(单词翻译:单击)
纽约只允许ABA认证(American Bar Association approved)的法学院的毕业生参加考试(全美大约只有180所学校),而加州则允许众多杂牌的加州法学院学生报考。加州对外国律师报考条件要求较严格(据说,外国执业律师通过审核后也可报考determination of educational equivalency,但过程很烦琐,报名费很高)。它对本州学生报考条件放得很宽松,加州通过率低的部分原因在这里。纽约集中了美国最多的超大型律师事务所,是国际金融、贸易和法律业务最发达的地方。如果你希望搞金融证券、资本运作、跨国投资等业务,我认为纽约资格会好些。加州地大物博,气候温暖,发展空间广阔。如果你想供车养楼,住好玩好,眺望太平洋,一解乡愁,还是加州“律”卡好。加州和纽约是最受欢迎的两个州,也是公认最难考的两个州。如果你通过了任何一个,职场前景应该是一片光明。不过,话说回来,机会多的地方,竞争也激烈,在美国发展,说到底要英语好。如果你在小州读法律,考了该州的执照,由于外来竞争较少,说不定你更有机会找到好工作。据我所知,德克萨斯、佛罗里达、内华达和伊利诺斯州的执照正变得越来越热。我想,如果你考下关岛、波多黎各,Paulau或者处女岛等美国海外飞地的律师执照,到那里去执业的话,你是老大,赚的钱应该不会少(因为这些地方是资本外流和洗钱逃税的天堂)。美国还有一个专利律师考试(Patent Bar Exam),一百道选择题而已。只要理工本科毕业都可以报考,和通常说的美国律考没有内在关系,许多法学院学生第二学年就考过了,应该不会太难。
以上是我这次纽约律考的简单回顾。这仅仅是个人观感,算不上权威说法。如果你希望得到全面可靠的信息,最好的方法是直接到各州相应的官方网站去查找。我希望更多的中国律师能够到美国来观察、学习和工作。只有加快和国际接轨,不断地向国际同行学习,我们的跨国法律业务才会真正地发展起来。也只有把市场的蛋糕做大了,我们每个人的口袋才会饱满起来。
下面是就一些大家感兴趣的问题,做简单的提示。
全国统考科目:
Multi-state subjects: Constitutional law, contract, sales, criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, real property and torts.
纽约州自考科目:
New York subjects: Agency, commercial paper, conflict of laws, corporations, domestic relations, equity1, federal jurisdiction2 and procedure, leases, mortgages, New York practice, no-fault insurance, partnership3, personal property, secured transactions, trusts, wills, worker‘s compensation, fine points, New York distinctions supplement.
允许LL.M.报考的11个州:
Arizona, California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Paula.另外Texas, Kentucky也有可能。
每一个州都有单独规定,报考前一定要亲自核实。
California: Foreign law school graduates must request individual evaluation4 to determine pre-legal and legal education equivalency. Graduates from common law foreign law schools may qualify to take additional year of law study at an ABA-approved or graduates generally are required to complete more practice law in foreign or U.S. jurisdiction will qualify to take the bar examination without further education.
New York: Applicant5 must complete period of law study equivalent in duration to that specified6 in New York rules in law school recognized by competent accrediting7 agency of the government of such foreign country. All applicants8 must have their transcripts9 evaluated by the Board of Law Examiners to determine if further study, in the form of 20 credits at an approved law school in the U.S., including basic courses in American law, is required.
各州报考人数和通过率,请参考:
http://www.ncbex.org/stats.htm
纽约和加州每年都超过一万考生,加州通过率大约50%,纽约大约60%,通过率最高的州超过90%,如蒙大拿州、犹他州。
1 equity | |
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 jurisdiction | |
n.司法权,审判权,管辖权,控制权 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 evaluation | |
n.估价,评价;赋值 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 applicant | |
n.申请人,求职者,请求者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 specified | |
adj.特定的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 accrediting | |
v.相信( accredit的现在分词 );委托;委任;把…归结于 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 applicants | |
申请人,求职人( applicant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 transcripts | |
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本 | |
参考例句: |
|
|