team.

The national and regional law firms are under pressure from corporate clients to produce leading-edge legal research at minimum cost to them. These clients expect their law firms to be up to scratch on current and emerging legal services strategies when they retain them. More often that not, both the law and application strategy are multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary; law to the extent necessary, but not necessarily only law. Smaller firms and boutiques in non-commercial practice areas just don't have the resources to engage in this level of research.

• Studying Law in Australia
• Studying Law in New Zealand
• Studying Law in the UK
• Studying Law in the USA

Every year, LLM (Masters of Law) applicants from various parts of the world struggle to make a complex decision: What is the best LLM program for me? This decision involves asking numerous complex questions about affordability, location, and a law school's curriculum. Most often, however, LLM applicants forget to ask the most important questions: (1) what do lawyers do, and (2) which program will teach me or help me to improve to do what lawyers do?

Law School - The UK Edge

Canadian students are making UK law schools their first choice for the following reasons:

• No LSAT!
• 3 Year LLB with high school diploma!
• 2 Year LLB Accelerated LLB with university degree!
• LLM specialist Degrees - NO LLB Required!
• Practice Internationally in the UK & Canada

A UK Law degree offers an exceptional educational experience and an internationally recognised qualification providing a gateway to a successful career.

The LLB is a three year programme that covers the core legal subjects required to practice as a lawyer, as well as leaving space for a wide selection of optional units. The core subjects, which are compulsory at most Law schools, are as follow: Constitutional and Administrative Law, Tort Law, Contract Law, Criminal Law, Property Law, European Union Law, and Trusts. Some institutions also require the study of Jurisprudence, or what is also called Legal Theory.

When Jim Hathaway welcomed students to the Juris Doctor program at the University of Melbourne in Australia last year, he could sense the excitement.

With half the students already holding at least two university degrees and the remainder with experience in another career, the Dean of the Faculty of Law says the 70 students were selected for a particular reason.