Law degree pathways

Your options

A law degree is a valuable piece of paper to have. For your options with your law degree there are many valuable sites, but start with this snapshot of options with a law degree and then download Careers for Law Graduates produced by Graduate Careers Australia for a discussion of career options with a law degree

For some (but not all) law students the completion of their law degree is a step towards becoming a practising barrister or solicitor. There are different rules across the Australian jurisdictions as to admission to practice but there are generally two pathways:

• a practical training course - link to the Council of Australian Law Deans for a full list of Australia's practical legal training programs or
• a professional traineeship in a firm.

Admission to the Bar as a barrister, involves being admitted to practise as well as complying with “reading rules” (generally a period of 9 months’ duration, including the readers’ course).

Competition for a place in a firm is tough! You usually require high marks at University. To increase your chances:

• Participate in extracurricular activities at university, such as mooting, letter-writing competitions, or the law students’ society.
• Complete a seasonal clerkship during the third and fourth years of your degree. Some firms, particularly large commercial firms, have now moved to a system of ‘priority offers’, giving seasonal clerks preferential treatment in obtaining articles.
• Pay particular attention to the application process – follow the guidelines carefully, attend seminars on preparing your application, read guides on writing the covering letter, carefully prepare your curriculum vitae. Remember your application is only one in a large pile!
• Practise your interview technique, sample questions and answers, and be on time
• When considering where to apply for professional legal experience or traineeship, consider:
  
  

• the sort of firm that interests you:

• a large commercial firm in a city?
• a small and varied suburban practice?
• a country solicitor?
• a medium-sized firm?
• a specialised practice?
• a community legal service?
  
  

• the area/s of practice that interest you:

• general commercial law?
• personal injury litigation?
• family law?
• litigation?
• banking and finance?
• immigration?
• industrial relations?
• intellectual property?
• taxation?

To increase your chances of securing a position in a law firm, consider the following:

• Choose your law subjects carefully! Consider the areas of practice of the firms you are interested in!
• Choose a firm that reflects your own study preferences and you are more likely to have success.
• Choose your extracurricular activities and work experience carefully! If your intended direction is a commercial firm, you should focus your extracurricular activities accordingly. A list of community legal services, or volunteer work with alternative, political or charitable organisations is typically outside the focus of a commercial firm, but will certainly be more an appropriate choice for organisations focused within those particular fields.

There are many alternatives to a traditional law career as a barrister or solicitor. You could:

• enrol in a graduate degree in your particular field of interest – for example, a graduate diploma or Masters degree- link here to download the Council of Australian Law Deans Guide to Australia's Postgraduate Law Programs
• apply to law firms without formal closing dates, as well as for graduate positions in government departments;
• consider alternative careers in law and in other pursuits such as:

• Judges’ Associate – assisting a judge within the court system.
• In-house legal counsel – working as legal counsel within a business or company.
• Academic – teaching law students at university and researching the law.
• A position in a State or Territory Government department or an Australian Government department
• An area unrelated to the law and everything you have studied – never think that having a law degree has been a waste of your time! A law degree is something you will have for the rest of your life. The skills you have learnt in law school can be used in every professional endeavour you undertake.

A law degree can be used in a variety of commercial and business settings – particularly when coupled with another degree. Many of the available fields to choose from are:

• accounting
• investment banking
• management consulting
• patent attorney (particularly those of you with a science degree);
• stockbroking
  

This text is an edited extract from Claire Macken, The Law Student's Survival Guide: 9 Steps to Law Study Success, Thomsons, 2009 (2nd edition).