I was born in America ,so is there a chance that i could take up law in India and continue my caree in law after graduating?
As law deals with the Government and I being a citizen of another country was wondering if i could make a career with this subject in another country due to the present settle of home . #lawyers
2 answers
Carolyn Herzog
Carolyn’s Answer
I am American and I have worked in International Law both in the US and overseas. I worked in the Africa Department of the World Bank and later worked in the UK. There are different ways to leverage your law degree to work in different countries. If you want to practice in house, in government or in a law firm, there will be different licensing requirements in different countries. I don't know what the licensing requirements are specifically in India, but I would expect that the requirements are different if you intend to work in a law firm and to litigate or represent clients in court, vs working in house in a company.
Thank you ,this gives me a lot of clarity . I shall find out the requirements in India.
Robin
Desiree’s Answer
You are lucky to be near one of the most prestigious law schools in India, National Law School of India University (NLSIU) https://www.nls.ac.in/. I suggest contacting them to ask about admissions for non-citizens. To my knowledge, being a foreign citizen does not prevent practice of law in India - so long as you meet all the local requirements to practice law. Although certain jobs within the field of law may have citizenship requirements (e.g., something involving national security, for instance).
However, I want to give you a bigger prospective so you can think hard about where you want to get your law degree. In the US Law is a post-graduate degree, requiring both an undergraduate (Bachelor of [Art/Science/etc] - typically, 4 years) and law degree (Juris Doctor - typically, 3 years). So it takes at least 7 years of university study to be a US attorney (plus passing the Bar Exam, Ethics Exam and Character Interview). In India, Law can be an undergraduate degree (Legum Baccalaureus or LLB, a three-year Bachelor of Law ), presuming you first have your graduation degree, or it may be a combined 5 year integrated law degree (at NLSIU it's a "B.A.,LL.B. (Honours)" and there are similar degrees are offered elsewhere in India -- "B.Sc., LL.B. (Honours)", "BA/BBA/B.Sc. LLB (Honours)"). So that could be 5 years (plus passing the All India Bar Examination).
If you get a US law degree (from a US university recognized under rules for Recognition of Degree in Law of a Foreign University) & pass the All India Bar Examination, then you can practice law in India.
However, the US states often require those with Indian law degrees to take a 2-year Masters in Law ("LLM") course in US, in addition to passing the Bar Exam, Ethics Exam and Character Interview. On the one hand, the math makes sense: to practice law in the US you need 7 years of law study, so if you have 5 years of study in India, the US generally makes you go back to school for another 2 years. But on the other hand, if you've practiced law for years in India (maybe even decades!) it seem a little silly to go back to law school.
If you are (or intend to be!) a global citizen, you should think hard about how your degree will be recognized in other countries, and plan your education accordingly.
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