what now with a law degree? any help appreciated

limericklady87

So im in the final year of my law degree and really don't know what to do. I'd been putting off thinking about it but I don't want to be signing on come September. Was planning to do the fe1's but am a bit apprehensive given everything that i'v read about newly qualified solicitors and not being able to get an apprenticeship after all the studying..i have no contacts either. Just wondering do people think it really is a bad idea to go ahead and sit them at the moment or in october. Would i be better off doing a masters or woulsd this even stand to me or make me employable? was looking at commercial law in UL or criminal justice in UCC. Or should i just go and try get a masters in something totally different like HR for example? Getting a bit worried at the moment so I would really appreciate any advice or comments at all.
Thanks!

Cindy2106

You are my Limerick equilivent!

I'm in final year of BCL in Galway and was hell bent on doing the FE1s, applied to all the firms only to get PFOs from each and everyone of them. I mean what do they want, a kidney???? Daddy to know Arthur Cox personally???:D

Anyhoos I'm going to do a Masters for the year and then see how the employment situation works out.If you still want to apply for the big firms it would help, it would hardly work against you. Most of the people I know who got as far as the Interview were in a Masters. I'd say go for the Masters if its something you're interested in. While we're in these receding times we may as well educate ourselves as much as possible. I'm not sure about the Masters in HR, depends on if you like that type of work. You should try to get into a Personnel Office maybe in the County Council and see whether you like it or not. I worked in Personnel for a summer and I really enjoyed it, and a background in Law would be really helpful to you.

*Slightly off topic*Btw everyone I've asked for advice(dunno if its just me) has recommended going abroad. It's so annoying! I don't want to go abroad, everyone is talking about Australia as if its the Holy Grail, some people just don't want to emigrate. Fair enough for people who want to travel, but its not the automatic solution to the "Wtf I have no job!!" problem!

Sorry for the off topic rant there
Good luck with whatever you choose:) and if going by your user name your 21/22-We're still only young! Loadsa time to figure out the elusive "Life Plan":cool:

hada

Definitely do a Masters. Try and stay away from the usual masters, i.e. TCD's or UCD's Commerical Masters - any tom dick or harry is doing those.

Try looking abroad - the London Colleges, or if your results allow, Oxbridge

They will not only set you apart from the rest of "the crowd", but also give you some outstanding practitioners and academics to learn from.

Cindy2106

Hada: Can I ask you why you're so against the masters in TCD and UCD? I'm just curious , did you do them and find them useless? Out of my class of around 50 only one went onto to do the TCD one and I don't know of anyone whos doing the UCD Commercial one. I was looking at LLMs in England but I simply cannot afford them!

Not being snide, but I'd just like to hear why you wouldn't recommend doing them. Thanks!

besty

I've heard from numerous friends that the TCD LLM in particular isn't up to much but have no personal experience. I also know alot of people who did the Commercial Masters in UCD and they were able to complete it while doing FE1's so I'm not sure it's the most challenging. I'd agree with hada that something further afield might be preferable...

hada

Cindy2106 wrote: »

Hada: Can I ask you why you're so against the masters in TCD and UCD? I'm just curious , did you do them and find them useless? Out of my class of around 50 only one went onto to do the TCD one and I don't know of anyone whos doing the UCD Commercial one. I was looking at LLMs in England but I simply cannot afford them!

Not being snide, but I'd just like to hear why you wouldn't recommend doing them. Thanks!

As what Besty said - TCD is, to be honest, a money spinner for the university and not much else.

UCD Commerical Law is being done by an awful lot of people who have mid 2.1's and have high aspirations of trying to get a Top 5/10 Commercial Firm traineeship. I cannot stress this enough, such an LLM at UCD will not differentiate you in any way from the 100 odd (probably more) doing that course every year.


England really is the place to go, providing you get a good college. Myself I wouldn't go anywhere outside of LSE or Oxbridge - but that's just me.

But it really depends what you want to do, from your post, you want to be a solicitor, commerical?... A masters wouldn't really be much help if you want to work in a smaller general practice, so be wary of that face.

dats_right

Most probably this

_JOE_

You certainly know how to brighten up a girl's day...:) (though you're not wrong)

hada

dats_right wrote: »

Most probably this

Would you give the poor girl some slack.

Just because you feel as if law has nothing left to offer you, does not give you any entitlement to be so coy and smug. And don't play the "oh I'm only telling her something she's going to find out" card.

To be honest, dats_right, i'm at best one year and a bit behind you in the road to becoming a solicitor (mainly because I'm off doing a Masters next year). And I'm really tired of the way a number of people on these boards continuously do the complete Irish thing, and bemoan everything about an industry they themselves chose to join in the first place.

Look around, it's tough, but it's tough for everyone. I guess what I'm trying to say is, get over it.

limericklady87

OP here. Thanks to everyone for the constructive replies about the masters and also to datsright... what i really needed was another reminder of the the likelihood of signing on.

I know there are many many people in similar situations but much worse off than me with FE1s and Masters done aswell but Im just getting anxious. Iv spent the last four years doing something which seems like it wont provide me with many options and bleeding my parents financially dry, so its a little bit crap!

Maybe i should just join the masses so and sit the FE1's... and then after another year of study... sit at home watching daytime TV.

Johnny Utah

McJob:

http://www.mcdonalds.ie/A-great-place-to-work/Opportunities-at-McDonalds/The-Crew-Role.aspx



"A great place to work"

Silas

limericklady87 wrote: »

. Would i be better off doing a masters or woulsd this even stand to me or make me employable? was looking at commercial law in UL or criminal justice in UCC. Or should i just go and try get a masters in something totally different like HR for example? Getting a bit worried at the moment so I would really appreciate any advice or comments at all.
Thanks!

Im currently doing the criminal justice masters in ucc.

It is really good if your really interested in Criminal Law/Criminal Procedure and anything related to criminal law. There is a strong emphasis on a combination of the black letter law with practical aspects of criminal law as you observe lots of criminal trials from the District Court, Circuit Criminal Court and Central Criminal Court. There are also other placements involved in the Masters such as visits to a range of prisons in this jurisdiction, as well as children court visits, gardai ridealongs and other placements.

The workload is really heavy but its still worth it if you are interested in a criminal law masters

dK1NG

Something that should be borne in mind when/ if deciding to do a crim j masters - what will it add to your cv if you are applying to a big firm specialising in commercial law?!

Yes, it will be very, very interesting but will it be of any value to you in applying for an apprenticeship?

*(Same goes for all masters actually, not just those in c.j.)

Silas

Well dK1NG my assumption would be that if you did a masters in criminal law you probably wouldnt have much of an interest in applying for jobs with commercial law firms. If you wanted to apply for jobs with commercial law firms wouldnt you tend to specialise in an area of commercial law. Most people who would do specific masters would probably tend to focus on that specific area of law yes?

limericklady87

Silas, thanks for the info! Just wondering if you could tell me a few more bits about the course? How many are roughly doing it? Are many/the majority of these straight after finishing an undergrad?, Is it pretty tough going as you were saying? Is it mainly final exams or essays or presentations? Any other advice at all about it would be great!