Galactic Legal Education: The Making of an Core World Attorney

Like most of the workings of the Galaxy, comprehensive and accredited legal education is focused mostly within the Core worlds.  The Galactic Bar Association (GBA) is the governing body that oversees school admission standards, curriculum, and professional certification. There are about 150 GBA-accredited law schools scattered across the Core, but the most four most prestigious and competitive are: The Coruscant College of Law; Corellia University Law School; Kuat Law School; and the University of Chandrila School of Law.  Graduates from those top schools are highly sought after and typically have the widest choice of career opportunities after graduation. It should also be noted that three other elite schools, those on Alderaan, Hosnian Prime, and Brentaal, were sadly destroyed in the course  of the Clone Wars and the subsequent Imperial reign.  

I am very proud and fortunate to be an alumnus of the Coruscant College of Law (Go Fighting Senators!) and my three years there were life changing.  As mentioned above, GBA-accredited law schools have consistent and uniform educational requirements.  All first-year students must take foundational classes in Galactic Constitutional Law and History; Trade Law; Criminal Law; and Republic Jurisdiction.  Second year requirements include Guild Law; Mediation and Negotiation; and Political Law and Procedure.  Students are also expected to take electives to expand their core knowledge.  I took several classes on Jedi Law, which effectively became my "major" in law school (and a subsequent focus of my practice), but also enjoyed learning about Droid Law and Hutt Clan Laws and Treaties.  Finally, students must have completed a semester-long practical experience, where they apply their legal education to real world scenarios either in the government, the courts, or the private sector. 

After graduating law school, you must pass a comprehensive exam to become admitted to practice law in the Core Worlds.  The Core Bar Examination is comprised of 8 essay-type questions and 100 multiple choice questions drawn from every subject they have learned over their 3 years of school.  It is a very rigorous examination, and the traditional pass rate is only 42%.  Those graduates from the "Big 4" that do pass tend to accept either lucrative roles with the Guilds or Trade Federation, or politically powerful roles as Supreme Court clerks or Senatorial Legal Counsel.  

It is also important to know that outside of the Core, legal training is less structured and usually done through an apprenticeship model instead of a law school.  Since Republic jurisdiction and legal issues are rarely applied outside the Core, apprenticeships allow aspiring attorneys to more effectively learn local laws, procedures, and legal systems from experienced legal professionals.  However, while the GBA does have regulatory requirements that govern the practice of law in the Mid Rim and Outer Rim, due to a general lack of resources and oversight, the legal profession is unfortunately and disproportionately subject to frauds and charlatans looking to take advantage of people in need of proper counsel. 

I had a lot of options when I graduated, but I wanted to figure out how to have an impact across the Galaxy, providing representation to all species in need of counsel.  Interestingly, there aren't a lot of attorneys in private practice that work across multiple jurisdictions, and those that do tend to simply act as outside counsel for large Core-based institutions.   That's why the Galactic Law Group was formed. But I'll leave that story for another time. 

May the Law Be With You!