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So, you want to become a lawyer in Canada

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Becoming a licensed lawyer in Canada

Law School Bound - Richardson

Law School Bound – Richardson

Lawyers in Canada are members are one or more of the bars of Canada’s provinces. In order to be become a member of the bar in a Canadian province, you must complete the “lawyer licensing process” in that particular province. In general, the “lawyer licensing process” includes completing a period of “articling” and passing bar exams.

Therefore, to become a lawyer in Canada one must be be allowed to complete the “lawyer licensing process”.

Graduates of law schools outside of Canada

In order to complete the “lawyer licensing process”, graduates of law schools outside of Canada are required to have a “Certificate of Equivalency” from the National Committee on Accreditation (“NCA”).

Canadians attending law school in the U.K.

In recent years it has become more and more common for Canadians to attend law school outside of Canada. A large number of these people attend law schools in the U.K. It is possible for Canadians to attend law school in the U.K. and become lawyers in Canada.

Graduates of law schools in Canada

Graduates of law schools in Canada are allowed to enter the “lawyer licensing process” on the strength of their Canadian law degree.

Applying to law school in Canada

In general your “law school application” will include:

– a transcript of your university grades

– your LSAT test score

– a law school personal statement

– law school letters of reference

About the LSAT

Those applying to Canadian law schools are (in general) required to submit an LSAT score.  Those who apply to law schools outside of Canada are NOT (in general) required to submit an LSAT score.

The vast majority of applicants to Canadian law schools undertake some form of LSAT preparation. Your options for LSAT Preparation include:

or a combination of the above.

 

 

Former Law Society Treasurer describes history of legal profession keeping foreign law grads out of the bar

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This post is an acknowledgment of the difficulty that non-Canadian law graduates have historically had becoming admitted to the bar in Canadian provinces.

As difficult as it can be today, in past years it has been extremely arbitrary and unfair.

Progress has been slow. But, today graduates of many non-Canadian law schools can confidently say that they are able to navigate the NCA process and become a lawyer in Canada.

The only questions are:

1. What do I have to do to earn a “certificate of equivalency” (how many exams/courses); and

2. How long will the process take?

Foreign Lawyers In Canada

This is a fascinating article written by Vern Khrishna former Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada. This excerpt is especially interesting:

The last two paragraphs outline the history of the Canadian legal profession in keeping foreign law graduates out of the bar.

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Thoughts from 2009: Foreign trained lawyers face hurdles – then and now

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https://twitter.com/NCAPrep/status/878199668479377408

A trip down memory lane. Clearly the demand for graduates of non-Canadian law schools has increased (and will likely continue) to increase dramatically. It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of those who are currently navigating the NCA process.

Foreign Lawyers In Canada

Foreign-trained lawyers face hurdles

By Michael Rappaport
Toronto
December 11 2009 issue

[TL Price for The Lawyers Weekly, Images by Dreamstime.com]
Click here to see full sized version.

Lawyers trained abroad who want to practise in Canada must overcome many hurdles, not least of which is having their legal education and experience recognized by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada (FLSC).

The National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) is the standing committee of the FLSC that is responsible for evaluating the credentials of foreign-trained lawyers and awarding certificates of qualification that permit the recipient to apply to write Bar admission exams in most provinces with the exception of Quebec, which has its own process. In Manitoba and the Maritime provinces, the NCA’s recommendations are considered on a less formal basis.

According to FLSC statistics, in the past decade the number of applicants has more than tripled from 225 in 1999…

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Accreditation path offered to Foreign-trained accountants should be offered to Foreign-Trained lawyers

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Foreign lawyers wanting to become lawyers in Canada:

______________________________________________________________________

In a world of Global Mobility:

Question:

Answer:

Graduates of non-Canadian law schools can certainly relate to the following scenario described in an article that recently appeared in the Globe and Mail:

Accountant Tomy Devasia arrived from India with his family in 2015 but lacked the Canadian credentials required to pursue his professional career here.

Settling in Calgary, he worked briefly as a machine operator. But through the Centre for Newcomers, a Calgary-based non-profit that provides career and other support to about 10,000 immigrants and refugees a year, he discovered a pathway to resume work as an accountant.

It appears that there is solution for non-Canadian trained accountants that is not currently available to non-Canadian trained lawyers. The article goes on to describe:

As part of a 34-week full-time career skills training program offered by the centre, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology offers a 12-week certificate on the fundamentals of Canadian accounting. The certificate consists of two intermediate-level courses in accounting and one in Canadian taxation recognized by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.

Working with the centre, SAIT introduced the certificate in 2011 for foreign-trained accountants who had left established careers at home to settle in Canada. Over the past six years, 86 students have graduated from the program, with 16 currently enrolled, according to SAIT.

Requiring already-educated professionals to redo their accounting studies here makes no sense, says Janet Segato, SAIT associate dean of business.

“We have a lot of accountants who have degrees and master-level education in accounting from another country and have a high level of knowledge,” she says.

What trained newcomers need, she adds, is an introduction to the Canadian workplace, language skills and, in the case of accountants, Canada-specific knowledge about taxation and other financial rules. Mr. Devasia, for example, has a bachelor of commerce and an MBA from universities in India and had worked for 12 years in his home country as an assistant manager in accounts payable and receivable.

Through the education provided by the centre and SAIT, Ms. Segato says foreign-trained newcomers “can start making a contribution to the community much quicker if we can help kick-start their career path in Calgary.”

If the accounting profession (which arguably requires more Canada specific skills) has found a way to accommodate “foreign trained accountants”, then the law societies should be able to find a better way to accommodate “foreign trained lawyers”.

In any case (and this is just my personal opinion) “non-Canadian law school graduates” should (in addition to seeking bar admission in Canada) consider how to make better use of their non-Canadian law school and legal experience. There are many people who are making good livings as paralegals in Canada. In addition, certain LL.M. programs offer opportunities.

In the interim, the starting point for “Foreign lawyers becoming lawyers in Canada” is here.

John Richardson

Election of Trump generates ten fold increase in inquiries for US lawyers to be @LawyerInCanada

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The “Move To Canada” article referenced in the above tweet includes:

Canada and the prospect of Americans moving there appears to have drawn so much online interest that it knocked out the country’s immigration website.

Internet searches for “move to Canada” and “immigrate to Canada” spiked Tuesday night as election returns favoured Republican President-elect Donald Trump. “Canada immigration” was also a top trending Google search and “Canada” was a leading U.S. trend on Twitter, with more than 1 million tweets.

While much of the chatter was clearly tongue-in-cheek, the website for Citizenship and Immigration Canada was down at the time. Agency officials could not be immediately reached for comment to confirm the cause of the site outage.

The site appeared to be working sporadically by Wednesday morning.

My Canadian Pre-Law Forum Blog, in addition to being a resource for pre-law students, has become a huge source of information for non-Canadian lawyers and law graduates who wish to become lawyers in Canada. Canada is a stable and mature democracy with a strong and predictable legal system. Therefore, many people wish to move to Canada to live under the rule of law (British common law in all provinces except Quebec – at that). Lawyers see Canada as a good place to continue their legal careers. The truth is that Canada is a world leader is law, regulations and (and also) high taxes! (But at least, your high taxes did get you decent public health care.)

Amazingly (who could have known?), on November 9, 2016 – the day after the Trump victory (or should we say the Democrats defeat), the number of hits to this blog – specifically the part that deals with the non-Canadian lawyers practising law in Canada – increased ten fold! A ten fold increase because of the U.S. election! Think of it!

In many cases, a desired move to Canada is motivated by a desire to “Renounce U.S. Citizenship“. That said, the practical reality of “renouncing U.S. citizenship” is coupled by:

– the practical necessity of having a second citizenship. It does take time to become a Canadian citizen

– the possibility of being subjected to the “US Expatriation Tax”. Yes, incredibly the “Land Of The Free” will seek to impose punitive confiscation “taxation” on the assets of many Americans who wish to renounce U.S. citizenship. For an example to see how Draconian this can be see the following example so how the U.S. expatriation tax is calculated on those who renounce U.S. citizenship. Those who were dual U.S./Canadian citizens from birth may be exempted from the Expatriation tax.

Of course, U.S. lawyers wanting to move to Canada must qualify under Canada’s immigration laws and must navigate the NCA process that requires foreign lawyers to be admitted to the Bar in Canada.

John Richardson – Toronto, Canada

Foreign trained lawyers moving to Canada: Do you want to be a lawyer or do legal work as a paralegal?

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Modern day global mobility

We live in a world of global mobility. This includes the ability of people to “pick up” and immigrate to other countries. This also includes the ability of businesses to outsource work to other countries. We have all had the experience of calling “Bell Canada” and talking to somebody, in a Call Centre, somewhere else in the world. It is now possible for law firms in North American to outsource legal research. This means that the “work product” of Canadian lawyers includes work done by legal researchers (lawyers or not) which has been done by people NOT licensed to practise law in Canada. The same is true of other professions.

The legal landscape in Canada – Less and less legal work is being done by lawyers and more and more work is done by “paralegals” (or specialists in specific areas of law)

I am privileged to know a Canadian lawyer who graduated from law school in 1955. She continues to practise law and has practised law for more than 60 years. Think of it – 60 years.  In one of our earlier conversations she commented to me:

“So much of what used to be handled by the courts is now handled by specialized tribunals.”

I can see this trend in the years since I graduated from law school. Think of how much is now handled by administrative boards or specialized courts (tax tribunals, landlord tenant tribunals, small claims courts, etc., private arbitrators, etc.). Note that these areas of laws are handled NOT by lawyers but by people who specialize in that particular area of law. The jurisdiction of Ontario “small claims court” is now $25,000.00. That is more than sufficient for the damages in many civil disputes.

To put it simply: a huge percentage of “day-to-day” legal problems can easily be solved WITHOUT lawyers. What is needed is a specialist in “small claims court”, “landlord tenant”, etc. (Note that “landlord and tenant appeals” that go the “Divisional Court of Ontario” will likely require the services of a lawyer.)

The reality is that: Lawyers are very costly, often inefficient and often NOT the most knowledgeable people in certain routine areas.

To put it simply:

Lawyers have often “priced themselves out of the market”. To be fair, Canadian Law Societies have imposed high regulatory costs on lawyers. These costs must be passed on to clients. But, clients don’t care about the “overhead costs” of lawyers. Why should clients pay these costs if they can get their work by “paralegals” done less expensively?

Much of what lawyers used to do is now done by paralegals
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LSAT Preparation Courses Toronto

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Dear Pre-Law Student:

richardsonlsatprep

Congratulations on your decision to take the LSAT in June. John Richardson will be offering three LSAT prep course formats in Toronto for the June 10, 2013 LSAT. They are taught at St. Michael’s College on the downtown campus of the University of Toronto.

Your LSAT teacher will “make or break” your prep experience. You are invited to meet John, attend a free sample LSAT class, and receive a free LSAT Logic Games workbook on Sunday April 28, 2013. This will also give you an “Early Bird” start to your June LSAT Prep.

We have four complete Toronto LSAT course formats for June:

1. Mastering The LSAT – See why there is no course like this one! – $999

S. A – May 4 – June 8

S. B May 11 – June 8

S. C May 18 – June 8

2. Victoria Day Weekend LSAT Prep – May 18,19, 20 plus June 8 – $699

3. Four Saturday LSAT Prep –  May 4, 11, 25, June 1 plus June 8 – $799

4. One Weekend Toronto LSAT Prep – May 11, 12 plus June 8- $495

For those who do NOT want a complete LSAT course, but who desire only an LSAT Logic Games prep course, our “Logic Games Toolbox” course is available in Toronto on May 4 and May 12. It is also available at other locations.

If you have questions feel free to call us (yes, we still communicate by phone) at 416 410 7737.

We look forward to helping you get into law school and become a lawyer!

John Richardson, B.A., LL.B., J.D.