Work with a Law Degree?

WhiteWalls

I know this is work related but I think its better suited to this section. Where in the world would be best go to get work?

iamanengine

WhiteWalls wrote: »

I know this is work related but I think its better suited to this section. Where in the world would be best go to get work?

Well you're main options with a degree from Ireland would be the common law countries like Ireland, England, US, Canada, one territory in Australia etc. Maybe not but that's what I assume, I'm just a law student myself. I would imagine it is very hard to get a job in US. Don't know much other than that!

Mr. Incognito

Anywhere where there is work in the area you are interested in.

WhiteWalls

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Anywhere where there is work in the area you are interested in.

I was thinking New Zealand and Christchurch due to the fact that if I was not to get legal work, I could get construction work?

234

WhiteWalls wrote: »

I know this is work related but I think its better suited to this section. Where in the world would be best go to get work?

That's a very hard question to answer, it depends so much on what kind of work you want to do.

Assuming you mean work as a lawyer, most Irish law grads find work in Ireland or the UK as solicitors or barristers; the London market is more competitive for branches of the profession than Dublin is (though more so for barristers).

As others have indicated, other common law countries are possibilities. You would need to check the qualifying requirements for the various Australian territories. As far as I remember, if would be possible to try an qualify in at least one without taking an Australian law degree, though their approach to the barrister/solicitor distinction is quite different to ours.

No idea on NZ. Don't know anybody who went there and never looked into it myself. Same goes for Canada and HK.

Re the US, the NY and California Bars are the only ones open to those who have no JD. That said, the market it incredibly competitive. Even if you do an LLM in a respected Ivy League university such as Harvard you are up against a host of JD students who are given preference over what is seen as a cash-cow for foreign law students, so an LLM may not be a great advantage there. After a few years in practice you might be a more attractive prospect to them.

In terms of the Dublin scene, there are loads of threads on this forum on the difficulties and benefits of obtaining training contracts (mostly in corporate firms) and the hellish state of the Dublin Bar.

There is also a sufficient amount of information about the UK scene if you go searching. rollonfriday.co.uk is probably the best source of info for London solicitors. For the London Bar, it's eminently google-able, and hideously competitive.

Whatever route you choose, best of luck.

chops018

WhiteWalls wrote: »

I know this is work related but I think its better suited to this section. Where in the world would be best go to get work?

A law degree is just a glorified arts degree. It has no practical merit.

I have a B.A. in Law and an LL.M. I also spent nearly two years passing the FE1's. I have no practical profession or qualification at the end of this, nearly 7 years studying. I wouldn't recommend anyone to do Law, especially if you want to become a Solicitor as all you need is any level 8 degree. You would think that the Law Society would grant exemptions to the FE1's to those who did law at undergrad. Anyway, I loved academic law, but it doesn't really get you a career on it's own, contacts/internships/extra cirrucular do this.

So, if you want to get ahead in law start applying for interships with the big firms in Dublin. They pay well and it will be great for the CV. You could think about banking or insurance jobs either, although many require experience and you to be APA'd, but the economy is getting better so you could be in with a shout of getting into a bank's legal department with some small work experience somewhere.

Apply to any of the big companies for grad programmes - anyone from Google to Lidl runs these programmes and they accept people from any discipline.

As for work abraod, I can't comment, as I never had any interest to go abroad. I wanted to stay here and qualify, which if proving very difficult even with things picking up. Especially as most apprenticeships these days are on minimum wage which would see my current salary cut in a little under half.

Anyway, good luck with whatever road you take.

MarkAnthony

It is indeed a glorified Arts degree, however it is a very flexible jumping off point. There are endless routes open to you (although these are, in the main, the same routes as someone with an Art-History degree.)

My circumstances have changed and going down the barrister route now looks like less of a possibility, I'll probably go paralegal -> Solicitor but who knows. I do know that if something I have on the go doesn't work out for me then I'm saying sod it and dropping out for a year or so. The LLB and CV I've built is looking good for getting in the door with some NGOs but I'll no doubt start by volunteering.

To my mind the point of a law degree isn't knowing the law as much as it is understanding how the legal system works here. Contracts, contacts, contacts. That's not meant to be disparaging it gets you in the door in various other jurisdictions as well.

Best of luck - realistically just don't see a law degree as an end in itself and you can do anything.

cutieoooooooo

it is saly true that there are very few job opportunities is the legal world. but i myself am hoping to do law this year after my leaving cert and i have researched and scanned through the internet to find that there place for lawyer is London, new York, Hong Kong, Australia. The best way to get a future well paid job is experience experience experience. this is because anyone/some people can get a degree and even wing an interview but experience proves you are capable and your past employers verify that.

conorh91

I think people should be more careful when considering law at university. Whatever about the job prospects, and warnings regarding same are rightly plentiful in this forum, it isn't a good, transferable degree to have in its own right.

I know non-practicing barristers and people with undergraduate law degrees who feel stuck with Ireland as a place of work, because these qualifications are of little legal relevance in the EU, let alone Canada or Australia. Obviously a few will get-on in EU work or the UK, but this is a small minority.

Lets face it, a lot of Irish young people are emigrating. Arriving off the boat with a degree in the laws of a foreign jurisdiction is unlikely to make you useful in an immediate/ obvious way.

Manach

Have you considered IT?
While you'd likely need at least a one year HDip to change over and familiarise oneself with the tech side, having a law degree shows an ability to parse documents and create meaning from a mess of opinion. For instance in Project management or Requirements engineering those would be highly useful.

MarkAnthony

conorh91 wrote: »

I think people should be more careful when considering law at university. Whatever about the job prospects, and warnings regarding same are rightly plentiful in this forum, it isn't a good, transferable degree to have in its own right.

I know non-practicing barristers and people with undergraduate law degrees who feel stuck with Ireland as a place of work, because these qualifications are of little legal relevance in the EU, let alone Canada or Australia. Obviously a few will get-on in EU work or the UK, but this is a small minority.

Lets face it, a lot of Irish young people are emigrating. Arriving off the boat with a degree in the laws of a foreign jurisdiction is unlikely to make you useful in an immediate/ obvious way.

Meh, yeah and nah.

Is any undergrad degree much good without post-grad study? A law degree either takes an extra year (Over a masters) or four years less (than a PhD) to make it useful.

Sometime I think the bleakness if overstated and people just have an over exaggerated expectation of what it's like to start in any profession be it a barrister, electrician, chef or pornstar.

conorh91

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Is any undergrad degree much good without post-grad study?

Loads of them. There are plenty of Irish-trained engineers, architects, nurses, doctors, scientists and finance professionals in the UK, Canada and Australia. Plenty of Irish teachers in the UK.

I doubt if many of the above have considered such dramatic career changes since graduation as law graduates will have.

Relative to the vocational or semi-vocational degrees mentioned above, law doesn't travel well.

I get my daily coffee fix from a gorgeous law graduate from Vilnius University. So I'm not singling-out on Irish law degrees.

There can be strong opportunities at home, even without a professional qualification. Abroad, not so much.

iamanengine

Really as long as you qualify with a 2.1 average there is no reason why you can't get a job as a solicitor in Ireland.

MarkAnthony

conorh91 wrote: »

Loads of them. There are plenty of Irish-trained engineers, architects, nurses, doctors, scientists and finance professionals in the UK, Canada and Australia. Plenty of Irish teachers in the UK.

Every single one of them with some sort of post grad study I'd imagine, except perhaps for the engineers and maybe nurses. Teachers and Doctors by very definition would have post grade study.

conorh91 wrote: »

I doubt if many of the above have considered such dramatic career changes since graduation as law graduates will have.

Relative to the vocational or semi-vocational degrees mentioned above, law doesn't travel well.

Again yes and no, teachers would have some additional hoops, an Irish Law degree could be converted in any of the jurisdictions listed with a greater or lesser pain in the bum. My understanding in Canada it's a simple matter of doing an LLM there (and learning French?).

conorh91 wrote: »

I get my daily coffee fix from a gorgeous law graduate from Vilnius University. So I'm not singling-out on Irish law degrees.

I know of a graduate of the Sorbonne qualified in France and Spain who had similar issue finding work here. Also stunning, it's enough to make me wish I was 10 years younger, 20 IQ points smarter and motivated by more than beer.

I don't think you're singling out Irish Law degrees, but law degrees in general. They're not of much practical use but then I'm not sold on the idea that many undergraduate degrees are anymore. My wife is firmly of the impression everyone has a PhD given her line of work.

conorh91 wrote: »

There can be strong opportunities at home, even without a professional qualification. Abroad, not so much.

For whom? A law degree, even one from Ireland should stand you in good stead for many jobs in the English speaking world. Obviously it's going to be a different circle to someone with a technical degree. But while I agree science is science in Ireland, Iran or the US I don't know anyone who did an undergrad science degree of almost any type and walked straight into a job. Again engineers yes, but thats generally on the computing side.