Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
4-year Bachelor of Laws
Juris Doctor (JD)
3-year Professional Doctor of Laws
Master of Laws (LLM)
1-year Master of Laws
The Ministry of Education of China has certified Juris Doctor (JD) as "Doctor of Professional Laws" ", but it is classified as a master's degree, and the content is undergraduate content.
Juris Doctor itself is a concept originating from the United States. The United States does not allow students to apply for law directly after graduating from high school. Anyone must obtain a four-year bachelor's degree before they can pursue it. Later, as the legal profession became more and more specialized and refined in the United States, the requirements for practicing law became extremely demanding, and could even be compared with practicing medicine. The name Juris Doctor (JD) was eventually created to indicate that the legal profession The rigors of education.
After Australia introduced this degree, it followed the American system and only admitted undergraduate students who did not have a legal background to study for this degree. It was classified as a master's degree (but because the Chinese and Australian legal systems are different, Chinese undergraduate law students can also Studying for JD in Australia).
Therefore, the admission requirements and study content of JD and LLB are almost exactly the same.
The Immigration Prospects of Australian JDs
As one of the few professions that can pass Australia's independent skilled immigration occupation assessment (Skills Assessment) without relevant work experience, lawyers should be a hot profession. But in fact, the independent skilled immigration quota for Australian lawyers is far more than the number of applicants, and there is always a long-term shortage.
Solicitor is a profession that currently has independent skilled immigration qualifications in Australia. Its professional assessment agency is SLAA (State Legal Admission Authorities), which is the legal profession admission agency of each state or territory in Australia.
Some people may ask, why are there so few people applying for independent skilled immigration for lawyers?
In fact, studying law, which is not easy, and studying this major abroad have led to its tepid popularity in the Chinese circle. After all, most JD courses are 3-year courses. Those who have little interest in learning or lack of perseverance will naturally choose to study accounting.
However, in recent years, competition for accounting, IT, and engineering immigrants has been fierce, and scores are on the high side. Therefore, the students arduously completed the CCL test (the full name of the CCL test is Credentialed Community Language Test, which is a test held by NAATI specifically for community language bonus points after the NAATI test reform in 2018. Passing the test can get 5 points for immigration bonus , but cannot engage in professional translation work) and IELTS or PTE, I am still waiting anxiously for another Professional Year.
It seems that it is much easier for lawyers to apply for skilled immigrants. At present, lawyers generally choose the following two types of skilled immigrant visas:
189 independent skilled immigrant
1) Visa introduction
189 visa means that the applicant does not need to be sponsored by the employer, sponsored by a family member or sponsored by the state and territory government, and Independently rely on your own academic qualifications, work experience, language proficiency, age and other factors to apply for a visa; after obtaining the visa, the applicant can live permanently in Australia.
2) Immigration scoring
Applicants must meet the skilled immigration scoring requirements, with a minimum of 65 points. JD students can usually meet the minimum score requirement of 65 points for skilled immigrants by accumulating the following items:
Age 30 points: The applicant is between 25-32 years old;
Education 15 points: The applicant has obtained a bachelor's or master's degree. ;
Australian learning experience 5 points : The duration of the CRICOS course registered by the Australian government is not less than 92 weeks, and the actual study time is not less than 16 months;
community language 5 points: the applicant has passed the Australian CCL translation test;
language requirement 10 points: the language score reaches IELTS four 7 points, or 65 points for four PTEs.
3) Immigration status
Starting from July 1, 2017, the Australian government has opened up a new branch from the 189 independent skilled immigrant visa, called the 189 independent skilled immigrant New Zealand category. The total quota for the 189 independent skilled immigrant in the 2017-2018 fiscal year is 43,990. The opening of the New Zealand branch has taken up a large number of quotas originally belonging to the 189 visa, which has forced all occupations to increase their scores for invitations from the Immigration Bureau.
Solicitor was originally an unpopular major. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, it was basically in the status of being invited with 60 points. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, it was forced to raise its score to more than 70 points.
Other ways to add points for skilled immigrants:
Language requirements: 20 points: IELTS four points of 8, or PTE four points of 79 points;
Work experience: 5 points: The applicant has accumulated at least 1 Years of work experience related to the nominated occupation;
Spouse (both husband and wife or cohabiting boyfriend and girlfriend are acceptable) Skills 5 points: Spouse is under 45 years old and has an English proficiency equivalent to IELTS 4 and 6 points. Nominate an occupation nominated by the main applicant. Occupations in the same occupation list must pass the occupational evaluation by the relevant occupational evaluation agency.
190 State Government Sponsored Skilled Immigration
1) Visa Introduction
190 visa means that applicants rely on their own academic qualifications, work experience, language scores, age and other factors to apply for a visa by obtaining sponsorship from the Australian state or territory government; obtain After obtaining the visa, the applicant can live permanently in Australia, but the applicant is usually required to live in the sponsored state or territory for 2 years before settling in other areas.
2) Immigration score
Applicants with a minimum of 60 points can apply for state or territory government sponsorship; after the applicant is sponsored, there will be an additional 5 points to meet the minimum score requirement of 65 points for skilled immigrants. The specific scoring criteria are the same as those for 189 visa.
3) Immigration status
Under the extremely severe situation of the 189 visa, the 190 visa has opened a bright road for the Solicitor profession. The NSW state government guarantees that the solicitor profession is very friendly. There are many people who have been invited with a score of 65 and the current invitations are very stable.
It should be noted that the disadvantage of the 190 visa is that after obtaining the PR visa, the applicant needs to live in the sponsored state or territory for 2 years before settling in other areas, so it is not suitable for those who want to return to China for development as soon as they graduate. Classmates
Career Assessment Requirements (Skills Assessment)
Australian law graduates need to pass the career assessment of the SLAA (State Legal Admission Authority) before they can enter the subsequent visa stage. Although laws and certification bodies vary from state to state, once you become a practicing lawyer in one state, you will also be recognized in other states.
Let’s take New South Wales, where Sydney is located, as an example to see how to pass the career assessment!
1. Complete the Juris Doctor or Bachelor of Laws
In fact, you can take the career assessment after completing the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in Australia, but you cannot take the Master of Laws (LLM) only.
2. Complete Practical Legal Training (PLT)
General universities will include the Legal Practice course. If it is not included, you will need to study for a lawyer professional training course (Practical Legal Training, PLT). PLT is a separate Graduate Certificate Program, which includes courses and internships.
3. Meet the language requirements
As long as you are studying a law degree certified by LPAB (Legal Profession Admission Board), you can be exempted from the IELTS requirement. You should know that if a colleague from the UK or Canada comes to Australia to work as a lawyer, he must pass IELTS Category A (listening 7 points, reading 7 points, speaking 7.5 points, writing 8 points) before he can be allowed to register!
When you meet the above three conditions, you can apply for an Australian lawyer license and officially become a solicitor (Solicitor). Only then can you apply for the 189 independent skilled immigrants!
Lawyer job prospects
Employment prospects
(The picture shows the official data of the Australian occupational statistics website Job Outlook)
The number of employed lawyers in Australia has remained basically stable in the past five years, and is expected to grow further in 2022.
I wonder if in the eyes of young people, lawyers are only needed when large companies handle equity distribution and financing? If you think so, you are really wrong!
You need to know that everyone in Australia needs a lawyer - for divorce, immigration, buying a house, making a will, prenuptial agreement, etc. If anything involves a contract, you need their support. This type of lawyer is what we call a solicitor.As mentioned above, paperwork is the daily life of Australian lawyers, and it is definitely not as cold-blooded as everyone imagines~
And a barrister is a barrister who can go to the High Court to litigate in court after becoming a solicitor. Barrister has extremely high requirements for strength, qualifications, and language proficiency. Let’s wait until everyone becomes a solicitor!
And as a Chinese student, being a solicitor also has its own advantages, because the Chinese have a great demand for lawyers, and there are not that many solicitors who speak Chinese well, so finding a job is not difficult.
Salary situation
(The picture shows the official data of Australian Job Outlook)
The average weekly salary of Solicitors in Australia is 1,917 Australian dollars. The annual salary is about 90,000 Australian dollars (that is, about 450,000 yuan), which is much higher than accounting, IT, and engineering occupations. . Moreover, the lawyer profession is a profession in which the more senior you are, the more popular you become. As your working time and industry experience increase, you can also partner with others to open a law firm after accumulating enough experience. There are also endless ways to make money!
What are the advantages of studying JD in Australia?
No threshold
JD is a legal major specially designed for students without professional background, so the study time is slightly longer, usually 3 years.
However, if you have studied law as an undergraduate in China, you can waive some of the credits and you can complete it in 2 or 2.5 years at the fastest.
And some schools directly provide half-year internship (Legal Practice), such as the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and you can directly pass professional certification after graduation.
is internationally recognized
Although it is a major with no undergraduate background, the Australian JD is widely recognized internationally because the Australian law course originated from the British Common Law and meets the requirements in terms of content and system.
For example, to become an American lawyer, you do not have to go to the United States to study. You can do it in Australia too. According to the New York State Board of Law Examiners Official Webpage, you can take the U.S. Bar Exam as long as the length and content of your education meet the U.S. law courses. It should be noted that:
① Only graduates of the Master of Laws program can take the exam, not undergraduate degrees.
② A 3-year JD is okay, because the JD in the United States is also 3 years. Although a 2-year JD cannot be used to get a US license, it is absolutely no problem to immigrate to Australia.
NY Bar Exam + NY Law Exam + MPRE
NY Bar Exam is the most difficult of the three exams. There are only two exams in February and July a year. The exam is two days in total, divided into two sessions, each session is 3 hours; NY Law Exam is an open-book online test that does not require any preparation; MPRE, or Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam, is a professional ethics examination organized by the American Bar Association. It is a closed-book format and can be taken anywhere in the United States, including Hawaii Island.
If you want to return to China or develop in the Asia-Pacific region after graduation, in addition to a New York State lawyer's license, you can also prepare for a lawyer's license in England and Wales, or go to Hong Kong to study PCLL (Postgraduate Certificate in Laws) to obtain a Hong Kong lawyer's license, etc.
Legal major ranks TOP 50 in the world.
Legal major has always been one of the best majors in Australia.According to the 2018 QS World University Rankings by Subject, Australia accounts for 7 of the top 50 universities in the field of law!
Some Australian universities recommend
1. University of Melbourne
application requirements:
IELTS 7 points (writing 7 points, no less than 6 points in other items);
2. Australian National University (Australian National University)
application requirements ：
IELTS 6.5 points (no single score less than 6 points);
3. University of Sydney Sydney)
application requirements:
IELTS 7.5 points (no less than 7 points in each component);
4. University of New South Wales (UNSW)
application requirements: IELTS 7 points (no less than 6 points in each component)
course features: excellent results Students, at the end of the fourth semester, can choose to go to Oxford University to complete the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) or Master of Law and Finance (MLF)
5. Monash University University)
application requirements:
IELTS 7 points (writing 7 points, no less than 6 points in other items);
6. University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
application requirements:
IELTS 6.5 points (writing 6 points)
7. Macquarie University (Macquarie University)
application requirements:
IELTS 7 points (no individual score less than 6.5)
8. University of Newcastle
application requirements:
IELTS 7 points (no individual component less than 6.5 points)
9. Bond University (Bond University)
application requirements:
IELTS 6.5 points (no individual component less than 6 points)
courses Features: The only JD program in Australia that can be completed in just 2 years, and it also uses small class teaching. -----------------------
