Increasing numbers of BVC graduates are sitting the New York Bar exam but, says Ansuya Luchmee, it's no easy option

I started thinking about moving to the US in 2006 while studying the Bar Vocational Course (BVC). I had met, in the words of Estelle, an 'American boy', and with pupillages notoriously difficult to secure, pursuing a career as a US attorney started to feel like a good move.

As a federal system, the US operates quite differently from the UK for the purposes of qualifying as a lawyer. Attorneys must be admitted to the Bar of the state in which they intend to practise. Currently only two states, New York and California, allow graduates of foreign law schools to sit their Bar exams. It is also worth noting that there is no distinction between 'solicitor' and 'barrister' in the US, nor is there any training period analogous to a two-year training contract or one-year pupillage. Therefore, upon admission to the Bar, one becomes an Attorney/Counsellor-at-Law who may seek employment in any field.

First steps

The first step for those considering US qualification is to make sure that they are actually eligible to sit the exam. Eligibility is set out on www.nybarexam.org. The guiding principle is that your law qualification has to be substantially equivalent, in substance and duration, to attendance at a US law school. Therefore UK graduates must have completed at least a full-time three year LLB. Long distance learning or online acquisition of an LLB is not permitted. Nor is a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or Common Professional Examination (CPE) conversion course. Some mixed degrees will fall short of the requirements too but, fortunately, my combined law and politics degree from Manchester University was deemed sufficient.

For prospective NY Bar exam candidates hoping to practise in the US, it is important to keep in mind that there are some serious immigration issues to contend with in order to be able to work in the States. And for those wanting to use the qualification to practise American law in London, remember that the large international firms tend to fill their London offices with American associates with Juris Doctor (the three-year US law qualification) degrees. A better bet for such candidates may be to qualify in the UK with the London office of a US firm which will then fund you through the US Bar.

Preparation

US law school graduates typically prepare for the NY Bar exam via a full-time eight-week programme which costs considerably less than the preparation courses offered in the UK – but decamping to the US for several months to study is not an option for most UK-based students.

The UK providers that teach the course – which include Holborn College, Central Law Training and BPP Law School – offer a range of different study options: full-time for three months, part time for six months or distance learning. As a procrastinator, I didn't trust myself to be disciplined enough to study the material from home. Plus, I'd heard the NY Bar exam was notoriously difficult – JFK and Hilary Clinton are reported to have both failed first time around – and felt face-to-face tuition would help boost my chances. So I went for the part-time option at Central Law Training, which I juggled with my work as a paralegal at a City law firm. It cost around £3,000, with classes running from 6pm-10pm on a Friday evening and 9am-5pm on Saturdays and Sundays. I said goodbye to weekends and free time for a while.

While en route to my first lecture, I was stricken by scenes from The Firm. Ah, the dreaded bar exam that Mitch suffered sleepless days and nights cramming for was upon me! And the reality was that the course was really tough: huge amounts of material to absorb, lots of frenzied note-taking in lectures and, on top of all the timetabled hours, significant amounts of review.

The class was certainly varied. A couple of girls funding themselves to do the exam alongside their pupillages, a magic circle trainee who wanted to specialise in arbitration, some solicitors who were being sponsored by their firms and several unhappy paralegals looking for something to distinguish themselves with on their training contract applications.

The exam

The exam takes place over two days, with each session lasting for six hours. Everybody taking the exam must sit it in New York State. Non-New York State residents usually sit the exam in Albany, upstate New York – which feels very different to New York City. The first day is known as the 'state portion' and consists mainly of essays, while the second, the 'Multistate Bar Exam' (identical for every state bar), tests you on six topics via a multiple choice format.

UK students tend to be more experienced than their US counterparts at essay writing, so beyond making sure I had read up sufficiently on the various topics (a big job in itself), I didn't spend too much time practising 'state portion' past papers.

The multiple choice was a different matter. It looks easy, but is actually very difficult, particularly for foreign candidates. The US educational system uses standardised testing at all levels, so US students are used to doing multiple choice tests. Most UK students, however, are not. Indeed, the only time I had done them was during the BVC. I prepared by going through every single past exam paper available on the New York Bar Exam website.

The other thing non-US candidates have to contend with are the cultural differences. The spellings and different expressions which Americans use can take some getting used to. And certain questions on constitutional law are often common sense to Americans, but rather less obvious to UK candidates. Perhaps this is why the pass rate for foreign educated takers has been historically so low. In the July 2007 exam, only 37% of foreign educated candidates (of first time and repeat takers) passed.

So did I pass? Thankfully, yes! My advice to other students? Make sure you're clear on your motivation for doing the exam. It is an expensive and time-consuming route to take, and requires dedication and discipline.

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