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Discovering Higher and Degree Apprenticeships with UWE Bristol, get free advice >>

LLM before or after LPC (or equivalent)?

Ok, I finally can ask this straight, as I had this question for a long time and I think most people wouldn't understand what I was talking about.

So as some of you may know, I live in Spain and I'm studying at undergrad level. Law courses in Spain now take 4 years of Grado (as opposed to the old system, which has just changed - it used to be 5 years of Licenciatura).

The thing is, they've changed the legal requirements to become a lawyer (solicitor/barrister). Before, you could just finish your 5 year Licenciatura and ask for admission at a Bar Association.

Now you need to study a masters degree (Master de Abogacia) which takes about 12 months (90 ECTS) and it's basically what in UK is known as the LPC qualifiying course.

Ok, the thing is that I'm not interested at all on practising in Spain. I'd like to work with EU Law and for some time I've been planning on studying an LLM at a foreign European university.

I could do it straight after my LLB (Grado), but if I wanted to become a lawyer I would still need to do Spanish LPC.

I've read that the best time to course an LLM is after you qualify and get a couple of years of experience. But my parents are only willing to support me with ONE degree, not two, and I'm already 23 years old (I'd finish my LLB with 25).

What are the job prospects for someone that "only" gets an LLM in European Law and later on, will probably get the LPC? Can I work in a law firm? Or simply, can I get a job? Would a company value that?

I just want to become independent as soon as I move to study abroad and secure a decent internship.

And probably i'd get "stuck" if I just coursed the LPC, as I don't think it's such a great idea to take a gap year to do an LLM after finally qualifying. But then again, from what I've read, many people say that law firms don't really care about LLM. But how else would I get a good internship to make my CV atractive to the kind of companies I'd want?

Best case scenario would be to secure a job in Brussels, Luxembourg or whatever for a while.

TLDR: LLM > LPC or LPC > LLM? LLM would be in European Law.

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