People need lawyers. Whether it’s labour law cases or other types of cases, family law or criminal law lawyers help to guide us through the legal process. In Canada, litigators are always in high demand.
When you decide to become a lawyer, it helps to learn the ins and outs of your country’s legal system. We’ll focus on what you’ll need to know for studying law in Canada.
Undergraduate Degree
When you decide to get your law degree to practice law in Canada, you’ll first start by obtaining your undergraduate degree. Whether you’re on track to become an assistant deputy attorney general, a special legal advisor for a corporation, or senior counsel for a law firm, you’ll have to first get your underclassman degree. A college degree is crucial to practicing litigation at places such as the Supreme Court of Canada.
Before you start your search for Canadian colleges, you’ll first need to determine if you can afford this undergraduate education. Start by checking your finances, incorporating the tools of websites such as WealthRocket.com. Websites such as these are personal finance portals that can help you to navigate the financial world. These websites can help you dig through such financial matters as maintaining financial accounts, focusing on specific spending categories, and maintaining the minimum deposit requirements for whatever banks you use. Overall, all these tools will help you find the money to move closer to getting your law degree.
Next, find a school. Some of these include McGill University, the University of New Brunswick, York University, and the University of Toronto Scarborough. You can get a bachelor’s degree, such as a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), or Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).
Some people suggest that if you are pursuing a career as a lawyer, senior counsel, litigator, or attorney general, then it’s best to seek out a degree like a Bachelor of Arts in criminology and policing. This law-focused degree will help a soon-to-be young lawyer move further along on their quest to become a senior appellate litigation counsel. Obtaining your college degree is the best first step to studying Canadian law.
LSAT
Another step that you’ll need to take when studying Canadian law is to study for and then take your LSAT (Law School Admission Test). Once you’ve obtained your college degree from McGill University, the University of New Brunswick, or the University of Toronto Scarborough, you’ll need to take the LSAT to get into law school. The LSAT will get you that much closer to obtaining your law degree. Many talented and practicing lawyers such as Nava Wilson LLP senior partner Malliha Wilson have had to complete the LSAT.
To show that you can handle complex litigation in such law arenas as labour law, international human rights law, and family law, taking the LSAT is necessary. Many young lawyers find themselves further studying Canadian law while preparing for this test. The LSAT tests you in the realms of reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning. All these qualities are needed to be a successful Canadian litigator. To continue to study or practice law in Canada, the LSAT is essential.
Law School
After you’ve taken your LSAT, you’ll then move on to law school. You’ll learn about Canadian constitutional law, property law, contracts law, and criminal law. If you have obtained an undergraduate degree in policing or criminology, then you’ll begin to apply such learned information here.
Once you reach your second and third years of law school, then you can choose a specific law field of interest. This might include the aforementioned labour law, international human rights law, and family law. Several factors will help you to determine what aspects of law interest you. Be open to a variety of choices. You’ll be working on notable cases throughout your career, so make sure you choose a field of law that will make you happy to pursue. Once you finish your years of coursework, you’ll obtain either your Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) or Juris Doctor (JD). Finishing law school is your last step in studying Canadian law.