Law degree because of interest in law, but unsure if wants to be a lawyer?

[PinkChaires]

Dd17 is in y12 and studying bio,psychology and history a levels. She is debating doing a law degree as she says shes interested in law, however is unsure of actually becoming a lawyer, mainly because she afraid its dull/boring and is unsure an office job is suitable for her. Any advice? She also is unsure of any other careers she may be able to pursue. She wants a interesting , 'no two days the same type' career and says that if the conditions weren't so dire, she would become a teacher

I would recommend social work to anyone - definitely no two days the same in children & families!

I did exactly this- studied law and got a first class degree; I loved the subject and found it fascinating but after a 2 week vacation scheme in a magic circle firm I knew I didn't want to actually become a lawyer. It just wasn't me. Fast forward to a 13 years later and I am now a deputy head of an independent school having gone into teaching and have no regrets. I did my two year 'right of passage' in state, moved abroad for 3 years then settled into a fabulous Indy school.

A Law degree is very useful in the financial world. Lots of offshore planning needed for those Ultra High Net Worth individuals.

Law gives people a good foundation if they want to go into business/management etc too

However a lot of my friends who did law degrees found them to dry to be interesting after a while

You can sometimes do mixed degrees eg business and law /french and law which might keep her options open more

I loved my law conversion, however hated being a trainee solicitor. Retrained as a teacher and haven't looked back!

Thanks, shes not really interested in much else (maybe psychology?) so shes thinking its a good foundation even if she changes her mind

I work in an organisation with a lot of children's social workers (so they often have to attend court) and some of them, but also a surprising number of thr support staff, have a law degree.

nope. i did this. loved law, did the degree. realised i didnt want to work in it, now i cant get a job. i’m about to retrain in nursing.

Forensic psychology? But it's a long old slog to qualify

Ive heard this, and it's something that really worries her. But there seems to be this problem in alot of fields now

A kid I know is doing law and international relations, to work in human rights type roles. Not sure if that's still too officey?

I would not recommend social work. I did it at 18. Wish I'd done law instead.

We know a lot of lawyers.
I wouldnt recommend law or social work.

My sibling makes good money "in education" and had quite an interesting life as has lived all over the world. Reasonable worklife balance and good options for extra income - marking, tutoring, exam prep, guest speaker etc etc

He has worked for the british council in various countries and various education boards and now works in a renowned university abroad!
In his 20s he made thousands for a few years sitting in lobbies of london 5* hotels dorchester was a favorite.... prepping Chinese kids for boarding school entryinterviews. He stopped as it was boring and by the end he hated scones 😅

Education wise: He did a degree in history and later did an MA at cambridge in education/ educational studies?

A different spin on law. There are loads of different types of law that mean your career could be very different.

Best friend did law degree because she loved it, but turned down roles in big commercial type law firms as she didn't want to be a pen pusher. She's gone into private client at a boutique regional firm that's very highly regarded and basically does succession planning for the ultra rich. It sounds super interesting, she has lots of face time with clients including getting to visit some amazing properties and I understand finds the legal/technical bit interesting and challenging too. She been taking independent clients since she was very new so really didn't spend long in the simply reading documents stage.

Dd is in the second year of her law degree. She does want to work in law and is incredibly driven and self motivated but has said her degree is a means to an end. She loves some of it but some of the modules she has to do and very boring and she just has to get through them.
Although you could argue that's the case in any degree.

Police?

I've got a law degree and work in an IT role. I loved studying law but I'd say the majority of people on the course found it very dry and a means to an end. It's a well respected degree for grad schemes. Ive found it useful in terms of structured thinking and principles of contract have been helpful when working with legal and procurement to procure third party tech. In real life I'm fairly able at researching and applying law and at various times have helped people out with probate, employment, housing, schooling and immigration legal issues.

A law degree is a well respected degree and lots of people who do it don’t go on to become lawyers. Equally you don’t need a law degree to become a lawyer.

Some of my friends who did law degrees have gone on to be journalists, civil servants, work in policy/for think tanks.

Has your DD really looked at the syllabus at the unis she is interested in? There are certain core subjects that will be common to all of them (as they are necessary to qualify as a lawyer) with only limited scope for electives around those. Personally I think it is rather dry and would have chosen a history or psychology degree above that any day, but of course your DD may feel differently.

Your dd can use that Law degree in other roles . Many students with law degrees work in Hr , finance , management etc.
My dd did a Summer internship in an investment bank. Some of the other interns were doing law degrees but didn’t want to be lawyers

woul she be interested in a joint law and history degree? There are several - see e.g. https://www.essex.ac.uk/courses/ug01444/1/ba-history-and-law?coursecode=VM12
Law and history teach quite different approaches to study and analytical skills, so this could be interesting and useful in itself

I think that something like this is what shes hoping for really. Shes finding the advice shes getting tends to be negative no matter what degree. I think all degrees have parts that would be dull and she has been warned a psychology by two cousins who did one, but cant find jobs.

DD is doing a joint honours degree in business & law (currently in her final year). She’s actually decided that she prefers the business side of her degree, and is applying for jobs in marketing.

I'd say Law is a great degree for opening doors in different fields. Mine comes in so useful and I've worked in a number of different sectors (not one of them legal).

Having a law degree is sought after in all sorts of businesses and very useful if you start your own business or just for general life.

I suspect you didn't mean your jobs were illegal.😀