You’ve finished your high school diploma and you’re wondering what you actually want to study? Have you already decided on law and still need reasons to confirm your choice? Or would you like to convince your friends? No problem: click here to consult professional LNAT Tutors.
Here are some reasons to get a law degree.
1. Helping people
Quite a few decide to study law because they have a strong sense of justice and want to help people. Here you can, for example, get involved in the authorities for socially disadvantaged people or support clients who are in need in the classic way as a lawyer. There are of course also many national and international organizations, associations and NGOs that welcome capable lawyers with open arms.
But even while studying law, there are many opportunities to get involved and help people. For example, in law clinics, where as a student you can give free advice to those seeking legal advice – and at the same time gather important skills for your studies and legal career. Law clinics have many different focal points, for example asylum law or tax law. You can also get involved in the student council, the student parliament or the student union during your law studies. Not only do you help your fellow students, it is also a lot of fun and your argumentative skills will be of use to you.
2. Become a debate pro
If there’s one thing you learn in law school, it’s to argue and express yourself eloquently. A skill that you will of course need later in the courtroom, but should not be underestimated in other ways either. If, for example, a heated discussion flares up again at the family celebration, or you have to deal with the clerk at your cell phone provider on the phone. Arguing clearly and being able to express yourself clearly – that is helpful in many situations in life.
But of course, in law studies you not only learn to debate, but also to look at a situation from all sides, to carefully weigh the pros and cons and to get a clear, impartial point of view. It helps that as a law student you naturally have to slip into different roles if you want to solve cases legally. Sometimes you represent the plaintiff side in practice, sometimes the defendant. In law studies, for example, you learn to put yourself in other positions and therefore also people.
3. Solid craftsmanship
Anyone who now thinks that law is all about swinging rousing speeches and poring over law books all night is far from it. Law is first and foremost a craft. Here you will learn how to deal with (legal) texts, how to filter information and how to prepare it in a very specific way. You develop the ability to mold stories about people into legal solutions.
In a way, you learn another language in law school and you can help people to translate their issues and their problems into that language. It’s a tool that’s also quite exclusive. It is not for nothing that people turn to lawyers with their legal questions. A law degree makes you a specialist in your field.
4. Diverse professional world
Of course, everyone knows the classic legal professions of judge, lawyer and public prosecutor. All three are versatile and offer countless opportunities to specialize. As a lawyer: you can roughly decide on an area of law that particularly interests you. You have the choice of founding a law firm as an individual lawyer, working in a large commercial law firm or joining a company as an in-house lawyer. The same is true of the judiciary. There are specialized courts and various courts of appeal up to the highest courts, which help determine the fortunes of society as a whole. So much for the classic professions for lawyers.
But there are also many doors open to law graduates outside of the classic legal professions. Lawyers, for example, often enter the civil service and work for authorities and ministries. Or they decide on a career as professional politicians. But some are also attracted to non-governmental organizations or the private sector. It is possible to become a legal adviser in an association or company. You can get by as a tax consultant or auditor. And of course, you can also get into science at universities or institutes.
Even those who later want to turn their backs on law are well positioned with a law degree. Law graduates are often successful in journalism, in politics or administration and also as managers.
5. Learn to think in a structured way
Law school teaches a certain way of thinking. So much so that it can be a bit annoying at times. The world seems to dissolve in paragraphs. But the legal way of thinking is also a particularly structured one. It is efficient and clear. This helps when formulating texts, but also in conversation. As a rule, lawyers are perceived by those around them as having well-structured organizational skills. This is mainly due to the fact that law school is very much about rules and accuracy. Nuances can make the difference between right and wrong. Capturing and clearly addressing these nuances requires a careful and scientific way of working. This skill will be instilled in you in law school and will come in handy many times throughout your career.
6. Understand connections
The legal system is the framework of our social coexistence. And in law school you quickly learn that everything is somehow connected to everything else. Our rights and duties as citizens, how the state works and all the contractual relationships we have with each other. In law school we try to understand the legal framework that makes this coexistence possible. And in doing so, you automatically learn to understand connections – political, sociological and historical. Where does a law come from? What is its purpose? Which area of coexistence does it regulate and why does this area have to be regulated at all?
Whether medicine, administration, police, environmental or labor law. Law is everywhere. Economics, politics and history are just a few of the areas that are very closely linked to law and about which you can acquire a broad knowledge in the course of your studies. Put simply, studying law teaches you to understand how society works.
