Moving To Wroclaw to Studying Law & Work

Hi All,

First of all let me say that after looking through this forum I found it extremely helpfully, so thanks to all!!

I am currently living in Melbourne, Australia and have done so for the last 15 years, I have completed my university studies and finished a Bachelor of Business (Law), Law being my major, it has been translated into Polish as Prawo Handlowe. I speak both fluent Polish and English, and am a native speaker as English is my first language.

I will be moving to Poland to try my luck in late March 2008, I have had my Maturation Papers recognized in Poland and am looking at studying Law at the University of Wroclaw.
However the only thing that is bothering me is the possibility that I amy not cope with a Polish University Work Load and furthermore due to the complications in Poland that after finishing my studies I will not be able to work in the profession as I heard you either need to be fram a pre existing law family or pay bribes to pass the bar exam (aplikacje). Can someone please shed some light on the issue of law studies, aplikacje and work after university?

I have dual nationality Australian & Polish and my parents own an apartment in Wroclaw so living expenses and housing isn't really a problem. Its more getting reassimulated into society, accepting the norms, values and way of life, are there any English speaking Expat groups in Wroclaw?

Finally my last question is about the possibility of work in Wroclaw. As I mentioned above I have finished the Bachelor of Business (Law) at Monash University in Melbourne Australia (ranked 28th in the world) I speak Polish and English fluently and have just over a years experience working in a law firm here in Melbourne dealing with property law, conveyancing and mortgages. Other areas in my field include management, marketing, economics and of course business related law, lso i command a beginners level of Spanish. How hard would it be to find a job in Wroclaw for decent pay (2500 zl min)? And are there multinationals that are willing to take on people in Wroclaw?

Apologies for this long mass of questions but any answers, comments or suggestions to the above are most appreciated.

Thank You very much. Dziekuje i Pozdrowienia.

I have just finished my law studies in Poznan, so I can't help you on what's the system of studies in Wroclaw. But I know for sure that you don't have to pay bribes for aplikacja (first of all it's a crime, second, considering present political situation in Poland, people will conider it milion times befor they take any bribes).
With your education I would suggest a company such as PWC, E&Y, Deloitte and maybe a Warsaw office of Alen&Overy, DLA Piper, Grant Thornton.

Well, during your studies your only hope are the companies I've mentioned. Otherwise you're f*** :) But that's from my perspective in Poznan.

Hi Methatron,

Thanks for the reply I was starting to think that the topic was beyond people on this forum.

So you have finished your law studies in Poznan, what do you have to do afterwards, I mean after university so that you can practice?

I assume the aplikacje are a test like a bar entrance test and then you have to do articales (staz) at a law firm yes.

Are there two aplikacje tests a government one (panstwowe) and then a local lawyer association one (ugrupowania)? Are these tests after university very hard to pass???

Once again thanks for the reply.