Editing Juris Doctor (section)

===Major common law approaches===
{{see also|Legal education in the United Kingdom}}
The English legal system is the root of the systems of other common-law countries, such as the United States. Originally, common lawyers in England were trained exclusively in the Inns of Court. Even though it took nearly 150 years since common law education began with Blackstone at Oxford for university education to be part of legal training in England and Wales, the LLB eventually became the degree usually taken before becoming a lawyer. In England and Wales the LLB is an undergraduate scholarly program and although it (assuming it is a qualifying law degree) fulfills the academic requirements for becoming a lawyer,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/media/1590677/joint_announcement_1999_-_academic_stage.doc|title=Joint Announcement|publisher=The Law Society and the General Council of the Bar|date=1999|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920171055/https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/media/1590677/joint_announcement_1999_-_academic_stage.doc|url-status=dead}}</ref> further vocational and professional training as either a barrister (the [[Bar Professional Training Course]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/current-requirements/bar-professional-training-course/|title=Bar Professional Training Course|publisher=[[Bar Standards Board]]|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920171233/https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/current-requirements/bar-professional-training-course/|archive-date=20 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> followed by [[pupillage]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/current-requirements/pupillage/|title=Pupillage|publisher=[[Bar Standards Board]]|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920170953/https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/current-requirements/pupillage/|archive-date=20 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>) or as a solicitor (the [[Legal Practice Course]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sra.org.uk/students/lpc.page|title=Legal Practice Course (LPC)|publisher=[[Solicitors Regulation Authority]]|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914062350/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/lpc.page|url-status=live}}</ref> followed by a "[[training contract|period of recognised training]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sra.org.uk/trainees/period-recognised-training.page|title=Period of recognised training|date=20 June 2014|publisher=[[Solicitors Regulation Authority]]|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914141947/http://www.sra.org.uk/trainees/period-recognised-training.page|url-status=live}}</ref>) is required before becoming licensed in that jurisdiction.<ref name=Langbein1996>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Faculty/Langbein_Scholarly_and_Professional_Objectives_in_Legal_Education.pdf|author=John H. Langbein|title=Scholarly and Professional Objectives in Legal Education: American Trends and English Comparisons|work=Pressing Problems in the Law, Volume 2: What are Law Schools For?|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1996|access-date=17 September 2016|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920124546/https://www.law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Faculty/Langbein_Scholarly_and_Professional_Objectives_in_Legal_Education.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The qualifying law degree in most English universities is the LLB although in some, including Oxford and Cambridge, it is the BA in law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sra.org.uk/students/courses/Qualifying-law-degree-providers.page|title=Qualifying law degree providers|publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914021441/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/courses/Qualifying-law-degree-providers.page|url-status=live}}</ref> Both of these can  be taken with "senior status" in two years by those already holding an undergraduate degree in another discipline.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/items/118483.html|title=Law – Senior Status|publisher=[[Queen Mary, University of London]]|access-date=17 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925043349/http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/items/118483.html|archive-date=25 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> A few universities offer "exempting" degrees, usually [[integrated master's degree]]s denominated Master in Law (MLaw), that combine the qualifying law degree with the legal practice course or the bar professional training course in a four-year, undergraduate-entry program.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sra.org.uk/students/exempting-law-degrees.page|title=Exempting law degree providers|publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority|access-date=17 April 2017|archive-date=18 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418162221/https://www.sra.org.uk/students/exempting-law-degrees.page|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/m-law-exempting-ft-uufmay1/|title=MLaw|publisher=[[Northumbria University]]|access-date=17 April 2017|archive-date=18 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418084931/https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/m-law-exempting-ft-uufmay1/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Legal education in Canada has unique variations from other Commonwealth countries. Even though the legal system of Canada is mostly a transplant of the English system (Quebec excepted), the Canadian system is unique in that there are no Inns of Court, the practical training occurs in the office of a barrister and solicitor with law society membership, and, since 1889, a university degree has been a prerequisite to initiating an articling clerkship.<ref name=Reed-1921/>{{rp|page=27}} The education in law schools in Canada was similar to that in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, but with a greater concentration on statutory drafting and interpretation, and elements of a liberal education. The bar associations in Canada were influenced by the changes at Harvard, and were sometimes quicker to nationally implement the changes proposed in the United States, such as requiring previous college education before studying law.<ref name=Reed-1928 />{{rp|page=390}}