Why Study Law in the UK?
Deciding to pursue a legal education in the United Kingdom is a big decision. For some international students, concerns might arise – is it relevant? What are the benefits?
There are in fact quite a few advantages to doing a law degree in the UK. This post goes through some of the major ones.
Career Advancement
An undergraduate law degree in the UK can be completed in 3 years.
This is one of the fastest ways of obtaining legal credentials. In contrast, obtaining a legal degree in the US requires at least 5 years and universities in Australia also have a similar practice.
After completing an undergraduate law degree in the UK, students can choose to stay on and take the one year Legal Practice Course, after which they become UK qualified lawyers.
Alternatively, if the students are from a common law jurisdiction, they can leave the UK and take the relevant bar programme in their home country.
Employers in countries like these often look favourably on students who received their legal education in the UK. English law remains very relevant in the world of commerce today — many industries are heavily influenced and often governed by English law. For instance, in the shipping industry, charter-party contracts, bills of lading and other related shipping instruments are often stated to be subject to the laws of England and Wales. An understanding of English law is therefore a very transferable skill.
New Perspective
Studying in the UK provides international students with a solid grounding in English legal principles. This provides a unique opportunity to compare the laws in one's home country with the English judicial system. Students inclined towards academic pursuits may discover new perspectives by using English law as reference point against which other legal systems are compared — that in turn leads to a deeper understanding of the nature of Law itself.
Such an awareness also has tangible benefits. We live in an interconnected world where legal systems often come into contact and conflict with one another. Think about someone in Tokyo who orders an item on Amazon, a US website, which hosts part of its website on servers located in Ireland — that’s at least three jurisdictions involved. Commercial legal practice increasingly requires an awareness of how laws from different jurisdictions interact with one another and future lawyers who have this awareness will certainly have an edge.
Dual Qualification
Another benefit of completing a law degree in the UK is the possibility of obtaining dual qualifications within 4 years.
After graduating, students have the option of using their UK degree to apply for the New York Bar examination. This is because degrees from common law jurisdictions (in particular the UK) will very often be recognised by the New York Bar authorities. It means that students can quite possibly be dual qualified in both the UK and the US within a span of 4 to 5 years from the commence of their legal education.
Being dual qualified is in itself an advantage when looking for a job. At the same time, it opens opportunities in other jurisdictions like the US.
Moving Around
All common law jurisdictions trace their history back to the English legal system. This makes it relatively easier for students to move between common law jurisdictions if they so wish.
Larger English law firms often have offices in these jurisdictions. Hong Kong, Singapore and Melbourne are just some of the legal and financial hubs that students can potentially move to given their common law background. Indeed, some students will choose to begin their legal careers in London and subsequently transfer to a regional office of the same firm, but in another jurisdiction.
Conclusion
To sum up, there are many advantages to pursing a legal education in the UK. Apart from the opportunity to study and interact with intelligent classmates of diverse culture backgrounds, there are also more tangible benefits — these include the improvement of one’s career prospects, the ability to obtain dual qualifications as well as the possibility of working in other common law jurisdictions.
If you have any questions about this piece or are looking for help with your application, email us at: support@doxa.co.uk
Author: Kian - Oxford
BA Law
I have been offering Oxbridge application support since my graduation in 2016. My students have a very international background and I’ve tutored students based in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
