To wonder why someone would do a law degree

[ACatCalledColin]

if they had no intention of becoming a lawyer?

A friends daughter is starting university in September, she's going to be reading law. She's going to an ex-poly, not a 'bad' one by any means, it's more in the middle of the league table.

Anyways I was talking to her today and the subject of university came up and I asked her if she was worried about what might happen after university - if she would struggle to get a training contract because she went to an ex poly and she said 'oh, I don't want to be a lawyer, actually, I just like law. I'll probably end up working in PR or something like that anyways'.

Maybe it's just me but I genuinely don't understand why someone would study law if they weren't even slightly interested in a career in law. It's not like it's an interesting subject, is it? It's very boring and dull so it's not like anyone can use the excuse that you simply like the subject.

I would have thought a humanities degree or even a business one would be more relevant for PR anyways (and more interesting too. )

don't know about now but a few years back a friend applying for solicitor jobs most certainly had to do a bloody good job of explaining away the presence of a poly (an actual poly! not even an ex-poly!) on her CV - it was picked up on for every job she applied for. Didn't stop her getting a job, but it didn't make it any easier. A friend applying to a broadsheet newspaper had the same issue.

There is of course life outside RG uni, but if your aiming to work at Freshfields or in a Temple chambers, an RG degree is going to stand you in very good stead, like it or not. But equally, in other fields, RG unis won't be the be-all-and-end-all, which is why prospective students need to do their research.

The OP's post is a bit odd, though - law is both an academic and a vocational subject. I've got a degree in Ancient History but I've never worked in a related field - I was just interested in it.

I didn't realise they were still called ex poly's?!
If love to study law, I think it would be really interesting
Most people I went to school with went on to Uni to do a course they'd enjoy rather than career and most do nothing in relation to their course. I do think 17 is a bit young to decide and stick to something for the next 40/50 years.

Is that a bit like saying no one should study history unless they want to be a history teacher or historian?
Law degrees are well regarded by employers for being academically rigorous, requiring good analytic skills and good attention to detail
And a lot of people find it to be a very interesting subject area.

Now, I'm off to google how I can become a politician, so I can finally put my degree to its proper use...

I have a law degree and work in marketing. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do when I chose my university course, and thought a law degree would stand me in good stead whatever career path I chose. Also, I found it extremely interesting! I did a combined honours degree with a modern language and don't use that either!

I used to work in a City law firm. It is definitiely the case that a high percentage of graduates come from Russell group universities. It is also the case that they concentrate their graduate recruitment efforts and budgets on those universities. I did ask the HR team about this (i.e. why they dont visit the law fair at ex-poly or have drinks receptions there) and was told that becuase they have historically had so few people apply from those universities, it is not worth the cost for a visit there - they concentrate their time and recruitment budget on the universities that are most likely to produce successful applicants based on past experience. However, they did say that they not have a bias against applicants form these universities and if their CVs and interviews were as strong, they would make an offer, and gave a few examples of where they have done so. The reality is though that students at Russel group univeristies get much more insight from their careers team and students in the year above about what the interview process involves and how to prepare and what goes down well on the application form, so they tend to perform more strongly at interview. Hence, it becomes a bit of a vicious circle.

On the other hand, there is a whole wide world of law outside the City, and although I suspect the Bar has a similar Russell group "bias", that may not be true of criminal firms, family firms, high street conveyancers etc, although obviosuly these types of firmsindividually take on far fewer trainees.

In Scotland about 50 percent of law students don't go into the profession but see it as a 'good' degree because it's so competitive to get a place. I did a law degree and worked in the profession for a while and now am in something tangentially related to it. I found some of the degree interesting, some not and frankly would say if you don't want to practice, why not study something that would truly broaden your horizons and give you a good broad-based education instead. There is a fair amount of learning of black-letter law that can be quite dull.

I was definitely the odd one out at my magic circle firm very few not Oxbridge to the extent that social chit chat would begin with the question what college were you at. God knows how I got in! Think my smarming at interviews got me a long way....

Is a law degree really that flexible though? I would think because it's so narrow a lot of employers will be put off in case you don't stick around and decide to go for a legal career instead?

To whoever asked, I currently work in marketing. I do give speeches sometimes and write a lot...my degree has served me well I think.

A legal background is good in any business setting.

I spend my life with lawyers and have interacted a lot with lawyers throughout my career. Having some appreciation of the law, how/when to use lawyers, managing legal issues is all very useful in business.

As someone else said, an analytical brain is also a very desirable thing in business.

Nice to see that your English degree hasn't stopped you using the construction 'most snobbiest'.

I am one of a handfull of people I know that has been working in the profession that they left university with a qualification in. I was originally going to do law, however, it was made quite clear to me that it wouldn't suit me. Having since met a number of corporate lawyers, I think I understand what people at the time were getting at .

Oddly enough, one thing that I have ended up specialising in has been getting to know random, obscure legislation relating to my field of expertise. I suppose I'm allowed to write "expertise", since I've been working in the same field for the best part of 20 years, I didn't even know such a profession existed when I was at uni, but I got work experience in my summer holidays, and never really left! So perhaps my slightly lawwy brain has come to the fore without me really pushing it.

I guess, what I'm trying to get at is that whilst some people fully intend to be working in the field in which they studied, some don't. For some it accidentally happens, and for others, their natural talents will find a way of being made use of no matter what they are doing.

My husband is a lawyer, now in NYC, but for a time he worked at one of the tip-top US firms in London. It's true that the vast majority of UK lawyers at that firm studied at Oxford, with the odd outlier from Glasgow or Exeter thrown into the mix (and more often than not, the non-Oxbridge lawyers qualified donkeys years ago).

In any case, I've met umpteen lawyers over the yearsmostly business lawyers or litigatorsand their undergraduate degrees have been in everything from theatre to economics.

OP what did you expect her to do with the wisdom that you were imparting to her (you know, that she'd struggle to get a job because she went to a poly)? I'm guessing that she doesn't have the option to say; yes you are right, I will accept that place at Oxford after all. So should she give up on her interest in law and just know her place?

The law is fascinating. It touches on every area of our lives.

We're especially lucky to come from common law jurisdictions. All those lovely cases. Young ladies drinking ginger with decomposed snails, men falling off deckchairs in front of their ladyloves on stony English beeches, women sniffing carbolic smoke balls and succumbing to the sniffles- ahhhhh.

For what it's worth both dh and I went to one of the 3 'top' uni's mentioned, and know a number of people who didn't get training contracts, and now work with people from 'ex polys' who did!

Interesting subject but I'd steer clear at the moment of a starting a career in private practice, she's got the right idea!

YABU. Law isn't a vocational degree at all - you don't actually need an undergraduate law degree to become a solicitor/barrister. It's a well respected degree because it teaches an analytical way of thinking and that transfers well for all sorts of career (business and other). I don't believe that A-Level law is a good representation of a law degree at all because the A-Level can only cover very superficial aspects of law. I found my law degree extremely interesting, and particularly in the later years when it was possible to spend extra time on dissertations/enhanced coursework to really get into a particular subject.

I'm a solicitor in a Silver Circle firm and I'd say the suggestion that firms want Durham/UCL is well off - I don't know anyone who went to Durham in particular and I know a lot of lawyers! It's true that Russell Group university graduates make up most of the profession (with an Oxbridge bias) but no CVs get thrown in the bin - except possibly those with, or with an expectation of, less than a 2:1 degree - as there's a real drive to encourage non-standard applicants and increase diversity.

I love the wording of the OP, like you need an 'excuse' to study something in her eyes

OP, don't fret, you don't have to worry about anyone else's motivation for studying, and they don't need to justify their choices to you.

I'm studying law and there's a great deal of value to it despite the fact that it's unlikely I'll be able to work in the profession. I'm doing it because it's what I wanted to do when I was 17 and couldn't due to circumstances outwith my control. I love it, it's fascinating and not dull at all. If I'm honest I love it so much that I'm desperately sad at not having had the chance to build a career in the field.

OP while it's right that top city law firms focus on candidates from top universities, that's probably also true of a lot of non-law companies who have such a high ratio of applicants, and can afford to pick and choose.

Anyways the legal profession also consists of thousands of lawyers in smaller and high street firms, who didn't go to a Russell Group university.

What a strange question.
It is a well respected , interesting degree.
That's why she is doing it.

I did a law degree and it was great! Loved criminology and forensic medicine. Because I didn't want to be a lawyer I could do the interesting subjects and give trusts and conveyancing a wide berth.

So if you do a French degree do you have to become French? And pity those poor souls studying Ancient History. That's a bit facetious, annabel!

I'm quite intrigued by this issue. I can see why someone would want to study law but not necessarily go into the profession, but is it not a vocational subject in the sense that you have to do some professional training as part of it? And if you were just doing it as a good general degree and out of interest, would you maybe find the training a bit uninteresting (unless you got to work in an environment/area that did interest you, but can you pick and choose like that?).

Or does the professional training come later, after you've done your degree?

Excuse my ignorance.

I went to a Russell Group Uni back in the days [mumbles...20 years ago], and knew quite a few people reading law. Few of them became lawyers, but lots became Chartered Accountants, and were then exempt from the law papers in the first year of study. I read Economics, and one of my course explained the importance of education as a signalling tool to employers that you are capable of a certain level of work - not necessarily signalling to law firms that your law degree means you'll be a good lawyer, but that Graduate X managed to get a place at Y Top Ten Uni, and maintain the place (and their grade), meaning they'd be a good fit in the employer's firm. Their subject choice was often irrelevant. This was certainly the case for my Big 4 Accountancy Firm whose entry requirements were conditional on your degree attainment, not the course.

I don't see the point in paying £9000 a year if you have no intention of doing anything with it.