Help me figure out where I'm going (or could go, at least)
August 16, 2010 4:04 PM Subscribe
I'm more than halfway through a law degree that I started for all the wrong reasons, and I'm confused as to where I should go from here - I need some help figuring out what my options are
I'm just over halfway through a double degree in Law/Humanities and I'm not sure that I'll be suited to the legal profession at all.
I get good grades and pass all of the courses I take, but my heart isn't really in it. I don't engage with the material at all, I pretty much just skip all of my lectures, get a copy of all the lecture notes from a friend and do a month of 12 hour days at the end of the year in order to pass my exams - I get good grades doing this, but I don't feel like I am engaging with the material enough to use it to build a career...I'm just rote memorizing all of the current case law, regurgitating it, and forgetting it.
On top of this, I don't really have anything to do with my fellow law students - I don't have much in common with many of them, and I feel like without networking I won't stand much of a chance once I start looking for legal jobs. I'm pretty shy and don't get involved with mooting or anything like that, which seems essential - I never speak up in class discussions or get involved in any social events in the law school.
Seeing as I only have 2 years to go after this one, and I already have a substantial student loan, changing what I'm studying isn't really an option - I don't have another major I'm pining for and wishing I had done anyways.
So what I am asking is what could I possibly end up doing with my degree once I graduate? All my classmates ever talk about is "when I'm a lawyer", and professors too, so I don't really have a clue what other uses this degree could have.
Any advice/personal experiences of people who have done non-lawyer stuff with a law degree would be much appreciated!
I'm just over halfway through a double degree in Law/Humanities and I'm not sure that I'll be suited to the legal profession at all.
I get good grades and pass all of the courses I take, but my heart isn't really in it. I don't engage with the material at all, I pretty much just skip all of my lectures, get a copy of all the lecture notes from a friend and do a month of 12 hour days at the end of the year in order to pass my exams - I get good grades doing this, but I don't feel like I am engaging with the material enough to use it to build a career...I'm just rote memorizing all of the current case law, regurgitating it, and forgetting it.
On top of this, I don't really have anything to do with my fellow law students - I don't have much in common with many of them, and I feel like without networking I won't stand much of a chance once I start looking for legal jobs. I'm pretty shy and don't get involved with mooting or anything like that, which seems essential - I never speak up in class discussions or get involved in any social events in the law school.
Seeing as I only have 2 years to go after this one, and I already have a substantial student loan, changing what I'm studying isn't really an option - I don't have another major I'm pining for and wishing I had done anyways.
So what I am asking is what could I possibly end up doing with my degree once I graduate? All my classmates ever talk about is "when I'm a lawyer", and professors too, so I don't really have a clue what other uses this degree could have.
Any advice/personal experiences of people who have done non-lawyer stuff with a law degree would be much appreciated!
Response by poster: I'm an undergrad student...I live in a country where law can be taken as an undergrad 5 year degree
posted by sartre08 at 4:07 PM on August 16, 2010
posted by sartre08 at 4:07 PM on August 16, 2010
There are so many things to do with a legal education that it's hard to know where to start. So, probably better to start somewhere else.
If your legal studies aren't doing it for you, what *do* you like?
Think about it both in terms of subject areas (politics, horseback riding) and activities / ways of being (writing, analyzing, being alone v working with others).
Why did you chose a law degree originally?
posted by girlpublisher at 4:18 PM on August 16, 2010
If your legal studies aren't doing it for you, what *do* you like?
Think about it both in terms of subject areas (politics, horseback riding) and activities / ways of being (writing, analyzing, being alone v working with others).
Why did you chose a law degree originally?
posted by girlpublisher at 4:18 PM on August 16, 2010
Policy indeed. I work with many, many people with law backgrounds who do public policy in Government and in the non-Government sector. Especially if you can slot in some courses in political science, or if you get involved in a cause or a movement or a Party or some other such voluntary association, there's a world of work there that doesn't involve being a solicitor.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:42 PM on August 16, 2010
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:42 PM on August 16, 2010
If askmetafilter had existed 15 years ago, this is the exact question I would have asked, pretty much word for word. I feel your pain.
I finished my degree, as I figured that it was better to finish it than not. And I think that was a good choice - a law degree, especially if you can keep up the good grades, always looks good on a CV, even 15 years down the track... I've only ever found it to be a benefit rather than a hindrance in terms of applying for jobs.
Most importantly, in your last couple of years, choose subjects that interest you - if you've really decided that the corporate law route is not for you, then you're free to pick electives that you're interested in, rather than those that look best on your application to the big law firms. You may find that this gives you more motivation and introduces you to areas of law that you didn't know existed. (Picking things that you're interested in will also make it easier to get good grades - more interest = more motivation to study)
I agree with liquorice's suggestion that you bite the bullet and get admitted, but only if you think that there is ever the possibility that you will want to work as a lawyer. I didn't, but I'd already decided that I didn't want to work as a lawyer, and that was fine for me.
I really wish there had been better careers advice available to me at the time, because while I figured out early on in my degree that I didn't want to be a lawyer and work in a big law firm, or become a barrister or get into criminal law, I had no idea what other options were available.
And there are loads. Every company on the face of the earth needs lawyers. And there are also some really interesting jobs available in the civil service / government that you may find interesting - not working as a lawyer, but working on policy or legislation. Management consultancy is also an option - law is a great degree for getting into that area.
I did none of those - I wound up in IT project management, via a rather convoluted route. But along the way, I've found that my law studies have come in handy - reviewing contracts, understanding legislation and being able to research case law when required.
What is your Humanities major? Mine was philosophy, which didn't really give me any job options, but yours may be something more useful! If you pick electives that complement your Humanities major, then that's another route in to a career that you find interesting.
(Feel free to memail me if that would be helpful)
posted by finding.perdita at 4:55 PM on August 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I finished my degree, as I figured that it was better to finish it than not. And I think that was a good choice - a law degree, especially if you can keep up the good grades, always looks good on a CV, even 15 years down the track... I've only ever found it to be a benefit rather than a hindrance in terms of applying for jobs.
Most importantly, in your last couple of years, choose subjects that interest you - if you've really decided that the corporate law route is not for you, then you're free to pick electives that you're interested in, rather than those that look best on your application to the big law firms. You may find that this gives you more motivation and introduces you to areas of law that you didn't know existed. (Picking things that you're interested in will also make it easier to get good grades - more interest = more motivation to study)
I agree with liquorice's suggestion that you bite the bullet and get admitted, but only if you think that there is ever the possibility that you will want to work as a lawyer. I didn't, but I'd already decided that I didn't want to work as a lawyer, and that was fine for me.
I really wish there had been better careers advice available to me at the time, because while I figured out early on in my degree that I didn't want to be a lawyer and work in a big law firm, or become a barrister or get into criminal law, I had no idea what other options were available.
And there are loads. Every company on the face of the earth needs lawyers. And there are also some really interesting jobs available in the civil service / government that you may find interesting - not working as a lawyer, but working on policy or legislation. Management consultancy is also an option - law is a great degree for getting into that area.
I did none of those - I wound up in IT project management, via a rather convoluted route. But along the way, I've found that my law studies have come in handy - reviewing contracts, understanding legislation and being able to research case law when required.
What is your Humanities major? Mine was philosophy, which didn't really give me any job options, but yours may be something more useful! If you pick electives that complement your Humanities major, then that's another route in to a career that you find interesting.
(Feel free to memail me if that would be helpful)
posted by finding.perdita at 4:55 PM on August 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
The country you're in matters because in a lot of countries the legal profession is a bit of a disaster right now, e.g. the U.S. I wouldn't want to be a law student there, but here in Australia things don't seem so bad. I agree with the suggestions above of government work - there's a lot of variety, and if your only impression of lawyer-work is from horror stories about private firm torment you might be surprised how different (and how much better) working as a government lawyer can be.
I also agree with the suggestion to get admitted if there's any chance you'll take this route - you could get lucky and find yourself an employer who'll pay you to take the course (assuming wherever you are has a system similar to ours) but you might not, and having that certificate will open a lot of doors.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:02 AM on August 17, 2010
I also agree with the suggestion to get admitted if there's any chance you'll take this route - you could get lucky and find yourself an employer who'll pay you to take the course (assuming wherever you are has a system similar to ours) but you might not, and having that certificate will open a lot of doors.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:02 AM on August 17, 2010
Best answer: After finishing my law degree, I went on to work in international development, where I was a project manager for lots of different kinds of projects, including a major Asia regional project in the justice sector. But I ended up there, because of some volunteer work that I did. I would encourage you to look at what options you have for volunteer work, or practical legal subjects (ie. some law schools have connections with legal aid clinics), just to see if that strikes your interest. But for example, I know Australian Red Cross has positions that deal with international humanitarian law. Or you may find that dealing with individual people and their problems in a walk-in legal clinic is actually interesting, and worth going through being admitted.
Otherwise, a law degree is also very useful in government, as pointed out above. You don't have go even go into legal policy, it could be very broad. I never got admitted because I was enjoying my international development work and didn't feel like going off to sit on the bottom rung in a law firm.
posted by AnnaRat at 3:30 AM on August 17, 2010
Otherwise, a law degree is also very useful in government, as pointed out above. You don't have go even go into legal policy, it could be very broad. I never got admitted because I was enjoying my international development work and didn't feel like going off to sit on the bottom rung in a law firm.
posted by AnnaRat at 3:30 AM on August 17, 2010
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posted by k8t at 4:06 PM on August 16, 2010