Doing law in the USA, my UK uni good enough?

Hey all, I was thinking about going for the JD in the USA (yes, I have read the thread below this one through) but essentially, I don't know if getting an LLB from Manchester Uni is "good enough" to go for the better law schools in the US. So, basically, is it? As it stands I've only just started thinking about this so I'm fairly ignorant with regards to which are the best law schools over there + the system in general, and I'm off to have a poke around for info.

Thanks

The best thing about law school in the US is that your undergrad degree has no baring on your future aptitude in law. Meaning you can have an undergrad degree in music, political science, art, or russian lit but still be a good fit for law school. Everything you will need to learn about the "law" is done in law school. A competitive GPA or average GPA but an excellent LSAT score gives you a starting point to decide which law school is right for you. Law school rankings begin to differ depending on what you wish to specialize in your degree (i.e. international law).

Where you wish to study? And, what state would you want to practice in after you pass the bar exam? It is very important that you understand that a U.S. law degree is only truly valid or functional in the US I might say once you pass the bar exam. Depending on the location of the law school, it might be easier to take the bar in the same state since law schools generally have far better connections in the location of the school but this is not a firm statement.

yale law school is the best...it also gives you an amazing chance to become US president...if you wanted to

Well thank you, however I did have a quick google about studying law in the USA after doing an undergrad degree in the UK and came across this link which is what has discouraged me.

http://www.llm-guide.com/board/34970/0

As to your other questions, atm I genuinely have very little idea - though I'll be avoiding the deep south and that's all I know . Also, I don't *quite* understand what you mean by the bit I've highlighted in bold in your quote - surely that's obvious?

Thanks

I would suggest you really think about what state you want to attend law school. As for the "Deep South" comment - to each to their own. The bold statement simply means that to "practice law in the US" - you must pass the bar exam to get a license or, you just have a law degree. Now, the elephant in the room - why do you want to attend law school in the US?

Atm I'm just looking at various options that are open to me, so it's not a definite decision yet anyway. The reasons are that I simply feel as if the USA is somewhere where I'd like to end up later on in life, so why not start now?

Edit: Woops, just seen your location. Well, it's just a personal preference.

Depending on the location of the law school, it might be easier to take the bar in the same state since law schools generally have far better connections in the location of the school but this is not a firm statement.

I guess the primary question was whether I would stand much of a chance coming to the US and gunning for a top law school having been to Manchester, obviously less known than the likes of Oxbridge etc

I did have a quick google...and came across this link which is what has discouraged me.

yale law school is the best...it also gives you an amazing chance to become US president...if you wanted to

Well, if you want to live in the US there are plenty of options available besides law school. Don't worry about not wanting to live in the South -it preserves our green space, less traffic, and keeps the cost of living reasonable. Alright, if you have any more questions I'm here.

AliciaJ703 has done a fine job of addressing your concerns, so I'll just add a couple comments.

yale law school is the best...it also gives you an amazing chance to become US president...if you wanted to

You need to be a born and bred American to assume office.

Hence, Arnold Schwarzenegger cannot become President, as he was born Austrian.

AliciaJ703 has done a fine job of addressing your concerns, so I'll just add a couple comments.

I second this. Although there are exceptions, especially among top schools (Duke has a higher New York bar exam pass rate than any other law school), generally it is easier to select a college in the desirable state/region.


They will know Manchester. I know Manchester, and I'm only a graduate student.

This year's entering law class at Yale included about a half dozen students from universities abroad -- McGill, U Toronto, U Alberta in Canada; U Münster in Germany; U Cape Town in South Africa. Harvard law also had some international students this year -- McGill, McMaster, Dalhousie, Simon Fraser, U Alberta, U Manitoba, U PEI, U Waterloo, U Western Ontario, U Winnipeg, York, U Windsor, UBC, U Calgary, Queen's in Canada; Hebrew U in Israel; U Auckland in New Zealand; U Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe; Ewha Womans U, KAIST, Seoul National U, Yonsei in Korea; Tsinghua, National Taiwan U in China; Cambridge, Oxford in the UK.

It is true that students at other international universities are generally not seen as desirable as those at Cambridge and Oxford, but obviously at least some others are considered good enough, or they would not be admitted.


I don't see why that link should discourage you. All it really says is that American firms are snobs about the quality of law schools, which is true. If you get a JD over here, that's what they'll care about.

The reputation of one's law school matters quite a lot, but that doesn't affect you (yet). There is an often cited "T14" tier of law schools (Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Michigan, Northwestern, NYU, Penn, Stanford, UVA, Yale) that are nearly universally recognized as the best, although truthfully there are a few others like UCLA that are almost certainly on par with the weaker T14 schools. Outside of the T14, things get murky in terms of job prospects; the US has experienced a surplus of law school graduates, and it is increasingly difficult for even top graduates to find jobs.

You need to be a born and bred American to assume office.

Born, not bred.

I read somewhere that at least one parent needed to be American? Before Obama, it was usually the case that both a presidential candidates parents would be Americans.
Either way: you need to be born an American citizen.

Per Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution; a President must:

be a natural born citizen of the United States,
be at least thirty-five years old,
have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.