How do i know if law is for me? (1 Viewer)

[Accuracy]

^

 

[timeslowsdown]

Hey - I'm a first year law student and I don't think there's any way you can really be sure. I know this isn't the answer you want but you can only try and then see if you like it. I was in a similar position you - I had no idea if I'd like law and was really anxious that I was making the wrong decision. But once I started, I really enjoyed it. I'm near the end of my first semester and even though I've only done 'Introducing Law and Justice', an introductory unit which many feel doesn't truly reflect what law is about, I've come to know that this is what I want to do.

So my advice is just try it. If I hadn't given it a try I never would have known that I love it - even if you try it and you hate it, at least you know you can rule that option out and never have regrets. For the mean time, I think you have to have a passion for understanding how society works - from what I've done, it's definitely not all about changing the world and making a difference. Also, there's a fair bit of problem solving, so if you like that there's a fair chance you'll like law.

Maybe someone with more experience can give you better advice

 

[NBGHHS]

Law is the thing for you if you are GENUINELY interested in learning about the law. Anyone can get a law degree if they put their mind to it. But the degree is 'the thing for you' only if you want to learn more about the intricacies and possibly confusing areas of what we call law.

Like the above poster mentioned, LAWS1052/introducing law and justice is not an accurate indication for the rest of the degree, but it gives you a glimpse of the areas of law that you will study later on. You'll definitely feel like doing law was a mistake in the first two weeks (well i did ), but as you go on, it gets fun. You can only get a proper answer if you can come and experience it to your liking.

 

[aphorae]

It's really hard to say. Feelings can vary through different law subjects as well - you might enjoy criminal law, but despise public law.

I would say in general though, that if you enjoy critical analysis, reasoning and problem solving, that you will at least be fairly interested. It's probably easier to define in the negative. If you DON'T enjoy them at all, or you hate reading articles, hate trying to extract ideas from the text (most textbooks are 50% extracts/judgments through which you self-analyse and discuss in class, as opposed to the textbook telling you what is what and all the answers - you can't simply rote learn, you can't simply practice, you need to really understand, evaluate and form your own opinion), enjoy being spoonfed, can't write essays to save your life (generally at least 50% of final exam is an essay) then... considering the course structure at UNSW, it's probably not for you.

 

[Drifting95]

Do you like boring and tedious work? If so, law is for you.

 

[Trans4M]

It's really hard to say. Feelings can vary through different law subjects as well - you might enjoy criminal law, but despise public law.

I would say in general though, that if you enjoy critical analysis, reasoning and problem solving, that you will at least be fairly interested. It's probably easier to define in the negative. If you DON'T enjoy them at all, or you hate reading articles, hate trying to extract ideas from the text (most textbooks are 50% extracts/judgments through which you self-analyse and discuss in class, as opposed to the textbook telling you what is what and all the answers - you can't simply rote learn, you can't simply practice, you need to really understand, evaluate and form your own opinion), enjoy being spoonfed, can't write essays to save your life (generally at least 50% of final exam is an essay) then... considering the course structure at UNSW, it's probably not for you.

Hi Monica!

Anyways to answer OP's question, getting involved with law competitions ran by the student societies can also help. I didn't really enjoy my first two years of law school, however, the competitions made a huge difference for me. It is the reason why I know law is for me. What you learn at law school is only theoretical, the competitions give you a practical feel of what law is like.

 

[TehAzner]

Hi Monica!

Anyways to answer OP's question, getting involved with law competitions ran by the student societies can also help. I didn't really enjoy my first two years of law school, however, the competitions made a huge difference for me. It is the reason why I know law is for me. What you learn at law school is only theoretical, the competitions give you a practical feel of what law is like.

This. Sign up for not only competitions like mooting, negotiations, trial advocacy, client interviewing (my personal favourite) as they help develop soft skills like person-to-person interaction and methodical thinking, but also try to start early with researching about career opportunities. The market has been pretty bad in the past 2-3 years for internships/clerkships and grad positions, so definitely don't restrict yourself to being a corporate lawyer (which tends to be the general stereotype as the only job there is).

Also, core subjects will be boring, wait till you get to electives stage where you can do things like Cybercrime and IT law. Those are quite fun