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Law worth doing? (1 Viewer)

rororow

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Got an early Feb round offer to do Law at UNSW. Is it worth doing?
Everyone I've spoken to said it's crap, you work really hard and after the degree it's so competitive you can't get your foot in the door to get a decent job.
SO, why do people like law? Why do it? Why do a BA just to go do a JD? What's so appealing?
Annnd, hypothetically, I would be doing law/science. Bad mix?
 

astroe

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You should only do it if you want to, if you don't have the passion/interest in the field then there's no real point in doing it.
Only when you enjoy and apply yourself to what you do would you succeed in it, so you should just ask yourself if you actually have any interest in doing this.
If you don't like the idea of law then there's no point in extending your degree and boosting up your HECS.
 

Azure

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Do law if you :

a) want to become a lawyer (genuinely, not because of the money) or
b) feel the double degree will benefit your career prospects (not specifically a career in law)

Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend doing it just because you can. It's a pretty demanding course of study from what I've heard, and it is extremely competitive to find work. You will succeed if you have a passion for it.
 

ninetypercent

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only if you enjoy it

demand for lawyers is very low.. and there are too many law graduates!

but I heard that doing law improves your employment prospects (a law degree is more attractive apparently)
 

misericordia

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law degree is stressful at times but rewarding. i used to hate law (my parents pushed me into doing it) but now i'm enjoying it. i agree with previous poster who said there are too many law graduates, but i think there's still a good chance of you getting employed if you are good at something other than law (something that not many others can do, for example, being able to speak and write language other than english at native speaker's level).
 

Studentleader

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Do law if you want to impress your parents but aren't smart enough for med
 

sean1990

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Interestingly you would be combining law with science.

I am not sure about how many fields actually combine the two, but i'm sure there would be a niche somewhere.

I think doing law/science to become a lawyer is a bit pointless, considering ALOT of lawyers come from simply doing law/arts etc. Alot more people choose to do Law/business as it can lead you into a number of better positions having both degrees in the buisness world e.g. if you go into a 'business' position with a law degree, it would obviously look favourably than not having it.

Whether this is the same with a science degree I doubt it, but I know very little about job prospects with a science degree so it would be worth researching.

under 50% of law graduates go into the law field. Whether this is due to them not getting jobs or because they choose to do something with their other degree is a debatable question, but in my opinion a law degree opens up ALOT of doors for you other degree if you dont want to become a lawyer...
 

Omnidragon

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Picking up on misericordia's point, you will probably find employment, in a job where you'd struggle to pay a mortgage off.
 
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kennethmorris

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Do law if it's your passion. If not, it will just be a waste of time and money and your future.
 

Omnidragon

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Got an early Feb round offer to do Law at UNSW. Is it worth doing?
Everyone I've spoken to said it's crap, you work really hard and after the degree it's so competitive you can't get your foot in the door to get a decent job.
SO, why do people like law? Why do it? Why do a BA just to go do a JD? What's so appealing?
Annnd, hypothetically, I would be doing law/science. Bad mix?
Don't do it. You have doubts now. Follow your heart

Finally if you're after money/success, I can't imagine many combinations worse than law/science.
 

izzy88

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Could you name a few?
You should really start to do some research of your own...most of your questions can be answered by looking at uni/faculty websites/uac guide etc etc

However as a guide...around 50% of law graduates don't become lawyers. It is increasingly being seen as a more generalist degree.

That's a lot of people, doing a wide range of things, like - management consulting, investment bankers (if you combined with commerce), academia, politics, comedy (aka Chaser), doing whatever their first degree was but using law to give a heads up to employers that they are smart, work hard etc or just to give them a edge against people they are competing against for jobs.

Some people just don't end up using their law degree. It doesn't necessarily mean it was a waste of time, they have learnt how the law works, and may go back to it later in life. University can be about learning, not just about narrowing you into a profession immediately after graduating (although yes, granted, you've spent a lot of money getting there). Ditto for people becoming lawyers straight out of uni, then later down the track doing something else (further study, politics, consulting, banking, anything in the corporate world).

That said, I don't see the harm with starting out in a combined law degree (even if it was just because you got the marks), and then if you hate it, drop it. I did law because I got the marks, I hadn't even considered law before the uai came out (have had no dealings with law etc in the family - no ones a lawyer, or even in the business/corporate world). I decided that if I didn't like, i would drop it, and I surprised myself and liked it - turns out I might end up a lawyer. Of course, if you don't like it, or you know you don't like it, then don't do it.
 

Politic

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You should really start to do some research of your own...most of your questions can be answered by looking at uni/faculty websites/uac guide etc etc

However as a guide...around 50% of law graduates don't become lawyers. It is increasingly being seen as a more generalist degree.

That's a lot of people, doing a wide range of things, like - management consulting, investment bankers (if you combined with commerce), academia, politics, comedy (aka Chaser), doing whatever their first degree was but using law to give a heads up to employers that they are smart, work hard etc or just to give them a edge against people they are competing against for jobs.

Some people just don't end up using their law degree. It doesn't necessarily mean it was a waste of time, they have learnt how the law works, and may go back to it later in life. University can be about learning, not just about narrowing you into a profession immediately after graduating (although yes, granted, you've spent a lot of money getting there). Ditto for people becoming lawyers straight out of uni, then later down the track doing something else (further study, politics, consulting, banking, anything in the corporate world).

That said, I don't see the harm with starting out in a combined law degree (even if it was just because you got the marks), and then if you hate it, drop it. I did law because I got the marks, I hadn't even considered law before the uai came out (have had no dealings with law etc in the family - no ones a lawyer, or even in the business/corporate world). I decided that if I didn't like, i would drop it, and I surprised myself and liked it - turns out I might end up a lawyer. Of course, if you don't like it, or you know you don't like it, then don't do it.
Thankyou. Very helpful.
 

wannaspoon

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^ Nope, Patent law comes under Intellectual Property Law... IP law covers a whole range of things; not just science, technology and medicine... But, it would help understanding complex issues within science styled patent disputes and yes, there actually is a big demand for IP lawyers at the moment...

only if you enjoy it

demand for lawyers is very low.. and there are too many law graduates!

but I heard that doing law improves your employment prospects (a law degree is more attractive apparently)
You heard???

Following advice like that is like taking bro science as gospel...

So many pessimistic people on here... you really don't have to be a lawyer when finishing law... I'm not planning to be a lawyer...
 
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