Becoming a lawyer in Australia is a five-stage process. We provide quite a bit of detail below so that potential law students know exactly what they’re getting into if they want to become a lawyer in Australia.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Table of contents
Stage 1: Graduate with a law degree
The first stage of becoming a lawyer in a state or territory jurisdiction is to complete a law degree. Students need to complete either a Bachelor of Laws (“LLB”) or a Juris Doctor (“JD”) to graduate with an “eligible law degree”.
An eligible law degree indicates a degree that meets the requirements when an individual applies to the Supreme Court to become a lawyer. A law degree needs to be approved to be considered an eligible law degree – generally by the Chief Justice in the individual’s state or territory – in practice, however, any LLB or JD that is offered at an Australian university can be assumed to be approved. The differences between the LLB and JD are explained below.
Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
An LLB can be completed by undergraduate or graduate students. Undergraduate students must undertake an LLB program to complete an eligible law degree. Postgraduate students can undertake an LLB degree and apply for ‘advanced standing’ which reduces the number of subjects a student needs to complete in the LLB program (normally around a 25% reduction). Advanced standing reflects the skills developed in previously completed tertiary studies.
Normally, however, universities either have a dedicated LLB (Graduate Entry) or “LLB (Grad Entry)” course that postgraduate students may be eligible for, or alternatively (or in conjunction with) offering postgraduate students the JD program. The LLB and LLB (Grad Entry) are the same qualification (i.e. students are awarded a ‘Bachelor of Laws’) and are classed as a level 7 course by the Australian Qualifications Framework (“AQF”); the AQF provides national regulation and recognition for qualifications in Australia.
Students that graduate with a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) will achieve a level 8 on the AQF scale.
Juris Doctor
Unlike the LLB degree only postgraduate students can undertake a JD. The JD is a much newer degree in Australia.
Although the JD and the LLB (Grad Entry) degrees both lead to admission, the Juris Doctor is a higher-level course; it is normally considered to be a Master degree and a level 9 on the AQF scale. However, there has been criticism that the JD programs at universities are little different to the LLB course.
Separating the LLB and JD programs may help identify postgraduate students reskilling in the area of law but it is immaterial when determining if they can be a lawyer.
Stage 2: Practical Legal Training
The second stage required to be completed by a lawyer is the Practical Legal Training (“PLT”) program. There are different options as to how a student can complete PLT.
Primarily, students undertake a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (“GDLP”), with a handful of students completing an articles of clerkship or similar program. PLT is specifically designed to prepare students to practise law.
Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice
The GDLP provides a bridge between what students learn in their undergraduate students to what they might expect to be doing in legal practice. Scenarios that can be expected in legal practice may include: doing a property conveyance, preparing a statement of claim, writing a will, and writing a letter of advice.
The GDLP program also requires a student be placed in a law firm for a varying level of time, generally between 20 to 75 days. The size of the coursework component of the GDLP usually depends on the length of the placement.
Students who have already worked in a law firm in certain roles may be able to apply for advanced standing for some or all of their placement requirements.
Articles of clerkship
An articles of clerkship is in essence an apprenticeship to becoming a lawyer. The articles of clerkship was previously the primary method of completing PLT. Over time the GDLP program has overtaken the articles of clerkship.
In Queensland, a two and five-year articled clerk scheme was replaced in 2005 by a minimum one-year supervised traineeship scheme.
Stage 3: Admission to the Supreme Court
To be eligible for admission as a lawyer, an individual must hold either an eligible LLB or JD degree as well as having completed PLT. Further, to be admitted as a lawyer, the courts ensure that prospective lawyers are “fit and proper” people to practice law. This is a reasonably strict process, although ultimately most students are able to be admitted.
In 2014/15 the Queensland Legal Practitioners Admission Board recommended admission for 953 out of 1012 applicants. The board opposed 15 applications and conditionally recommended a further 44 applicants, requiring that a certain issue or issues were brought to the attention of the Supreme Court by way of written submissions.
Stage 4: Becoming a solicitor or barrister
When a person is admitted in the Supreme Court they are a legal practitioner, but not yet able to practice law; stage 4 relates to obtaining a practising certificate.
There are three pathways that an individual can take after being admitted depending on the jurisdiction in which they intend to practise. They can:
- apply for a solicitors practising certificate;
- complete a bar practice course, join a bar association and become a barrister; or
- apply for a role that is exempt from this fourth stage.
Individuals employed as lawyers in a government department in Queensland are exempt from requiring a practising certificate. However, most jurisdictions do not allow this exemption; government lawyers in New South Wales and Victoria must join their respective law society or bar association.
Stage 5: Supervised legal practice
An individual who has been admitted as a lawyer and obtained their practising certificate must still be supervised by another lawyer in employment.
In Queensland, junior lawyers require supervision for a minimum of two years of full-time equivalent legal practice for those who have completed PLT, or 18 months for those who have completed the one-year supervised traineeship scheme.
Some further considerations
Becoming a lawyer can be a rewarding career, but there is a lot of effort that needs to go into being able to practise law.
Law is also a lot different to what you see on TV. Typically, only barristers appear in court regularly, and those that are successful often have decades of experience as a solicitor first.
Although criminal lawyers appear in the Magistrates Court, typically there is nothing “exciting” about doing your 1000th guilty plea for a drug user or drunk driver.
Many lawyers deal mainly with transactions (property and commercial lawyers), which may involve filling out forms or drafting and negotiating contracts, whereas family and litigation lawyers typically deal with research and persuasive writing tasks (whether in correspondence to the opposing side, pleadings or written submissions to court).
Law has either the highest or one of the highest rates of suicide of any profession (depending on what publication you’re reading), and typically, your work is your life.
Although burnouts and dropouts in the first few years are very high, many individuals love the law, and find it rewarding to help their clients.
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