Law Degrees Around the World
Looks like getting an undergrad law degree in different parts of the world is slightly different from others. I did a bit of research…
In England
Available as an undergraduate course as a Bachelor of Laws, abbreviated to LLB (Legum Baccalaureus, where LL signifies the plural form). In Oxford and Cambridge, it appears a BA in Law is awarded instead.
Postgraduate courses are not required to practise law. The typical postgraduate law degree is the Master of Laws, abbreviated to LLM (Legum Magister). Oxford awards a BCL (Bachelor of Civil Law), which, despite its title, is a postgraduate degree and covers Common Law.
In the US
Law is a graduate course, meaning for US residents, a four-year undergraduate degree (typically a BA or BS) must be obtained before entrance into a three year law school is granted. While an LLB is occasionally awarded to law school graduates, the more common degree awarded by US universities is a Doctor of Law, abbreviated to JD (Juris Doctor). It is a professional “doctorate” which is similar to the MD that medical doctors use. Lawyers do not use “Doctor” as a title, of course, but “Esq” is sometimes used by the pretentious.
Foreigners holding a Bachelor’s degree from a common law jurisdiction are usually required to study for an LLM degree in the US before they can practise law there.
In Australia
Law, like the US, is also a graduate course, meaning that all law students must hold another degree first. The slight difference is that enrolment to law school can be granted as long as a student also enrols in another degree (such as a BSc, BCom, BE, etc.) simultaneously. This is called a Combined Law course. The first three years are spent completing the first degree (or four years, if honours is undertaken). Interspersed among those three or four years are the first year’s worth of law courses. Once the first degree is obtained, the student then goes on to complete the law degree over the next two years. In effect, a combined law degree compresses the two degrees and reduces the total time for completion by a year. Like the US, graduate entry is also available for those already holding an undergraduate degree.
Monash University in Victoria has started to offer US-style JD degrees.
[Update: The ANU does have a standalone LLB program that takes four years to complete – see comments for more details. UTS also has one, so it looks like the entry requirements are set on a per university basis.]
In Civil Law countries
A Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) is given in civil law jurisdictions to university law graduates. It is a bachelor’s degree and it is not necessary for the candidate to have another degree before obtaining the BCL. This allows, with some extra training, someone to become a lawyer, or train to become a judge.
Law Doctorates
Normally either called a PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy) in Law, or an SJD (Doctor of Juridical Science).
12:12am (GMT +11.00) tomorrow 
Interesting to read your comparisons! I never realised what ‘LLB’ stood for until now.
About the Australian system though, I’m studying at ANU where the straight LLB (not combined) can be taken directly as an undergraduate course, although very few people do that for sanity reasons. The combined degree is 5 years, with the first degree taking 4 years to complete. Our units are semesterised, so the first 2 years will get you through 1st year law subjects, 3rd year will get you through 2nd year subjects, and so on as elective units are moved towards the end of the degree. Totally confusing? Yes, but it makes sense to us :) (see http://law.anu.edu.au/Undergraduate/ProgramsOffered.asp)
Yeh, I am at UC (University of Canberra), and UC offers the 4 yr laws degree – although as the person above says – the majority of students do it as a 5 yr double..
I know that Melbourne Uni, Monash, Deakin, and Latrobe (i think they’re the only ones that offer law) here in Vic all have 4 year plain law undergraduate courses. A year worth of the course is made up with outside classes (ie: arts, science, whatever).