King's Inns Degrees

GKaplan

Can't seem to find a straight answer on their website, but I was just wondering what level of law degree do you need to make you eligible to sit the King's Inns entrance exams? 1st, 2.1, 2.2 or third. Assume a third is out, but are 2.2's acceptable?

Procrastastudy

GKaplan wrote: »

Can't seem to find a straight answer on their website, but I was just wondering what level of law degree do you need to make you eligible to sit the King's Inns entrance exams? 1st, 2.1, 2.2 or third. Assume a third is out, but are 2.2's acceptable?

I wasnt aware you needed anything other than a pass at an accredited degree with the required modules - e.g. admin.

(c) ‘approved degree’ means

(i) a degree, conferred by a third level institution, in the law of Ireland or in the law of Northern Ireland approved by the Society conferred on a student who has been examined in and who has passed each of the core subjects;

Doesn't seem to require anything above a pass.

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GKaplan wrote: »

Can't seem to find a straight answer on their website, but I was just wondering what level of law degree do you need to make you eligible to sit the King's Inns entrance exams? 1st, 2.1, 2.2 or third. Assume a third is out, but are 2.2's acceptable?

A pass is all you need. Check you have all the required subjects covered.

GKaplan

That's grand, I was just a little unsure! Thanks for clarifying it, Northern student so not familiar with the whole procedure in Dublin.

Procrastastudy

No intake caps like there is up North but also no work.

GKaplan

Yeah I understand things aren't great down south at the minute. After this year bar intake for the full time graduate course will be down from 30 to 20 in the institute in Queens. I hear the solicitor course is going in the same direction. Similar in the North.

I know it's not great out there but is there much chance of making some sort of living out of being a barrister in the south? Have applied for a prepetory course and getting the King's Inn application off soon.

Procrastastudy

Hopefully this thread will be of some use to you.

NoQuarter

GKaplan wrote: »

I know it's not great out there but is there much chance of making some sort of living out of being a barrister in the south?

Yeah! You could be earning 10 grand in your 3rd year. Same as the folk on the dole.

Procrastastudy

NoQuarter wrote: »

Yeah! You could be earning 10 grand in your 3rd year. Same as the folk on the dole.

To be fair though I assume you can do three years down here then just head back North?

NoQuarter

Procrastastudy wrote: »

To be fair though I assume you can do three years down here then just head back North?

I know after 3 years you can qualify in the UK, it might have been England specifically, but I havent checked the NI rules. You probably could though.

But would it be like starting all over again? I'm not sure.

Procrastastudy

NoQuarter wrote: »

I know after 3 years you can qualify in the UK, it might have been England specifically, but I havent checked the NI rules. You probably could though.

But would it be like starting all over again? I'm not sure.

One of our lecturers has come from NI and was called to the Bar here last year on the transfer thinggy so it works that way at least. I suppose it comes down to your contacts re starting again, hers seem rather reasonable.

GKaplan

I sat the institute exam for the north in December, very hard to know where you stand until March because of the multiple choice/negative marking, going for other options in case it doesn't work out. Although a three hour exam opposed to five at three hours a piece is more attractive!

That is a possibility moving over in three years, but as you suggest its more about building a practice and getting a decent income over time. Just want to be a Barrister, not overly attached to the NI!

At presentations about the profession we were told that solicitor advocates and barristers from the south moving to the north were increasingly make work harder to get. But then again we were also told that similar such comments were made about the profession about 10-20 years ago, that it is always been difficult to break into.

NoQuarter

Dont let the difficulty of the exam sway you in any particular direction. The difficulty of the exam is irrelivant when we are talking about the rest of your career.

Well, the bar in the south is there for you to try. Its impossible to tell you whether you will be successful or not, everyones career takes a different route from day 1 at the bar.

I'm down here now in my first year and I have no idea whether I will make it and I also still have no idea when I will know. Maybe 3rd year after 2 years of deviling and I show up and just sit at my desk waiting for work to come in, then i'll know.

And even if it does come in in my 3rd year, when am I going to get paid for it, 2 years later?

GKaplan

So I called king's admissions today. My degree is acceptable (so long as I have the Law of Succession covered) but I haven't studied Company Law, administrative law or Jurisprudence specifically. The thing is Queen's stopped offering Jurisprudence 5 years ago...Has anyone had any experience with this? From Queen's or otherwise?

Procrastastudy

GKaplan wrote: »

So I called king's admissions today. My degree is acceptable (so long as I have the Law of Succession covered) but I haven't studied Company Law, administrative law or Jurisprudence specifically. The thing is Queen's stopped offering Jurisprudence 5 years ago...Has anyone had any experience with this? From Queen's or otherwise?

I thought Queens was an approved degree and that Admin and Jurisprudence had to be covered. To be fair you wont be examined on it so if they are happy to let you in on the basis of the Queen's degree without them being covered well more power to ya. They let people in the Griffith degrees (assuming we can pass the entry exams) so...

GKaplan

And from what I can see the other modules aren't on offer either.

GKaplan

I assume that I have covered elements of these topics in my degree because as you say it is a qualifying law degree, those are necessary elements... on the basis of needing Jurisprudence specifically alone no Queens degree given prior to 2007 would be acceptable.

Procrastastudy

GKaplan wrote: »

I assume that I have covered elements of these topics in my degree because as you say it is a qualifying law degree, those are necessary elements... on the basis of needing Jurisprudence specifically alone no Queens degree given prior to 2007 would be acceptable.

Maybe it's just covered over the period of the degree. Did you cover Administrative Law specifically?

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GKaplan wrote: »

I assume that I have covered elements of these topics in my degree because as you say it is a qualifying law degree, those are necessary elements... on the basis of needing Jurisprudence specifically alone no Queens degree given prior to 2007 would be acceptable.

I did B&L in UCD which is an approved degree but because I didn't cover jurisprudence or admin I had to apply to KI to attend classes on their diploma course and sit the exams in May. You need to speak to them and check if you need to do the same thing. Jurisprudence started in Oct and Admin starts in Jan. You may be admitted in now but will be behind in JP and company . Get on to it quick.

Procrastastudy

Enjoy Langwallner he's quite a character. Don't get him started on Oliver Wendell Holmes.

GKaplan

Ah man that's a pain in the ass. I have to finish my degree yet so travelling to Dublin would be stretching me over the next few months with everything else I need to do. As well as that I need the three basically from what you've confirmed from that earlier call I made. May be more practical to do a masters...

Procrastastudy

GKaplan wrote: »

May be more practical to do a masters...

Pffffft you're to easily put off! What ever you do OP best of luck.