Summary Legal education in Germany is on the brink of its greatest reform since the beginning of the 19th century. With the 2002 Federal law on the reform of legal education, Germany's legal education is separated into three phases: the first, beginning with the first semester and ending between the fourth and the fifth, is dedicated to the basics of the national and European legal system; the second, beginning with the fifth semester and ending with the First State Exam, is meant to deepen the knowledge of the law in the three branches of private law, public law and criminal law. A third phase, beginning also with the fifth semester, is supposed to enable the students to specialise in a certain field, which differs from law faculty to law faculty. From 2006 on, the First State Exam will consist of two parts: the first, for which the Ministry of Justice of the respective ‘Land’ is responsible, deals with the content of legal education for the first and second phase; it counts for 70%. The second part, dea...