Study in Canada University-College Programs law/Legal schools Bachelor of Laws was the name of the first degree in common law, but is also the name of the first degree in Quebec civil law awarded by a number of Quebec universities. All Canadian common-law LL.B. programs are second-entry professional degrees, meaning that the majority of those admitted to an LL.B. programme are already holders of one or more degrees, or, at a minimum, have completed two years of study in a first-entry, undergraduate degree in another discipline.
In Canada, the lawyer licensing process usually requires the law graduate to 1.) take further classroom law courses, taught by the law society itself, and pass a set of written examinations, commonly referred to as bar exams, related to the taken courses and 2.) complete articled clerkship commonly known as articling. Although the vast majority of law graduates fulfill the articled clerkship requirement by articling (i.e. working and learning) in a law firm, a government's legal department, a corporation's (in house) legal department, a community legal clinic or some other type of non-profit organization involved in legal work, a small minority of law graduates (with exceptional academic records) satisfy the articled clerkship requirement by undergoing what is commonly called clerkship with a specific courthouse and under the supervision of a judge instead of working in a more "lawyer-type environment" under the supervision of a lawyer called a "principal". In either articling or clerkship, there is the expectation that the law graduate will work in a variety of legal fields and be exposed to the harsh realities of legal practice that are absent from law school's academic atmosphere.
In the province of Ontario, for example, the licensing process for the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario's governing law society) consists of three mandatory components: The Skills and Professional Responsibility Program with assignments and assessments, Licensing Examinations (a Barrister Licensing Examination and a Solicitor Licensing Examination), and a 10-month Articling term.
At the conclusion of the licensing process, the law graduate is "called to the bar" whereby he/she signs his/her name in the rolls of solicitors and swears lawyer-related oaths in a formal ceremony where he/she must appear in a complete barrister's gown and bow before judges of the local superior court and benchers of the licensing law society. After the call ceremony, he/she can designate him/herself as a "solicitor and barrister", and can practice law in the province in which he/she is licensed. In the Province of British Columbia, licensed lawyers are automatically permitted to practice the powers of a Notary Public. In Ontario and other provinces, a licensed lawyer requires further licensing from another authority, such as the provincial attorney general, before he/she can work in a Notary Public capacity.
Although not required by the licensing process, many 1st and 2nd year law students work in law firms during the summer off-school season to earn extra money and to guarantee themselves an articling position (with the same law firms) upon their graduation from law school, because there is always fierce competition for articling positions, especially for those in large law firms offering attractive remuneration and prestige, and a law graduate cannot become a licensed lawyer in Canada if he/she has not gone through articled clerkship.
In the province of Ontario, for example, the licensing process for the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario's governing law society) consists of three mandatory components: The Skills and Professional Responsibility Program with assignments and assessments, Licensing Examinations (a Barrister Licensing Examination and a Solicitor Licensing Examination), and a 10-month Articling term.
At the conclusion of the licensing process, the law graduate is "called to the bar" whereby he/she signs his/her name in the rolls of solicitors and swears lawyer-related oaths in a formal ceremony where he/she must appear in a complete barrister's gown and bow before judges of the local superior court and benchers of the licensing law society. After the call ceremony, he/she can designate him/herself as a "solicitor and barrister", and can practice law in the province in which he/she is licensed. In the Province of British Columbia, licensed lawyers are automatically permitted to practice the powers of a Notary Public. In Ontario and other provinces, a licensed lawyer requires further licensing from another authority, such as the provincial attorney general, before he/she can work in a Notary Public capacity.
Although not required by the licensing process, many 1st and 2nd year law students work in law firms during the summer off-school season to earn extra money and to guarantee themselves an articling position (with the same law firms) upon their graduation from law school, because there is always fierce competition for articling positions, especially for those in large law firms offering attractive remuneration and prestige, and a law graduate cannot become a licensed lawyer in Canada if he/she has not gone through articled clerkship.