Make absolutely sure that your law school is ABA accredited, or you will be unemployable. In addition, you want to go to as well ranked a law school as possible, because as in the UK, the reputation of your law school, and how well you do there, will have a major impact on your employability afterwards. US News and World Report has a nice ranking of US law schools on its website. Look for “grad school rankings”, and then look for law schools.

Because you are not a US citizen or green card holder, an employer will need to sponsor you, so you’d better have done *extremely* well, and have gone to a decent law school, if you’ll have a chance at employment in the US. Right now, US law firms are laying off lawyers. If you’re to have a chance of being hired, you need to really sparkle.

The systems of law are different. They are based in the same system, but it’s been over 200 years since the US and the UK separated, so their law systems have evolved. If you go to law school in the US, you learn US law, naturally - so you can’t just practice in the UK, and vice versa. There are hoops that you need to jump through, which can include having to redo some or all of your legal education, if you’re even allowed to be licensed. So if you’re interested in law, it’s best to study law in the nation in which you hope to practice, and to do your research about what you need to do in order to make yourself eligible to work in that country when you graduate - work visa processes, etc.

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Licensure. To practice law in the courts of any State or other jurisdiction, a person must be licensed, or admitted to its bar, under rules established by the jurisdiction’s highest court. All States require that applicants for admission to the bar pass a written bar examination; most States also require applicants to pass a separate written ethics examination. Lawyers who have been admitted to the bar in one State occasionally may be admitted to the bar in another without taking another examination if they meet the latter jurisdiction’s standards of good moral character and a specified period of legal experience. In most cases, however, lawyers must pass the bar examination in each State in which they plan to practice. Federal courts and agencies set their own qualifications for those practicing before or in them.

To qualify for the bar examination in most States, an applicant must earn a college degree and graduate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) or the proper State authorities. ABA accreditation signifies that the law school, particularly its library and faculty, meets certain standards. With certain exceptions, graduates of schools not approved by the ABA are restricted to taking the bar examination and practicing in the State or other jurisdiction in which the school is located; most of these schools are in California.

Although there is no nationwide bar examination, 48 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands require the 6-hour Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) as part of their overall bar examination; the MBE is not required in Louisiana or Washington. The MBE covers a broad range of issues, and sometimes a locally prepared State bar examination is given in addition to it. The 3-hour Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) is used as part of the bar examination in several States. States vary in their use of MBE and MEE scores.

Many States also require Multistate Performance Testing to test the practical skills of beginning lawyers. Requirements vary by State, although the test usually is taken at the same time as the bar exam and is a one-time requirement.

In 2007, law school graduates in 52 jurisdictions were required to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), which tests their knowledge of the ABA codes on professional responsibility and judicial conduct. In some States, the MPRE may be taken during law school, usually after completing a course on legal ethics.

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