Basic requirements to become a perfect lawyer (P1)

• Admin Blog
• April 13, 2020

Maybe this is the most frequent question I get whenever meeting law students. I wonder to myself: “Is it difficult?” There will be no perfect answer for the question. This article is based on my personal perspective about the 6 most basic requirements if you want to become a lawyer in Vietnam.

1. Obtain a bachelor’s degree in Law. It’s certain that when one wants to become a lawyer, he/she must have knowledge of the law, which can be proved by a bachelor’s degree in Law. This degree can be obtained from any universities that offer a law major. It does not have to be from a law school.

2. Obtain a graduate degree of lawyer training program. Once you have earned your bachelor’s degree, you are eligible to apply for and attend the Academy of Justice. Normally, a training course lasts about 12 months.

3. Complete an internship at a law practice organization. Similar to when attending a graduate course, you need time to get exposed to a real organization after completing your lawyer training program. The standard training time is 12 months. During that time, you will have opportunities to both learn the job and work in reality, as well as approach the work of a lawyer in the most practical way.

4. Take and pass the law practice test. In addition to the assessment by the law practice organization, you still need to complete the ability test after the internship. There will be 2 scenarios here. The first one is if you have enough grades to pass the test, you will be granted a license to practice law. Secondly, if you don’t, you can retake the test one time only. With this retest, you still don’t have enough grades to pass, then you will have to register for the internship again, which will take another 12 months.

5. Be granted a certificate and join a bar association to be granted a law practice card. After completing the 4th requirement, you need to prepare a required set of documents to be able to apply for a law practice certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice and the Vietnam Bar Federation will issue your law practice card.

6. Practice law. After obtaining a law practice certificate & a law practice card, you are allowed to practice law. You can work for an organization or practice as an individual. Individual practice is required to register at your local Department of Justice.