Study the following information and compare admissions criteria and financing law degrees in the US and Ukraine.

APPLYING TO US LAW SCHOOLS:

Admission to US law schools is extremely competitive, especially for international applicants. Admissions criteria include:

• Undergraduate and postgraduate (if applicable) coursework

• Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) scores – for JD applicants

• 2-3 letters of recommendation

• Statement of purpose

• CV and/or writing sample for some schools – extracurricular activities and previous work experience will be taken into account during admissions

• Interview for some schools

• Financial arrangements (applicants may be asked to provide information on how they intend to fund their legal education).

In terms of previous coursework, JD programmes do not require that applicants take an undergraduate degree in a particular subject or to have completed specific courses. Instead, they emphasize the importance of a demanding and well-rounded education with experience in a variety of disciplines.

FINANCING A LAW DEGREE:

Expenses:

As the cost of higher education increases in the US, it is important for students to know what costs to expect and to develop a plan to cover these. Students should expect to pay application fees that range between $50 and $120 per application. Additionally, you may need to factor in the cost of sitting the LSAT exam ($127 for JD applicants).

Tuition and fees rates can vary significantly from university to university, as there are no standard government set fees as in the UK. Rather, each university sets its own tuition and fees rates. Tuition for JD and LLM programmes can range from $20,000 to $45,000 per academic year. When considering funding for your degree, you should also consider living expenses (about 20, 000$), books and personal costs.

Funding:

There is limited university funding available for law degrees; however, applicants should explore all options for university scholarships and fellowships and make sure they are considered for applicable awards. Applicants may also wish to investigate funding from external funding bodies.

IV WRITING

Every lawyer and law student has at least one funny story about law school. Love it or hate it, law school leaves indelible impressions on our psyches. Go through these two stories and write your own.

 

1) We were in first-year torts and discussing slander. The Professor stated that one of the elements of slander was that the defamatory statement must be heard by “one third person.” A student raised her hand and told the Professor she didn't understand.
The Professor went on to explain how if one third person didn't hear the statement it wasn't considered published and didn't fulfill the elements. The student, still obviously confused, asked: "But I still don't understand which 1/3 of the person has to hear it!"

 

2) Having gone straight from college to law school, I didn’t even own a suit by the time first-year mock oral arguments came around. The weekend before I was scheduled, I hit Filene’s and bought a brand new “power suit.” I looked pretty sharp, felt pretty good, and come oral argument time, I was ready to blow them away.
As I put the suit on, I realized, in terror, that there in very obvious plain view was the shoplifting tag that the Filene’s clerk had left on my jacket! Not having any time to stop at a store to get it removed before the argument, I just went to school, hoping no one would notice. Wouldn’t you know, the first words out of my opponent’s mouth were: “Your Honor, opposing counsel is a common criminal and shoplifter, how can you believe anything this woman says?!”
Needless to say, that comment broke the ice, and I was able to make my argument with a lot less tension.

V OVER TO YOU

Here is an abstract from John Grisham’s “Rainmaker”, describing a bar exam. Read the text and fill in the blanks with words from the list below.

socializing the bar exam the competition instruction

Registered flunk profession multiple-choice

Exhausted semester

WE ARRIVE AT THE HOTEL MEZZANINE early Wednesday morning and are efficiently herded into a ballroom larger than a football field. We are ………. and catalogued, the fees having long since been paid. There's a little nervous chatter, but not much ……... We're all scared to death.

Of the two hundred or so people taking ……. this outing, at least half finished at Memphis State last month. These are my friends and enemies.

I can feel …... here, very much like the first few weeks of law school when we were terribly concerned with each other's initial progress. I nod at a few acquaintances, silently hoping they ……. the exam because they're silently hoping I collapse too. Such is the nature of the ……...

Once we're all properly seated at folding tables spaced generously apart, we are given ten minutes' worth of ……... Then the exams are passed out at exactly 8 A.M. The exam begins with a section called Multi-State, an endless series of tricky……. questions covering that body of law common to all states. It's absolutely impossible to tell how well I'm prepared.

THE EXAM ENDS at 5 P.M. Friday, with a whimper. We're too ……… to celebrate. They gather our papers tor the last time, and tell us we can leave. There's talk of a cold drink somewhere, for old times' sake, and six of us meet at Yogi's for a few rounds.

We learned after the first ……. in law school that it's best never to discuss exams. If notes are compared afterward, you become painfully aware of things you missed.

 

Unit 5 Law and Lawyers Section 1 Profession of a Lawyer

I. WARMING-UP

1. Answer the following questions:

1. Why did you choose law as a career?

2. What is the most attractive thing in the legal profession: salary, protection

of society and individuals, prestige?

3. What are the major objectives of lawyer’s work?

4. How do lawyers apply the knowledge of law in their practice?

5. Where do lawyers work? What legal professions do you know?

6. Is it important to specialize in any particular area? Why?

2. Match the following English words and expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents:

1. Legal profession 2. Law-making processes 3. Social relations 4. Investigator 5. Prosecutor 6. Municipal enterprises 7. Lawyer 8. To improve notary system 9. Judge 10. Informative activity 11. Notary 12. Advocate

a) Соціальні відносини b) Слідчий c) Юрист, консультант з питань права d) Суддя e) Юридична професія f) Нотаріус g) Адвокат h) Прокурор i) Законотворчі процеси j) Муніципальні підприємства k) Інформативна діяльність l)Вдосконалити нотаріальну систему

3. Read the text to find the sentences with the words from exercise 2 and translate them.

TEXT 1

LEGAL PROFESSION in Ukraine

One of the most popular professions among the young people of our country is the profession of a lawyer. It is very interesting and important. Our country is creating a law-governed state, and lawyers play a very significant role in this process. They are necessary for regulating social relations in the state.

In Ukraine, training lawyers is the task of the law establishments such as Law Academies, Law Institutes, and law faculties of several higher institutions. Graduates of different law schools can work at the Bar, in the organs of the Prosecutor’s Office, in different courts, in notary offices, in legal advice offices, in organs of tax inspection, militia, as well as in different firms, companies, banks, enterprises, etc. They can work as advocates, judges, notaries, investigators, prosecutors, legal advisors, inspectors, customs officers, traffic officers, and other workers of law enforcement agencies.

Legal profession combines legal practitioners and scholars, members of the judiciary, and the Bar, prosecutors, defense lawyers, notaries, jurists and counsels (legal advisors of private, public, state and municipal enterprises, establishments and organizations) etc.

The Academy of Legal Sciences was established in 1993. It is a national scientific organization, which carries out the fundamental researches and coordinates, organizes and fulfils works in the field of state and law. The academicians and known scientists are the members of the Academy. There are also some other professional unions of lawyers in Ukraine.

The Union of Lawyers of Ukraine carries out lawmaking, scientific, methodological, educational and informative activities with the aim of promoting lawyers of Ukraine in their professional and social interests, their public activities and participation in the state policy development.

The Ukrainian Bar Association unites lawyers from all spheres of legal profession with the aim of protecting their professional and other common interests, developing the legal profession, and creating a law-governed state in Ukraine.

The Union of Advocates of Ukraine is an independent and self-governed public all-Ukrainian organization. It is aimed at facilitating the role and authority of the Bar in our society and the state, the true independence and self-regulation of the Bar and developing the democratic state in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Association of Prosecutors has a purpose to protect legal rights and interests of its members who worked/work in the Prosecutor’s Office, and support the prosecutors’ positive image in Ukraine and abroad, helping to fulfill their tasks.

The Ukrainian Notarial Chamber is a public organization which supports its members in their professional activities, makes efforts to improve notary system and participates in the law-making process.

The Ukrainian branch of the European Law Students’ Association – ELSA Ukraine is comprised of students and recent graduates of the Ukrainian law education establishments who are interested in law and have demonstrated commitment to international issues.

II. COMPREHENSION