Qualifying as a barrister in the UK

staygold

Hi all,

I graduated last year with a law degree from an Irish university. I'm good at the academic side of things and got a 1.1 which suits me fine as I planned on going into academia. However, as I was fixated on academia, I decided not to do English Land Law or English Constitutional/Public Law which apparently I need to study to practice in the UK (I did study Irish land Law and both Irish Constitutional and Public Law)

However, I'm now interested in joining the British army in their Army Legal Service which requires you to be a qualified barrister in the UK.

I will be starting an LLM in the UK in September and am wondering what the best way to keep my options open would be in the future.
For example, to qualify as a barrister in Northern Ireland, would I need to take additional courses in English Land and Public law or would my Irish study in these areas be acceptable? Would I be better off applying to Northern Ireland or to England or would it matter?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Procrastastudy

The advice I've been given, for what its worth, by a barrister who practices up there is that NI is still quite lucrative. It seems that they limit numbers going in. I've not verified any of the info I've been given.

As for the Army - their recruitment is pretty good at giving you the right info, as well as getting you prepared physically. A note of caution. There is a really odd quirk of Sandhurst where certain ages (26-28/30 something like that) are not allowed to attend. Its got something to do with separating Officer Cadets (or 2nd lt's on probation what ever they want to be called) and serving NCOs who have been commissioned. It may be different for Army Barristers - just had a quick check there it's a different course so I suspect you don't need to worry. I suppose all this waffle is saying contact recruitment sooner rather than later - you never know there might be a bursary available.

One thing you could do is take the required modules though the institution you do your LLM with - or the Open University. Another thing to check is that to become a Barrister in England you have to have completed your degree within certain time limits - I'm not sure how, or even if, that would apply to an Irish Law Degree.

The recruitment age limit is up there with Doctors and Chaplains. They'll even make exceptions in certain cases. I don't know if I'd want to be trying to get though basic in my 30's though!

valleyoftheunos

staygold wrote: »

Hi all,

I graduated last year with a law degree from an Irish university. I'm good at the academic side of things and got a 1.1 which suits me fine as I planned on going into academia. However, as I was fixated on academia, I decided not to do English Land Law or English Constitutional/Public Law which apparently I need to study to practice in the UK (I did study Irish land Law and both Irish Constitutional and Public Law)

However, I'm now interested in joining the British army in their Army Legal Service which requires you to be a qualified barrister in the UK.

I will be starting an LLM in the UK in September and am wondering what the best way to keep my options open would be in the future.
For example, to qualify as a barrister in Northern Ireland, would I need to take additional courses in English Land and Public law or would my Irish study in these areas be acceptable? Would I be better off applying to Northern Ireland or to England or would it matter?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not sure about Northern Ireland or the Army but I do have some experience with the Bar in England and Wales. If you don't have a UK law Degree you will need to complete the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) before going on to do the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) which are run by the Inns of Court in London and a few other providers around England.

In order to practice you need to find a Pupilage with a barrister's Chambers for a year, this is much the same as Deviling.

From What I'm told the GDL and BVC are not particularly challenging I do know however that the route to practice is highly, highly competitive and I would imagine that to be true of the Army route also. not everyone who applies for the BVC is admitted and approximately 25% of those who do get on to the Course manage to secure pupilage and ultimately tenancy with a Chambers.

I would suggest that you need to get on the Bar Council and the responsible Army department to find out exactly what their admissions criteria and requirements are and what exemptions if any you might be allowed. From that you will be able to figure out your next steps.

jblack

staygold wrote: »

Hi all,

I graduated last year with a law degree from an Irish university. I'm good at the academic side of things and got a 1.1 which suits me fine as I planned on going into academia. However, as I was fixated on academia, I decided not to do English Land Law or English Constitutional/Public Law which apparently I need to study to practice in the UK (I did study Irish land Law and both Irish Constitutional and Public Law)

However, I'm now interested in joining the British army in their Army Legal Service which requires you to be a qualified barrister in the UK.

I will be starting an LLM in the UK in September and am wondering what the best way to keep my options open would be in the future.
For example, to qualify as a barrister in Northern Ireland, would I need to take additional courses in English Land and Public law or would my Irish study in these areas be acceptable? Would I be better off applying to Northern Ireland or to England or would it matter?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I looked into switching from solicitor to the UK Bar a while back, so my advice is not exactly on point but... If you're qualified in the south there are transfer periods etc - have a look here http://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/transferring-lawyers/

I've just completed the English Land Law exam (through the Irish Law Society Skillnet), it's around €450 with 8 mind-numbing lectures and a 2 hour exam.

If it was me I'd try and qualify through the UK system - many chambers will pay pupils a decent wage, which will not happen here.

coylemj

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Its got something to do with separating Officer Cadets (or 2nd lt's on probation what ever they want to be called) and serving NCOs who have been commissioned.

Doctors, chaplains and other specialist professions who go straight into an officer rank do not do anything like the same training as regular officers.

With the exception stated above, civilians off the street and serving NCOs selected for officer training attend exactly the same cadet course, they sit in the same classrooms, do the same field training and are not segregated in either the Irish or UK army cadet classes. NCOs are reduced to the rank of private as soon as they start cadet training.

Procrastastudy

coylemj wrote: »

Civilians off the street and serving NCOs selected for officer training attend exactly the same cadet course, they sit in the same classrooms, do the same field training and are not separated in either the Irish or UK army cadet classes.

The exception is doctors, chaplains and other specialist professions who go straight into an officer grade, they do not do anything like the same training as regular officers.

Separated by age - There is some odd thing about no serving NCO going to Sandhurst after the civilian recruitment age (26 I think) and before, I believe, 28/30. You are indeed correct that professionally qualified people are different hence the edit to my post.

Delancey

From what I have heard getting a Pupilage in UK is a good deal harder than getting a Devilling position in Ireland.

valleyoftheunos

Delancey wrote: »

From what I have heard getting a Pupilage in UK is a good deal harder than getting a Devilling position in Ireland.

It is but the process is both more structured and holds much greater rewards.

A Pupilage come with a Pupilage award, which depending on the Set you are with, could be £15K over 12 months or much more significant amount. You will also have a much greater support network behind you, your Master, other barristers, an administration team and the all important Clerks.

The crucial difference however is that after your 12 months if you secure tenancy you are well set up as a member of Chambers as opposed to being left to fend for yourself entirely upon finishing deviling.