Law

JDOC1996

Hey everyone.
Can anybody shed some light on which university is the best to study law in?
And also, which courses are best (i.e, BCL, LLB, Corporate law, Law and German, etc.)?
Cheers.

hfallada

Like it depends. A pure law degree is a piece of paper. You only need it if you wanna be a barrister. You can do any degree to be a solicitor. Generally law firms pick from ucd, tcd and probably ucc. Sorry to rain on anyone parade. The bigs only want the very best of the best. Even out of a a couple of hundred tcd students only 10 might be picked. My mother friends daughter is making €40,000 a year when she join a law firm from tcd this year.

Having a combination degree will be a huge advantage eg business and law ucd. Also law and German tcd there is only 17 students per year. I think there is few German law firms in Ireland as Iteland is one the only countries that German imports from than it exports to.

I believe having law with something will separate you from the thousands of others who study law. Plus you could find out after 3 years law is not for me but I love the business part of my degree I'll continue with that.

Try to get tcd and ucd( im from Dublin do I'm going to be biased to the Dublin universities.)

XxMCRxBabyxX

hfallada wrote: »

Like it depends. A pure law degree is a piece of paper. You only need it if you wanna be a barrister. You can do any degree to be a solicitor. Generally law firms pick from ucd, tcd and probably ucc. Sorry to rain on anyone parade. The bigs only want the very best of the best. Even out of a a couple of hundred tcd students only 10 might be picked. My mother friends daughter is making €40,000 a year when she join a law firm from tcd this year.

Having a combination degree will be a huge advantage eg business and law ucd. Also law and German tcd there is only 17 students per year. I think there is few German law firms in Ireland as Iteland is one the only countries that German imports from than it exports to.

I believe having law with something will separate you from the thousands of others who study law. Plus you could find out after 3 years law is not for me but I love the business part of my degree I'll continue with that.

Try to get tcd and ucd( im from Dublin do I'm going to be biased to the Dublin universities.)

1. Right now you do not need a law degree to become a solicitor as you will still need to do the FE1s. There is small talk of this changing though.

2. The Big 5 are not as discriminatory against other colleges as is claimed. I currently intern in one and there are trainees from Maynooth, UL, WIT, etc here. Just because you went to Trinity, it doesn't make you the best.

3. An even bigger advantage than a Law And degree is a degree that includes a placement. Having experience is a massive plus for any graduate and can often lead to having a training contract sorted before starting your final year. I think Maynooth, UL and UCC are the only colleges that offer this.

HugsiePie

Out of curiosity, would a law degree with philosophy add to job prospects (yes this is an actual degree available in Ireland, and it's an actual law degree not an arts degree)

XxMCRxBabyxX

HugsiePie wrote: »

Out of curiosity, would a law degree with philosophy add to job prospects (yes this is an actual degree available in Ireland, and it's an actual law degree not an arts degree)

I can't say about prospects in general but I do know a law and philosophy graduate who has a traineeship in a top five and previously had an internship in another one too so it doesn't kill your chances anyway.

Sure you can do Law and nearly any arts subject in Maynooth so there are even Law and Anthropology graduates out there!

ThirdMan

I'm currently studying law in TCD and the standard of some of the lectures is appalling, and the seminars are even worse. I'm sure every university is the same, but if there's any Trinity grads in here then you better get down off your high horse. It's not what people make it out to be. I also think it's incorrect that only a handful of TCD students get picked out of hundreds of prospective lawyers. It seems to me that only a handful of people actually want to practice law. Most people in my year have different career paths in mind.

OP, do some research into the different universities, and find out which is best for you. The standard of a law degree in each will be roughly the same. If you apply yourself and work hard then you've a good chance of achieving your goals, regardless of where you study. Also, if it is true that employers prefer TCD and UCD graduates, then that's more reason to study somewhere else. The amount of graduates pouring out of Dublin that were 'treasurer of this society', or 'secretary of that'. Forgot about all that rubbish. Work hard and try to carve out an original path for yourself. You'll land on your feet every time. Best of luck.

JDOC1996

Thanks for the replys guys.
I'd love to go to UCC, as I only live about an hour away from it.
Im unsure what degree would be best though. Currently they have a law and French degree, law and Irish, plain law, law (international) and law (clinical).
Which of these would be best to go for? I don't think I'm eligible for law and french, as I study German. I'm also a fluent Irish speaker, so that might be an advantage if I was to study law and Irish.

XxMCRxBabyxX

JDOC1996 wrote: »

Thanks for the replys guys.
I'd love to go to UCC, as I only live about an hour away from it.
Im unsure what degree would be best though. Currently they have a law and French degree, law and Irish, plain law, law (international) and law (clinical).
Which of these would be best to go for? I don't think I'm eligible for law and french, as I study German. I'm also a fluent Irish speaker, so that'll might be an advantage if I was to study law and Irish.

Honestly it depends on what you want. Based on my earlier post I'd recommend Clinical if you're planning on going to Blackhall but any of the others are great too. Simple answer is do you want to study Irish in college, do you want to study abroad for a year, do you want to get some (valuable) work experience or do you just want a basic three year degree? All are great options!

Ashashi

I am just about to graduate from the BCL Law and Society Degree in DCU and I must say it is a fantastic degree. There is one firm I believe is biased in relation to points but other than that, firms are looking for bright, hard working and unique people.

The fact that DCU has not been mentioned kind of irks me but it is basically brand new (my group will be only the second pool of graduates) and the class sizes are small. There is a lot of interaction between the lecturers and students which can lead to fantastic extra curricular opportunities, such as international moot court competitions and attending international tribunals (DCU just sent a cohort of students to the Irish Famine Tribunal in NYC).

So don't just think about where you will be studying, but what you will be studying. UCC is a fantastic university as well and sometimes does not get the credit it deserves. If you have any questions about DCU, drop me a PM. I have been quite active inside and outside of my degree so I can answer any questions you have.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Ashashi wrote: »

I am just about to graduate from the BCL Law and Society Degree in DCU and I must say it is a fantastic degree. There is one firm I believe is biased in relation to points but other than that, firms are looking for bright, hard working and unique people.

The fact that DCU has not been mentioned kind of irks me but it is basically brand new (my group will be only the second pool of graduates) and the class sizes are small. There is a lot of interaction between the lecturers and students which can lead to fantastic extra curricular opportunities, such as international moot court competitions and attending international tribunals (DCU just sent a cohort of students to the Irish Famine Tribunal in NYC).

So don't just think about where you will be studying, but what you will be studying. UCC is a fantastic university as well and sometimes does not get the credit it deserves. If you have any questions about DCU, drop me a PM. I have been quite active inside and outside of my degree so I can answer any questions you have.

In fairness not all colleges or courses have been mentioned. NUIG deserves a mention too.

OP, another thing I forgot to mention is that I would recommend putting down Arts in Maynooth as your number 10 back up. You can do law as an arts subject there and transfer into any of the full law courses in 2nd year provided that you get a 2.1 in law.

HugsiePie

Are there any other jobs you can do with a law degree bar being a lawyer (apart from journalism, you can get a degree in anything to be a journalist)

XxMCRxBabyxX

HugsiePie wrote: »

Are there any other jobs you can do with a law degree bar being a lawyer (apart from journalism, you can get a degree in anything to be a journalist)

Plenty. Law can be seen as a great basic degree. Even within law you have loads of options. Of my year they have gone on to academia, accountancy, solicitor, barrister, law librarian, journalism, finance, management, politics, business, teaching, etc. In fact, very few have gone into the traditional legal jobs. It can be just like an arts or business degree in that regard

JDOC1996

I'm also just wondering, if an Irish law degree would enable me to work as a lawyer in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia etc. ?
I don't want to be confined to Ireland.

XxMCRxBabyxX

JDOC1996 wrote: »

I'm also just wondering, if an Irish law degree would enable me to work as a lawyer in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia etc. ?
I don't want to be confined to Ireland.

Are you talking about being a Solicitor?

Well you will still have to do qualification exams (the same as in Ireland) but at the very least I know that you can do the New York Bar and maybe California. You could also qualify here and convert your qualification if you planned to move or go into in-house counsel work where you won't need to convert.

JDOC1996

Either as a solicitor or a barrister.
I'd also like to work in Corporate law, if it is of any significance..

XxMCRxBabyxX

JDOC1996 wrote: »

Either as a solicitor or a barrister.
I'd also like to work in Corporate law, if it is of any significance..

The above all relates to a Solicitor. I'm not sure about Barristers though the NY Bar would cover both.

In-house is definitely an option for corporate. It would probably also be easier to get jobs abroad with corporate.

I'm currently working in a corporate firm if you have any qs!

ThirdMan

A law degree won't allow you to practice law in Ireland. You need to have a professional qualification to do that. The qualification process for a solicitor and barrister are different, but both involve a period of additional study followed by some work experience. As far as I know becoming a solicitor will take longer, but becoming a barrister costs more.

Try not to get too far ahead of yourself. You seem quite interested in studying law, so my suggestion would be to go ahead and do that. It's a very strong degree to have, regardless of what career path you ultimately decide on. But don't get too wrapped up in what type of lawyer you want to be. It takes a considerable effort to become any type of lawyer, and like many of us have realised, you may not be cut out for it.

Reventon93

If there's any questions about corporate law in NUIG, i've just finished 1st year