Canadian & International Applicants
At the California School of Law a Canadian and and International student can earn their Juris Doctorate degree. Prospective students with a Bachelors, Associates Degree or 60 college units meet the law school Admission Standards.
Canadian and International applicants who have received their degree from a Canadian college or university (or any college or university outside the U.S.) must first have their transcripts evaluated by an independent agency to make sure the education is equivalent to a college education in the United States. Students are required to have a class by class evaluation.
How to Practice Law in Canada
Graduates of our law school are eligible to sit for the California Bar Exam and become licensed attorneys in California. After becoming licensed attorneys in California, graduates may be eligible to sit for the bar exam of other states depending on bar admission requirements of those states. Graduates may also become eligible to practice law in Canada.
A Canadian student who receives a Juris Doctor degree from our law school must apply for certification from the National Committee of Accreditation (NCA) to practice in Canada. The NCA takes many factors into consideration when whether to issue a Certificate of Qualification. These factors include undergraduate pre-law education, law school education, whether the applicant studied common law at their law school, law school grades, and law school class standing at graduation. The committee may require that some applicants must take additional courses at a Canadian Law School. Note that NCA does not act in the jurisdiction of Alberta. Students who wish to practice in Alberta must contact the Law Society of Alberta. More specific information regarding the requirements of the NCA and the Law Society of Alberta can be found at: http://www.flsc.ca/en/foreignLawyers/foreignLawyers.asp, http://www.lawsociety.ab.ca/
Bar Admission Procedures
NCA issues Certificates of Qualifications but it does not authorize the practice of law in Canada. The rules and regulations for admission as a barrister and/or a solicitor lie exclusively within the jurisdiction of provincial law societies. Each province has different professional criteria for admittance to the bar. For more information regarding the criteria for admission to the bar, please visit the website of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada at www.flsa.ca
Articling
Bar admissions procedures require an applicant have participated in an articling program. For information regarding articling can be obtained directly from each law society.