Qualities needed to be a lawyer? (1 Viewer)

[olivegreentiger]

Hi guys, I was considering doing law and just wondering what it actually involves? Those UAC guides really do not help in the explanation department

 

[Demandred]

Attention to detail, and a very very very very very long attention span. Most of your studies would be comprised of reading legal cases and legislation. It takes quite a while to understand some cases, I remember reading the same paragraph 10 times in the first year because it was so damn tedious. It gets easier as years role by.

Dedication, its a 5 year degree and it wears you down after a few years, I nearly lost total interest in finishing my law degree and just wanted to start working. It feels like as if you're falling behind in life - everyone's finishing their 3yr buiness/social science/science degrees and you're stuck with 2 more years left.

Having said that, don't forget to get hands on experience, a lot of people make the mistake of not pursuing any sort of legal experience until 4th/5th year. When you apply for the clerkship/internships/vacation jobs during your 4th/5th year (which is bloody important if you want a career in corporate/commercial law), you would be significantly disadvantaged compared to the people who already done pro-bono work at community legal cetnres or already trained as paralegals.

Problem solving skills. In most assessments and exams, its all about solving people's problems, it requires you to point out all the relevent issues, and identify the legal pricinples, and critically apply the legal principles to come to a conclusion. A good law student should synthesize both law and facts and let the application of law intertwine like a ballroom dance. I can't think of any more atm...

I am hedging that Frigid/Subdued/Melsc et al would follow up on your question.

 

[hfis]

I'd also say an ability to 'not sweat the small stuff' would come in handy both during your studies and in practice. Although attention to detail is incredibly important in law, getting hung up on said details and stressing out over every little thing will kill you. It's uni, you're there to have fun.

 

[subdued123]

I feel honoured to be mentioned in the same company as Frigid.

Nothing much to add, Demandred, your post covered it all.

My 2c worth -

1) If you like (or are good at) reading or writing, give it a whirl.
2) Don't do it for the money. It is not that good considering the hours at some places.
3) It can take you many places- politics, business - anything powerful. That's the lure.
4) and I hate to bring it up - but the UAI will largely determine what you do - at an undergrad level anyway. Work hard and get good marks. Worry about those chickens when they hatch.

 

[Demandred]

I'd also say an ability to 'not sweat the small stuff' would come in handy both during your studies and in practice. Although attention to detail is incredibly important in law, getting hung up on said details and stressing out over every little thing will kill you. It's uni, you're there to have fun.

I failed an admin law response because I misread a simple section from the Migration Act .

 

[doink]

A complete lack of moral compass helps greatly.

 

[Frigid]

i agree with what Demandred has said, and i perhaps point out two interesting articles i read lately,

"In Praise of Zealhttp://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1090180199000", American Lawyer, 2 August 2004

and

Campbell, Malone and Charlesworth, "'The Elephant in the Room': Working-Time Patterns of Solicitors in Private Practice in Melbournehttp://celrl.law.unimelb.edu.au/go/publications/centre-publications/working-papers/index.cfm", Working Paper No 43, Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, Melbourne University, June 2008

much food for thought.

also, i might as well plug this, but apparently all the cool kids are reading Lisa Pryor's The Pinstriped Prisonhttp://www.panmacmillan.com.au/picador/display_title.asp?ISBN=9780330423502&Author=Pryor, Lisa.

 

[BackCountrySnow]

A complete lack of moral compass helps greatly.

 

[olivegreentiger]

Thanks! I think I might do a combined commerce and law degree now.

I talked to the guys at maq open day and apparentely I don't have to be that outgoing at the moment since I don't actually want to engage in advocacy after I complete my degree, but I think I'll still go and do toastmasters after my hsc to elevate my confidence. Woo!

 

[travelfish]

Stamina and the ability to apply oneself to often mundane tasks.

 

[olivegreentiger]

Another question, now that I've decided to do law would you recommend uws or maq. I've been offered a $20 000 scholarship at UWS, and despite the reputation I'm thinking I should maybe go there? I'm pretty sure I won't get into USYD and it takes too long to get there anyway.

 

[hfis]

$20 000 is more than any payrise you'll get 1 year after graduation based on what uni you went to, so I say go with UWS if it's otherwise convenient and fitting to your goals.

Another quality desirable in budding lawyers is an ability to be coerced into most things by the lure of money.

 

[KFunk]

A complete lack of moral compass helps greatly.

Apparently the point prevalence of psychopathy is quite high (compared to the normal population) in law, business and politics.

 

[SurferNerd]

A complete lack of moral compass helps greatly.

Whilst I'm not in complete disagreance, it does arguably depend on how you view the nature of 'law'. If you view 'law' from a positivist standpoint; that is as a separate entity independent of morals then by deduction practicing law has no moral considerations to begin with.

 

[circusmind]

Whilst I'm not in complete disagreance, it does arguably depend on how you view the nature of 'law'. If you view 'law' from a positivist standpoint; that is as a separate entity independent of morals then by deduction practicing law has no moral considerations to begin with.

Well....not quite. Positivists normally state that there is no necessary connection between law and morality. There are obviously many different moral questions which may arise during the practice of law. A positivist just holds that the law itself need not, of necessity, have an inherent moral component within it.

And then we get onto ethical positivists.....

(sorry. cramming.)

 

[subdued123]

let's keep the jurisprudence chat out of here, guys.

You can do all of your intellectual posturing in a separate thread.

 

[Cookie182]

let's keep the jurisprudence chat out of here, guys.

You can do all of your intellectual posturing in a separate thread.

Whilst im in agreance due to my hatred of legal theory...maybe we should expose the OP to the potential level of agonising posturing which comes with a law degree.