May 2016

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this informational booklet is to provide specialized information for pursuing a legal career abroad in Canada. This information is tailored for the Warwick student, for
both law and non-law backgrounds.
It is in our hopes that this booklet will not only help spread
awareness of the bountiful legal career choices available for
Warwick students, but also provide real practical starting
steps for those pursuing legal careers abroad.

In This Issue

Canada

Overview of the Canadian Legal Industry

Canadian Conversion
System

The leading area of law

in Canada is commercial. The countrys market - dominated by its
resources and infrastructure - involves a large
amount of work in M&A,
energy, environmental,
and tax to name but a
few specialist areas that
fall under this corporate
umbrella. Canada also
houses some of the
leading arbitration practitioners, while real estate
is emerging as a robust
player after a strong

OVERVIEW OF CANADIAN LEGAL INDUSTRY

Canadas legal environment had previously maintained a divide between the "Seven Sisters" and the rest of the market.
However, the dominance that firms such as Blake, Cassels &
Graydon LLP, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Goodmans, McCarthy Ttrault, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP,
Stikeman Elliott LLP and Torys have previously held over
their rivals has been put under considerable strain lately.
More and more firms are recognising the potential within the
countrys resource and infrastructure sectors. Norton Rose
Fullbright Canada LLP and Dentons have recently entered
the market, joining the ever-present Baker & McKenzie as
powerful foreign players. It is worth noting that globalization is
also influencing Canadian firms to look outwards, seeing that
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, mining specialists, entered
into the South African market in 2013 through its tie-up with
Johannesburg-headquartered Bell Dewar.
Despite housing a mature and long-established legal market,
Canadas profile has increased significantly lately, as major
foreign players have entered its borders to take advantage of
its stable economic record GDP grew by 2.5% in 2011 and
1.7% in 2012 (according to the World Bank). This is not a
quick enough recovery for some, citing a reduced global de-

No figures are available

for foreign lawyers, although the National Committee on Accreditation
(NCA) - a standing committee of the Federation
of Law Societies of Canada is notorious for
setting tough exams and
has often been accused
of acting protectionist.
That is not to discourage
potential applicants, because there are a fair
number of British expats
who have been success-

Placement is not guaranteed, considering that

even domestic law school
graduates struggle, with
approximately 35% unable to secure employment.
Canadas legal regime is
structured according to
the English common law
tradition. Although Canada is now fully independent from Britain, and Canadian judges now have
more than enough independent Canadian legal
precedent to help them
make decisions, its not
entirely uncommon for
judges to refer back to
the judgments of British
judges in the colonial period.
Canadians' legal rights
are protected by a written
constitution and a Charter
of Rights and Freedoms,
while only the federal
government has the ability to make criminal law;
the provinces merely regulate and administer public services.
Quebec, however, still
retains a civil system for
issues of private law. It is
however subject to the
same Constitution since
the Supreme Court (the
highest authority) ruled
that it could not legally
separate from Canada
without the governments

mand for exports for its sluggish nature. Forecasts suggested a

similar growth for 2013, however the first half of the year has not
played to expectations. This period saw the slowest M&A activity
in eight years; Mergermarket reported a fall of 40 per cent, to 245
deals valued at $31.7 billion. With mining and resources historically counting for a large portion of Canadas M&A activity, the
recent slowdown in demand and cautiousness among foreign investors means that other sectors of the economy will have to

Proposed changes to Canadas foreign investment rules have also

caused uncertainty in the market. In December 2012, the Canadian government allowed China National Offshore Oil Corporations
$15.1 billion takeover of Nexen in December 2012, but with a
warning that future takeovers by state-owned enterprises would be
on an exceptional basis only. The 2013 budget introduced in April
included proposed amendments to the Investment Canada Act
which would allow the government to impose a lower net benefit
review threshold on state-owned enterprises. A lack of guidance
on when an entity will qualify as such and when the lower review
threshold will apply has triggered mixed responses to the proposed
amendments. Canada needs foreign capital to develop the oil
sands to their full potential and if foreign investment is discouraged, there will be a shortage of funding.
The latter part of 2013 looks to be more optimistic with retail mergers driving activity and further consolidation is expected as companies come together to fight increased competition from US giants entering the country. Furthermore, according to the 2012
Tech M&A Activity Report Private Company Acquisitions, Canada ranks third globally in terms of the volume of deals done. In light
of this, the IMF announced in July that it was upgrading Canadas

Despite the slowdown in M&A activity, Canada remains a key

focus for law firms; the big draw to the market being its lucrative mining scene. In addition, infrastructure is creating some
big-ticket mandates, stimulated by the Economic Action Plan
2013s delivery of a New Building Canada Plan. The plan proposes to invest 53 billion Canadian dollars into new funding
for public infrastructure projects in cooperation with provinces, territories and municipalities. This could be considered an
attempt to promote cooperation between these many jurisdictions. Canada is known for its divided and jurisdictional market. The largest legal centre is Toronto in the province of Ontario, which remains the key base for corporate deals. Calgarys position as a leader in the oil and gas industry makes Alberta the province of choice for energy firms, while British Columbias economy is also resource-dominated. Meanwhile,
French-speaking Quebec operates under a civil code sepa-

Earning a Legal Qualification to Practice Law in Canada

as a National Student
Canadian students who wish to take on a career in law must
first complete two to four years of a university program and a
Bachelor of Laws degree in a recognized law school. Then,
they must complete a stage of articling, which is essentially
like an apprenticeship where they will shadow other lawyers.
Following this, they will take a bar admission course and another exam. This will entitle applicants to a licence in the
province or state where they wish to work. They are then
committed to that career for a period of six to eight years or

Financial Considerations
On the assumption that
Warwick Law students
would not require to complete an LLM degree at a
law school at the United
States, and therefore
would not have to pay
further tuition, there is
only an application fee to
sit the New York State
Bar Exam. The application fee for candidates
qualifying for the bar ex-

Pass Rate of the NYBE

In terms of foreigneducated law students
attempting to sit the
NYBE, in 2012, 2,328 first
time applicants sat the
exam, of which 1,023
passed (a total pass rate
of 44%). In 2011, 2,200
first time applicants sat
the exam, of which 960
passed (a total pass rate

The Canadian Conversion Process for Non-Nationals

It is important to note that the admission requirements for a
non-national to practice law varies from state to state in Canada, however, the rules they have all operate under a basic
two-stage framework.
Stage One
Unlike the UK, the American legal system is unusual in that, with few exceptions, it has no formal
clinical training requirements or apprenticeship
between and after the
academic legal education
and the bar exam.
Consequently, those admitted to the bar may
right away procure clients
and may begin carrying
out work as an attorney.
Unlike many other common law jurisdictions,
such as the UK, where
there is a classification of
lawyers into solicitors and
barristers, the Untied
States legal system does
not draw a distinction between lawyers who plead
in court and those who do
not.
Once admitted to practice
by the highest court of a
state, an American attorney may file legal pleadings and argue cases in
that state court, offer legal advice to individuals
and draft legal documents.
However, arguing cases
in the federal courts re-

In all states excluding Quebec

The first stage of this is that applicants must apply to
the National Committee on Accreditation, which will evaluate
the extent of the individuals previous legal training. Following
this evaluation, they will decide the scope of the requirement
that that individual needs to complete in order to have the
equivalent legal training as that of a Canadian applicant. The
factors which the NCA consider are as follows:

The legal system of the applicants home country

The legal subjects which the applicant has studied

The grades achieved by the applicant
The nature of the university which granted the applicant
their degree
Further professional qualifications acquired by the applicant

Applicants from the UK can expect to be required to take an

extra 30 to 60 credit hours in a Canadian law school if they
have obtained a 2:1 or higher in the UK undergraduate program. The higher the grades of the applicant, and the better
their legal experience, the lower the amount of hours and
studying required of them. In certain situations the applicant
merely has to sit the written exams.
Once the candidate has successfully completed the course of
study and exams recommended to them by the NCA, they will
be issued with a certificate. This is a formal acknowledgement by the NCA that that person has the education and
training equivalent to a graduate of an approved Canadian

Stage Two
After acquiring the NCA certificate, the applicant is then able
to proceed to a Bar Administration Course. Each province has
its own rules concerning the entrance into the BAC and for
admission to the bar, however, all BACs consist of the following:

9 12 months of articling apprenticeship in a law office

Courses that address certain legal skills
Substantive law

Loblaw Co. Ltd. announced in mid-July it

would buy Shoppers Drug
Mart Corp. in a $12.4billion
cash-and-stock
deal. This would see
Canadas largest grocery
retailer combined with the
countrys largest chain of
pharmaceutical
stores.
Experts reckon the deal
will accelerate the blurring of the lines between
drugs, grocery, fashion
and merchandise retailing.

A Breakdown of the Costs

National Committee on Accreditation fees
NCA evaluation:
$525
NCA examination:
The current examination fee is $525 (includes all applicable
taxes does not include the cost of textbooks).
Deborah Wolfe, managing director of the NCA, estimates that
overall, if an applicant were required to take the minimum
number of exams, they should still expect to pay a total of
$3,000.
Iconic Canadian retailer
Hudson's Bay Co. followed suit when it said it
planned to buy high-end
American brand Saks
Inc. in a deal valued at
$2.9 billion (US Dollars).
These deals invigorated
merger and acquisition
activity after what was a
quiet first six months of
2013.
Little M&A activity came
from the mining sector,
as companies battled
cutbacks as a result of
decreased demand in
emerging markets such
as China.
More retail deals are expected as domestic companies come together to
fight increased competition from giant US retailers such as Wal-Mart
and Target, the latter a

Bar Administration Course Fees

Annual Fees
Practice fee (Rule 2-70)

$1,893.06

Transfer Fees
Application fee for transfer from another Canadian province territory
$1,125.00
Transfer or qualification examination

$300.00

Common Law Schools

Rankings

Civil Law Schools Rankings

1. Toronto

1. McGill

2. Osgoode

2. Montreal

3. UBC

3. Ottawa

4. McGill

4. Laval

5. Queens

5. Sherbrooke

6. Dalhousie

6. UQAM

7. Victoria
8. Alberta
9. Western
10. Saskatchewan
11. Calgary
12. Ottawa
13. Manitoba

14. New Brunswick

15. Windsor
16. Moncton

Law Beyond
Borders
By liaising with global law
firms headquartered in
countries all over the
world, Law Beyond Borders presents Warwick
students with promising
global career prospects,
while also serving as a networking platform for aspiring
lawyers with diverse backgrounds.

FB: https://
www.facebook.com/
LawBeyondBorders
Warwick Law Society:
http://
warwicklawsociety.co.uk/