1. Obtain a High School Diploma
In most cases, you will have to obtain a high school diploma in order to be admitted into university in Canada. There are very rare circumstances whereby a high school diploma is not necessary, however those circumstances usually result in a much more time-consuming process. The easiest way to get into a Canadian university is with an Ontario Grade 12, US Grade 12, GCE/GCSE at the A/AS level, CAPE, IB, etc.
2. Obtain an Undergraduate Degree
The best approach to this step, is to obtain an undergraduate degree in a program that you love. Try to think long-term about the type of law that you want to practice because your undergraduate degree will inform what types of opportunities are available to you once you graduate from law school.
There are instances whereby people have gotten into law school in Canada without an undergraduate degree. Usually, these people have applied as mature students or they have already completed undergraduate coursework. Nonetheless, you must understand that the law school admission process is extremely competitive. It's usually easier to get into law school if you have obtained an undergraduate degree. You get serious bonus points if you also managed to obtain great grades.
3. Write the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)
Every single Canadian law school requires the standard Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). This test is held four times a year and contains tons of questions and problems that assess your reading comprehension, logical thinking and analysis skills. It is very important to obtain the highest possible LSAT score in order to prepare a law school application that is highly competitive. Feel free to contact me directly if you need help preparing for your LSAT exam. I'm always happy to help out students whenever I can! :)
4. Apply to Law School
There are 16 law schools in Canada and hundreds more across the globe. Be sure to do your research to determine which law school is best for you. In addition to considering whether the law school you are applying to is right for you, you should also determine whether you are likely to gain admission to that particular law school based on your undergraduate grades, LSAT score and other accomplishments/attributes. Applying to law school is an extremely expensive endeavour. You don't want to be caught in a situation where you pay to apply for law schools that are out of your reach.
5. Complete Law School
In Canada, completing a law school education on a full-time basis usually takes about three years. Your first year of law school will be filled to the brim with introductory law school courses such as Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Property Law, and Contracts Law. You will have access to a legal research and writing course as well as a random, more exciting area of law (e.g. Bio-Ethics Law, Mental Health Law, Environment Law).
During your second/final year of law school, you will spend a lot of your time completing elective courses and preparing job applications for summer student positions. It is best to obtain a summer student position as soon as possible because these types of jobs provide law students with practical work experience. These types of jobs also ease the pressures of finding an articling position because most law firms will hire back their summer students as articling students in the future.
6. Obtain an Articling position/ Enrol in Law Society of Upper Canada's Law Practice Program
At this point on your journey towards becoming a lawyer, you will need to obtain either an articling position, or enrol in the Law Society of Upper Canada's Law Practice Program. The traditional route is to obtain an articling position at a law firm, legal aid clinic, government agency or other business organization. However, due to the rise in lawyer candidates, there has been a shortage of articling positions available. As a response to this growing crisis, the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) created a new Law Practice Program as an alternative for lawyer candidates who are unable to find a traditional articling position.
7. Write the Bar Exam
In Ontario, all lawyer licensing candidates are required to successfully write the Barrister and Solicitor examinations before they are eligible to be admitted to the Ontario bar. The Barrister and Solictior exams are administered by LSUC three times per year in November, March, and June. Both the Barrister and Solicitor exams are written on different days because they are both approximately seven (7) hours in length. If you would like assistance preparing for this exam, feel free to contact me directly.
So there you have it, 7 steps to becoming a lawyer in Canada! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me directly: latham.lavinia@gmail.com
Thanks for reading,
Lavinia Latham, B.A., J.D.
