By Ella Richardson 16 Aug 2022 7 min read

What to do After Graduating with a Law Degree?

You do not have to become a solicitor to pursue a profession in law. Other professions will value your credentials if you've earned a law degree or a graduate diploma in law.

 

Barrister

Barristers represent clients in court and during legal processes. They make their client's case in front of a jury or judge. They are reliable sources of impartial and independent legal counsel.

 

Chartered Legal Executive

Chartered legal executives are licenced attorneys who focus on one particular aspect of the law, such as litigation or conveyancing. Legal executives may pursue careers as solicitors, partners, managers, or judges.

 

Conveyancer

The legal facets of purchasing and selling real estate, or a conveyancing transaction, are their area of expertise.

 

Judicial Assisstant

You can become a judicial assistant if you are wondering what to do after law degree. Judicial assistants assist judges frequently by conducting legal studie. Depending on the jurisdiction they work in, the job may change. For instance, work areas might include family, employment, and business law.

Since it allows them to interact often with judges, this is frequently where lawyers and barristers begin their careers.

 

Low Cost Lawyer

Lawyers who handle legal fees ensure that clients are fairly compensated for work done on their behalf. After protracted and complicated cases, they assist in allocating costs between the prosecutors and defence counsel.

When there is a cost dispute, they might represent clients in court. For instance, if a client is dissatisfied with their solicitor's bill, they could be asked to argue in favour of the bill or against it.

 

Legal Cashier

If you are wondering what to do after law degree, you may become a legal cashier. Legal cashiers manage finances for a law company. In addition to processing transactions, they ensure that the company complies with the Solicitors Regulation Authority's Accounts Rules.

 

Legal Secretary

Lawyers, barristers, and the courts receive specialised administrative help from legal secretaries. They draft wills and other legal letters and paperwork.

 

Paralegal

Paralegals support legal executives, barristers, and solicitors. They need legal expertise but lack the qualifications of a solicitor. They typically work in a specialised department of law firms.

 

A Probate Attorney

Licenced probate practitioners focus on the legal ramifications of inheritance, wills, and estates after a person passes away.

 

An Analyst for the Law Commission

The Law Commission hires research assistants yearly to help with its legal review and reform initiatives. Placements last for a full year.

 

Usher

Court ushers ensure that all parties engaged in a case are present and are aware of their responsibilities.

 

Benefits of a Graduate Law Degree

The variety of abilities developed during the legal studies programme is one of the reasons businesses of all types are interested in hiring law graduates. The advantages of a graduate law degree include improving your organisational, research, and presentation abilities, which you will acquire in tutorials and mooting competitions (mock courtroom debates). The capacity to extract the most important information from lengthy texts, an analytical approach to problem resolution, confidence, and organisation are all skills developed through a law degree. 

 

What to do After Law Graduation, Aside from Practising Law?

For many who graduate with a law degree, becoming an attorney is the most obvious next step in their professional lives. An individual who practices law is referred to as a "lawyer," which is a helpful umbrella term. Most legal professionals in the UK opt to practise as solicitors in law firms or as barristers who work independently. There is a huge variety in the tasks that lawyers are responsible for and the compensation they earn. Typically, attorneys focus their practice on a single law topic, such as family, employment, or tax law.

The candidates are sometimes confused about what to do after law graduation. No assurance obtaining a graduate law degree in law will lead to a career in the legal field. It does ensure that you will graduate with a degree, but it also makes it probable that you will have to take out a student debt.

It would appear that there is a surplus of lawyers in the UK. Law schools and practising attorneys are taking notice of this development. Students are entering law school with a more expansive understanding of what they can do with legal education. The field of legal education strives to be adaptive and provide students with a diverse range of subject matter so they can use their legal training.

But if you do not want to work in one of the most prestigious legal firms in the country, what other options do you have with a law degree? Surprisingly, a significant amount:

 

Counselling from Trained Professionals

You can hold degrees in counselling and legal studies. As a counsellor, you are uniquely positioned to empathise with law students' difficulties.

 

Negotiation and Methods of Resolving Conflict

Although a law graduate degree is not required to act as a mediator, having legal knowledge can be beneficial while working through the mediation process. You can become a mediator or an arbitrator if you wonder what to do after law graduation. 

 

Development Agencies

If you want to work for a non-profit organisation, having a degree in the relevant field can be helpful. After all, a good number of them are employed in nations where understanding the law is essential to their job.

 

Politics and the Administration

This one is a no-brainer, but consider how many politicians have a law degree. There are a lot of them. Even though politics and the law continue to be intertwined, fewer lawyers are joining public office.

 

The World of Banking and Finance                    

If you don't want a career in politics, why not try your hand at money instead? Some industries, such as estates, taxes, and small businesses, have a legal degree that is helpful and necessary. A degree in law can be beneficial, even if you have no interest in working as a lawyer in the financial industry and would rather deal with the money itself, given that the financial industry requires legal understanding.

 

Academia

Legal professionals might decide they don't want to practice law. Still, they might be interested in teaching it or researching legal topics to investigate how the law can be improved or brought up to date.

 

Writing or Journalism

Given the continuous reports of layoffs in journalism, a career in journalism is definitely not the best alternative career option; however, some lawyers have found work as legal analysts.

Writing is a career path that is open to lawyers as well.

 

Advocacy for the Public Interest

Do you have strong feelings about a certain topic and wish to influence how policy is decided? Then why not think about advocating for the public interest?

Whatever you choose to do after a law degree, you shouldn't enter the field before considering what kind of practice you want to have. A legal degree is beneficial to acquire and should be considered a basis for a profession, even if the individual does not intend to practise law.


Photo by Renaldo Matamoro on Unsplash
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