Becoming a lawyer

[Dejan]

Hey guys, I was wondering it is necessary to sit the Bar exam in order to become a qualified lawyer?

[ninwa]

Short answer: no

Long answer: how to become a lawyer yay!!!1
1. Law degree
2. Graduate diploma of legal practice (GDLP), or 1 year supervised traineeship
3. Law degree + GDLP + passing the character test = admission as lawyer (solicitor) in Victoria

< after some years of experience as a solicitor >


edit: just to clarify, step 5 is the process for becoming a barrister signing the Bar roll. you do NOT need to do this to practice as a lawyer. a lot (majority, I think?) of lawyers never end up signing the Bar roll.
4. You decide "hey I want to wear a silly wig"
5. Follow this process - basically: study some more, sit an exam, if you pass the exam you may apply to do the reader's course, do an interview for the course, find a mentor, take the course, sign the bar roll BUT IT'S STILL NOT OVER, because then you have to do follow-up study and training

tl;dr becoming a solicitor is easy, becoming a barrister is a pain in the ass but if you like advocacy and being poor for the first few years, it's worth it (?)

[Dejan]

Wow that sounds like a pain in the ass but thank you so much Nina, appreciate it

[gs]

4. You decide "hey I want to wear a silly wig"

Haha

[ninwa]

SOME MINOR CORRECTIONS BECAUSE I AM IGNORANT

Last night I caught up with a dear friend who actually a lawyer and he told me the following:

When you are admitted to practice (step 3) you are actually admitted to the legal profession as a "barrister and solicitor" and officer of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Therefore, you can do minor court appearances in the capacity of a barrister. He was not sure if you can appear for major cases (e.g. ones that go to the County or Supreme Courts) though.

The reason people go through the rigmarole of step 5 is because it basically specialises you to be a barrister, which means 1) you have the training to take the more complex cases that go to the higher courts, 2) you are no longer allowed to do the work of a solicitor, 3) you are subject to different ethical and professional rules (e.g. the cab rank rule). Also I guess people don't really call themselves barristers unless they've actually signed the Bar roll.


ALSO MY FRIEND SAYS YOU CAN WEAR A SILLY WIG AS SOON AS YOU'RE ADMITTED!!! You don't need to be on the Bar roll. Hnnng I am so excited. In the process of trying to Google where I can buy a lawyer's wig (I hope my work's IT department doesn't check my search history :\) I discovered this business ^________________________^

[chasej]

SOME MINOR CORRECTIONS BECAUSE I AM IGNORANT

Last night I caught up with a dear friend who actually a lawyer and he told me the following:

When you are admitted to practice (step 3) you are actually admitted to the legal profession as a "barrister and solicitor" and officer of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Therefore, you can do minor court appearances in the capacity of a barrister. He was not sure if you can appear for major cases (e.g. ones that go to the County or Supreme Courts) though.

The reason people go through the rigmarole of step 5 is because it basically specialises you to be a barrister, which means 1) you have the training to take the more complex cases that go to the higher courts, 2) you are no longer allowed to do the work of a solicitor, 3) you are subject to different ethical and professional rules (e.g. the cab rank rule). Also I guess people don't really call themselves barristers unless they've actually signed the Bar roll.


ALSO MY FRIEND SAYS YOU CAN WEAR A SILLY WIG AS SOON AS YOU'RE ADMITTED!!! You don't need to be on the Bar roll. Hnnng I am so excited. In the process of trying to Google where I can buy a lawyer's wig (I hope my work's IT department doesn't check my search history :\) I discovered this business ^________________________^

I think the easiest way for a recent grad to piss of their more experienced colleagues in a firm would be to turn up to work every day wearing an outfit straight out of colonial Britain.