r/eulaw • u/Naive_Future_6530 • Jul 30 '25
Studying law in EU and becoming a lawyer abroad
I was very privileged to have learnt english and gone to a international school in my family and my parents want me to use this and live/study somewhere where I can do so (US, Canada, UK, etc;) The only problem is we can only afford my undergraduate to be in the EU (as EU fees apply). But I still want to become a lawyer in one of these countries in the future. P.S. I cant study in my home country and get qualified here as a lawyer as that is not at all what I want for my future nor what my family wants
I've heard about "commonlaw" and countries that have law coming from there. Does that mean its easier to move earound as a lawyer in those countries?
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u/PikaMaister2 Jul 31 '25 edited Jul 31 '25
Law is not a universal study.
University of country X will primarily prepare you for country X's bar exam. If you want to change your jurisdiction you need to pass a completely new bar exam.
You're not starting from scratch necessarily, some more abstract concepts you will be able to re-use, but the law itself isn't the same, neither is your case law & precendents, supreme court rulings are different too.
Changing within the EU gives you the benefit that EU law is the same across, and only national law differs. Still, lots to study. This is the same benefit Americans enjoy moving from one state to another, not having to re-learn federal law.
Only exception to all this is international law, that can land you a job anywhere, but in any country local legal cases are far more common than international law related cases.
Edit: about "common law", it's NOT that they share similar laws, it's more of a general idea that court cases guide the meaning of laws and heavy focus is on precedents. The opposite is "civil law" where lawmakers write very specific laws covering a wide range of scenarios. In civil law legal precedent is a lot less important because laws themselves are more detailed.
If you want to see similar legal systems, a good starting point is either British law or German law, both sharing the same legal basis empire wide till the mid 20th cebtury. Post WW2/the fall of the commonwealth, newly independent countries then based their legal systems on their previous ruler's laws, only changing what they felt is necessary. US also copied British law, but they diverged from it 300 years ago.
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u/Naive_Future_6530 Jul 31 '25
So do you recommend i do a LLB in international law? will that allow me to be a lawyer in other countries ‘v
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u/PikaMaister2 Jul 31 '25
Tldr: studying law to change countries is one of the worst ideas someone could have
If you study international law, you on paper can work on cases that fall under international law and international law does not have a dedicated bar exam.
However (!!) to be able to practice international law, you still need to pass a local state/national bar, if you want to serve as a licensed lawyer. Rights on who gets to call themselves a lawyer is still governed by the local bar association, who can still require you to take the local bar, or to do some alternative simplified test.
So it's more like your working knowledge doesn't have to change, but you still need to adapt somewhat to meet local requirements.
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u/Naive_Future_6530 Jul 31 '25
Yeah, It’s looking like i’m gonna have to diverge my interest to something else other then law then, haha. So with a LLB in international law, i’d still have to get qualified in the country i’ve studied as an undergraduate? But then I’d be able to move countries? Like for example if i get a LLB in international law in netherlands I can’t just get a LLM elsewhere and qualify there (UK for example£
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u/Any_Strain7020 Jul 30 '25 edited Jul 30 '25
There's a country called Ireland. You might also come across one called Malta. ;-)
This being said, working as a lawyer in a country you didn't study in is close to impossible. Exceptions apply, for some relatively easy bar exams (eg NYC), but you'd nonetheless need to provide sweat, blood and tears in order to pull yourself up to the right level.