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Law degree- what to do afterwards???

BillieTheBotBillieTheBot Posts: 8,721 Bot
Hmmmm, well after realising I really do not have the finances to study an LPC, I've decided not to do it. This means I cannot become a solicitor as I wanted. I've looked into sponsorships and all that but gahhh, I would never be considered. I'm not at a good enough uni and I'm not getting good enough grades to be honest (for the top firms which provide sponsorships). Its highly likely I'm going to come out with a high 2:2. Things haven't gone too well for me this year.

Well anyways, I've only got a year left at university so I'm beginning to think about what I'm going to do afterwards. I'm one to think ahead :)

Sooo basically, I suppose what I'm wondering is, what on earth can I do with a law degree apart from become a lawyer?

I'm beginning to think studying law was a complete waste of time.
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Barrister?
    Law teacher?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't want to be a barrister.

    I'd be crap at teaching. Plus, that would mean me doing yet another course that I couldn't afford.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    hmmn, what about a 'graduate' job? If you don't want to practise law, I'm sure a law degree will do you good in business. What are you interested in? (yeah, crappy general question I know) What about being a buyer/purchaser or a digital rights consultant or a er, teacher? lol. you could kit yourself out with some decks, balloons and some face paint and run kiddy parties... you could be an estate agent, run your own letting agency. Your degree will also come in handy if you want to move abroad too- extra points so s'not a waste of time even if just to use it to get away...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Does everyone do a law degree nowadays?

    I'd say most companies will consider a law degree a 'serious' degree. Anything to do with business will look favourably on it (maybe even moreso than an actual business degree). Any sort of administration role will consider it a valuable asset, so you can always do that until you figure out what you want to do (believe me, every job in the world seems to want admin experience). More specifically, most companies employ copyrighters, whose job, I think, is to look over all legal documentation and make sure that all of the language and terminology is correct, and there are no loopholes in their legal stuff (yeah, you can tell I know loads about this can't you :yeees: ). I know magazines always seem to be looking for legal copyrighters if you're interested in media law at all.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ahhh thats the thing though, I haven't chosen to study media law or copyright law. The areas of law I have chosen throughout last year and for the next year are:
    Family Law
    Criminal Law
    EC Law
    Contract Law
    Tort Law
    Land Law
    Public Law
    Legal Systems and Legal Skills (these modules really don't count)
    Trusts and Equity
    Social Security Law
    Criminal Law relating to sex and violence
    Sentencing and Treatment of Offenders (which to be honest, although this is a law module, its more criminology based)
    Medicine and the Law
    The Law of Evidence

    I always wanted to be a family lawyer. I still really want to do it :( I really can't afford to take a loan out of the bank though. It would end in disaster.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Have you spoken to your supervisor (or the equivalent you have at Lancaster) about this? They will be in a better position to advise you.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nope and its Lancashire :p

    We don't really have a supervisor. I have a tutor but she only advises you to go down the LPC route as she runs it so it is a waste of time really asking for her advice.

    I can't talk to anyone about it until September either when the uni is open again.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lancaster, Lancashire, whatever. Similar words.

    What's LPC? You could talk to someone other than your tutor, for instance if you were here you could talk to your department administrator/student liaision officer, your supervisor or any of the lecturers. There are also other people who aren't specific to the department as well, such as the provost of my halls.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mmmm yeah maybe. I am going to have to visit a few people in my department me thinks :yes: I just don't know what to do after uni and its scaring me as I'm leaving in a year. Its not long. The past two years have flown by.

    The Legal Practice Course is another stage you have to complete in order to become a solicitor. The course is a year long and costs around £8k. Then after that you have two years of training then you finally qualify. If I was to do it, I would be adding another 3 years before settling down and getting a job really and thats IF I managed to get a training contract and find a job afterwards.

    I just want to know what other career routes I could take.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Most big law firms will pay graduates to do the LPC. My brother's girlfriend has done it this year.

    If you want to do something else then just apply for graduate career jobs with the blue chip companies. Although you've left it rather late to be applying now. Fancy temping?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've got another year left at university, how could I have left it too late?

    The big law firms usually want grads with at least a 2:1 (which to be honest, I don't think I'm gonna get) and they usually want them from a top uni.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ah, sorry thought you were finishing this year.

    Is a 2:1 totally out of reach?

    The graduate jobs market is extremely competitive so it's worth working hard to get the best possible grade.

    Do you have any long term ambitions?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sorry, I'm not exactly sure how school works there, but can't you take out a loan? Look into scholarships? A million and a half different ways to be able to afford as much school as you need? Maybe even take a year off, work fulltime and finance yourself further that way.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A 2:1 is really out of reach to be honest. I've messed up this year too much but hey, I'll get my results on Friday so we'll see.

    I want to be a family lawyer. Its always been my ambition.

    I could take a loan my_name but to be honest, I wouldn't be able to afford the repayments. They are ridiculous. To be honest, I could take a year off full time and finance the course that way but that would mean adding yet ANOTHER year before qualifying. I'd be 25 before even qualifying and thats assuming I'd get a training contract without any problems which is unlikely.

    To be honest, I don't think I'm cut out for the course anyways hence why I'm looking at other options.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Could you do something like probation officer?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't jobs like that prefer a Criminology degree rather than a law degree?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *Stacey* wrote:
    Don't jobs like that prefer a Criminology degree rather than a law degree?

    I think you can become a probation officer with any degree, they train you up.

    Is Kermit around? Didn't he do a law degree and is now working for a law firm but not as a lawyer?

    Law is a good degree to have, you can go into all the usual graduate professions. Or you could teach A Level Law.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think Kermit is a criminal law paralegal, I'm not sure. Kermit is really clever though compared to me! He also went to a better university than me.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *Stacey* wrote:
    I think Kermit is a criminal law paralegal, I'm not sure. Kermit is really clever though compared to me! He also went to a better university than me.


    Don't put yourself down. Law is a very tough course to study.

    And don't worry too much about your uni, I think the person is more important and maybe it's only the top city firms that are bothered about that. I graduated a year ago and no-one has cared about what uni I went to. Although granted I'm not doing a career in law.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *Stacey* wrote:
    I want to be a family lawyer. Its always been my ambition.

    do it then.

    work your socks off in your final year and then even if you do get a 2:2 at least you can say you tried your best.

    think of the mega bucks you'd be on once you've qualified.
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    *Stacey* wrote:
    To be honest, I could take a year off full time and finance the course that way but that would mean adding yet ANOTHER year before qualifying. I'd be 25 before even qualifying and thats assuming I'd get a training contract without any problems which is unlikely.

    To be honest, I don't think I'm cut out for the course anyways hence why I'm looking at other options.

    Hi ya, if you honestly don't think you're cut out for the course, and you don't feel you will benefit from it, then that's as good a reason as any for why not to do it.

    However, when you reach 25 you will realise that it's really not very old at all, and certainly not anywhere near to being too old to be qualified in something related to (as you put it) your ambition. So it might still be worth thinking about taking a year out to raise some money and then if after that year you realy don't want to do the course, then heck you can use the money to do something else - travel/a different course/anything you like.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    Barrister?
    Law teacher?

    these are not second best alternatives or somehow lesser careers!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    do it then.

    work your socks off in your final year and then even if you do get a 2:2 at least you can say you tried your best.

    think of the mega bucks you'd be on once you've qualified.
    Even if I come out with a 2:1 the issue of the cost of the course still exists.

    I would love to do it but I simply don't have £14k (cost of living and course AT LEAST). I couldn't even save that much up in a year out. I do not want a bank loan either.

    I just want to know what other options are open to me except becoming a lawyer.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i dont know if youve looked at the prospects.ac site before, but its got a really good section on what you can do with your degree.

    if you go herehttp://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Options_with_your_subject/Your_degree_in_law/Where_to_start/p!eklgejb

    and then to the job options bit, it tells you what you can do outside law, in fact it says Outside law you have a huge number of options

    hope that helps :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    a law degree doesn't mean you have to something in law / law related...
    a lot of careers are happy to take on graduates with any discipline, so try not to limit your options to those soely dependant on your chosen degree subject.
    i mean its a completly differnt career angle in law but what about law enforcement like the police or similar?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *Stacey* wrote:
    Even if I come out with a 2:1 the issue of the cost of the course still exists.

    I would love to do it but I simply don't have £14k (cost of living and course AT LEAST). I couldn't even save that much up in a year out. I do not want a bank loan either.

    I just want to know what other options are open to me except becoming a lawyer.

    well how does everyone else who wants to do this course fund it?
  • BunnieBunnie Posts: 6,099 Master Poster
    Hey love,

    You will be able to afford it, if you work this summer and save, and the next you wil then have your money to live on. You can live at home, and then...here's the nice bit, get a loan from Natwest specifically for the LPC (which, KHSS, stands for Legal Practice Course, in which all wannabe solicitors have to do to become qualified...and the buggers charge £8000 for it!) This loan is designed so you can pay it back in small ammounts AFTER you have finished your training contract, which means you will be on more money.

    If you dont feel you can take out a loan, then take a year out as **Helen** suggested, and its only a year. But you will have to make your mind up by the time you go back in Sept, as you will need to apply for LPC in first term, which means you will have to have researched where you want to go (I think you should study near home, and not worry about accommodation costs) and what qualification they require.

    However, I know that being a family lawyer is all I have ever wanted, and I know that I will do anything to get to it, and yes, I will be in HUGE amounts of debt at the end of it but I know it will be worth it. I do get the impression you aint all that keen anymore, and I think it might have stemmed from the fact you dont feel you have done all that well this year...so I suggest you just wait and see what your results are, and see what happens.

    Oh and about the Probabtion Service, they will happily accept you with a law degree as you dont need one to join. However, they only recruit once a year in March, so if thats what you think you might like, apply all the same.

    Let me know how it all goes on Friday...I have to wait for ages! :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why won't you get a subsidised training contract? If you get a 2.1 you are considered, and if you're good enough you get one.

    If you aren't, get a professional loan and try and get a training contract with a smaller firm.

    You don't even need to do it in one go. You can work and do your LPC on a part-time basis- work 4 days for a firm, and have 1 day a week of tuition. Sure, it takes 3 years, but that does mean you do your training contract as you do your LPC.

    If you want to work in the law, then do. You don't need to be a solicitor to work in the law, but sometimes the salaries aren't that good unless you're qualified or experienced. Try and get in a property firm and train up as a conveyancer, and you will always find work.

    You could always try ILEX too.

    I've got another job now, I'm working for a big law firm as a property paralegal, and whilst the salary is a wee bit shite, I do get the perks of working for a big law firm. I get financial perks, and I get quite a lot of training, as well as the CV points of being in charge of a caseload worth £20million.
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