| Topic Name: |
Harvard/Columbia Law vs Cambridge/Oxford Law |
| Message Name: |
really? |
| Date Posted: |
11/04/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
In general, law degrees in Britain are at the bachelor's degree level. After kids do their A and O level exams when they're 18, they go off to law school. Because of this, if you want to practice in the US, you would have to do an LL.M, either at a british or an american institution. I have heard that some universities in Britain are starting to offer J.D. programs, and if this is the case, you would probably do well there, as long as it's a good school. I don't believe Oxford or Cambridge are starting programs such as that one, though. Perhaps LSE?
Get a JD from an american school--it's a lot easier to get a job after graduation in anycase. Even though you want to return to banking, the bottom line is that the first british law degree that you earn would probably be an an undergrad degree (BA from Oxford, LL.B from Cambridge). That would not be as impressive as a JD from Harvard or Yale.
In general, though, Oxford and Cambridge are fantastic places to go for your BCL (Oxford) or LL.M (cambridge)--equivalent degrees, they're just called different things at those universities. The LL.M or BCL are great degrees if you want to specialize within the law. They're great degrees to do after a few years of years of work (post-JD), and you feel like taking a break from the real world.
Hope that helped. |
| Message: |
Thanks for your reply. very informative.
I understand your point about a JD helping to get a law job, but I think this is only relevant if I want to practice in the US. Additionally, I don't think it will come into much play if the job I pursue is something in banking or private equity.
With banking, i'm hoping to spend years overseas,... prime reason this Cambridge/Oxford law degree came up.
But would it not be just as impressive if it was Cambridge/Oxford BA in law, then good American LLM versus good American JD, the Cambridge/Oxford LLM
I'm trying to see if I can't go wrong either way.
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