College forms test base in Toronto

MANY American lawyers are expected to train as English solicitors following a new venture arranged by the College of Law.

The college is to open a test Centre in Toronto, Canada, for US and Canadian lawyers who want to requalify as English solicitors.

The news opens the prospect of American lawyers taking tests previously only available to European and Commonwealth citizens.

It was the Law Society of England and Wales which facilitated the move. It has extended the scope of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT).

More than 1,000 lawyers have so far requalified as solicitors able to practise in England and Wales since 1991 when the tests began.

Head of QLTT tuition at the College, Nick Olley, says: "We expect many more candidates to sit the tests now that their scope has been extended.

"We expect international firms in the US and Canada to see the advantages of having an English solicitor on the staff.

"We also expect interest from US qualified lawyers already working or about to work in England and Wales.

"With increasing commercial links between England and the rest of the world it is becoming more and more critical for lawyers to have an understanding of the law of different countries," he says.