Degrees of Difference

J.D.-LL.M. Partnership event examines other legal systems

by Darren Schenck

Five LL.M. students – each a practicing attorney – discussed the legal systems in their countries of origin at a special J.D.-LL.M. Partnership event April 8. While there were similarities across countries, some of the differences, including a six-day bar exam required to practice law in Nigeria, drew astonished laughs from the J.D. and LL.M. students in attendance.

From left: Petty, Vakil, Zhao, Larry, Martins and Marsden

The event was sponsored by the International Law & Relations Organization, a student group that encourages interaction between J.D. students and the 174 international students enrolled in the LL.M. for Foreign Lawyers program.

The panel participants (with country of origin in parentheses) were: Payoshni Vakil (India), Xue Zhao (China), Duke Larry (Nigeria), Matheus Martins (Brazil), and Stephanie Marsden (Australia).

Samuel Petty ’13 moderated the discussion.

The credentials required to practice law vary widely across the countries represented. None of the legal education systems closely resemble that of the United States, in which a four-year course of undergraduate study precedes a three-year J.D. program, although the Australian legal system is beginning to adopt this model.

In India, for example, students pursue a five-year course of study in law, while in China, students with any college degree can practice law if they pass the bar exam and complete a one-year apprenticeship.

“Legal education in China is booming,” Zhao said, “but there is more supply [of practitioners] than demand.”

In Nigeria, a five-year course of study prepares students for a six-day bar examination.

“I’ll never complain about the California bar exam again,” Petty said.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s bar exam has a passage rate of only 18 to 20 percent, according to Martins.

The system of law is especially different in countries like China, which has a civil law system. Australia’s legal system, modeled on that of the U.K., has a split legal profession, with solicitors who work directly with clients and barristers who in turn are retained by solicitors to advocate in court.

Depending on where one lives in Nigeria, on the other hand, one must consider not only common law but also English law – statutes and case law carried over from the nation’s colonial period—customary law and Sharia law.

“We’re a pretty dynamic group of people,” Larry said. “Several cultures, different customs. Every custom has its own practice and law that goes with it.”

Each panelist agreed that a U.S. legal education is “more practical” than that offered in their countries, which is one reason they came to USC Gould to pursue the LL.M. degree in the first place.

Learn more about the J.D.-LL.M. Partnership Program.