The life of a lawyer

[iNerd]

In answer to Azure's question, if you get 99+ you can still apply for a cap place, if you don't get the CEO place you can still fall back on the full fee place.

Lol "CEO" place Thanks

Yeah, I have a long time to think about whether to do JD or not. Just consider the permutations of:

- BComm (Economics major) with DipMSc (Pure Maths)
- BSc (Computer Science major) @ UoM
- Master of Actuarial Studies @ Macquarie/ANU
- JD @ UoM

where at least one of BCom and BSc must precede a graduate degree and any of them (apart from BCom which I will start with) can be included/excluded. I say to myself "Have fun choosing". See - combinatorics can play an important role in real life situations!

Aren't you in my year? 2011 Year 11? You're so far ahead (planning-wise)

[Russ]

Expensive if your SLE runs out

[Russ]

Yeah. It's 7 EFTSL or whatever they call them (or 7 standard full time years).

[ninwa]

Currently I am considering Comm/Law or Arts/Law at ANU, Monash or Melbourne.

My question is pretty broad:
What should I be aware of before I set myself on law this year? Not so much how hard it is at uni, more it usefulness in the job market, how to best maximise my chances of a job (do double degrees help more, if so which ones, what about languages...).

How long before lawyers make a decent living? Where is the money at? I'm not doing it for the money, but I would like to know.

Cheers, oh and any other advice like which uni is best etc.

Usefulness: not so much if you want to be a lawyer. The market is WAY saturated with law school graduates. You'll need a pretty awesome average, extra-curriculars and work experience to get a competitive advantage. Also with popular law graduate preferred industries like diplomacy/international relations. Obviously languages will help there, no idea about law firms though.

Money is at being a barrister, or judge. Or corporate lawyer - big companies = big $$$.

Monash is the best in Victoria, ANU I think is one of the best in Australia by reputation (some rankings don't agree but I don't know).

[ninwa]

From what I've heard from teachers, you won't be able to survive in law if you're not passionate about it.. and I mean really passionate. I think in some cases there are even 12-hour working days involved - the workload would be tough I'd imagine, but it'd also be a really rewarding job.

Plenty of lawyers hate their jobs, you can still do good work while disliking it. Disagree re: rewarding but I don't really have the experience to back it up

[werdna]

What do you think about Melb Uni?

[eeps]

What do you think about Melb Uni?

Not to go off topic or anything, but if you want an indication, I know someone who finished VCE in 2010 - she got an ATAR score of 99.4. UoM offered her a guaranteed place for JD Law, though she has to pay $50,000 for the PG course. UoM told her that she can sit the LSAT and if she does well, doesn't have to pay anything and even if she doesn't do that well, she's still guaranteed of a place for JD.

This probably doesn't answer anything, but I thought it was worth mentioning in the context of things and to anyone interested in doing JD Law at UoM.

[Russ]

I assume that's just her getting a CSP place. I find it really odd that they'd be offering scholarships 3 years in advance to students who haven't committed to it.