scots law ...what can i do with it outside scotland?

well i'll be reading law at the university of edinburgh next year. I'mnot sure what I can do with it though ( outside of scotland). Now ... i dont plan to practice, but i would like to work for an organization doing something of a legal nature. do organizations require a specific kind of law? will it be a problem if i have a scot law background at an international organization?

Reply 1

mtbab

drmoney89

you'd probably have to do the GDL/CPE if you wished to practice in England, i assume.

Reply 2

drmoney89

mtbab

you'd probably have to do the GDL/CPE if you wished to practice in England, i assume.

i dont plan to practive in england, or anywhere else for that matter.

Reply 3

Lewisy-boy

In that case it still has the same skills transferrable to any other profession as English law ... why wouldn;'t it, after all it is pretty much the same. The unis reputations might not be quite so good but its still a damn good degree to have.

Reply 4

drmoney89

Lewis-HuStuJCR

thats what im thinking. except for the uni's reputation not being so good, lol.

Reply 5

Lewisy-boy

Tbh I didnt read your post ... Edinburgh is good, but I would say its never going to have as good a rep as some of the top law schools in england.

Reply 6

drmoney89

its definitley not on par with oxbridge, but its still arguably top 10 for law in the uk.

Reply 7

mtbab

yeh i was gonna say Edinburgh Number 8 on Times Good Uni Guide ahead or the likes of KCL, Manchester, Warwick etc etc

Reply 8

chalks

drmoney89

What do you mean by "doing something of a legal nature"? Corporates, charities, NPOs etc often employ lawyers but the vast majority of those entities will need someone who is qualified. Its not much use having someone working for them on the legal side if (a) they're not qualified and/or (b) their legal education is from a different jurisdiction.

If you can shed a little more light on what you see yourself doing, I might be able to assist.

Reply 9

John Gardner

Edinburgh is almost certainly one of the top ten law schools in the UK, and certainly number one in Scotland. I don't know where Lewis does his reputational surveys :biggrin:

!

When you say you want to work for an 'organisation', do you mean a business, or a government department, or an NGO/pressure group/charity?

When you say you want to do 'something of a legal nature' do you mean you want to work as an in-house lawyer, or do you mean you want to do something loosely related to law, such as parliamentary work or policy analysis?

You'll need to clarify these points before anyone can give you helpful advice on careers.

PS: Sorry, just saw Chalks's similar request for further particulars, which was posted while I was writing mine!

Reply 10

Lewisy-boy

I meant if you wanted to work in England with a Scots Law then you would be at a disadvantage against many law schools in England purely because of the type of degree. I know edinburgh is good, dont worry.

Reply 11

drmoney89

hehe we know lewis! but anyway..by something of a legal nature i mean something loosely related to law as Mr. John Gardener put it. Working for an organization like the UN, World bank, WTO, etc. in that case does jurisdiction matter? i was thinking having a degree in law equips you for the skills necessary for that line of work, regardless of background..am i right?

Reply 12

Lewisy-boy

Yeah, although no offence if you want a legal job with them you will need to qualified as something. But I know what you mean, a decent job where a law degree gives you the skills to do well but is not practicing law. English law will however always have more relevance to these bodies purely because england is a stronger economic and worldwide power.

Reply 13

John Gardner

Right, since you don't want to be an in-house lawyer, you won't need to qualify as a practitioner in any particular jurisdiction (although being a qualified barrister/advocate never does any harm when job hunting!) So it won't matter where you did your degree.

The problem you face is more likely to be that of finding a route into these international organisations. You'll have to try making contacts while at University, and probably find a way to do an internship. This can be very hard. They don't recruit in large numbers and often, for policy/research work, they hire PhDs or take secondments of senior people from national government.

Your best bet might be to get into a UK-based organisation that does economic development work (Oxfam, ActionAid) and use that to build the right reputation in the right circles. But even getting into these organisations on the policy/research/parliamentary/campaigns tickets is very tricky and competitive. It makes becoming a solicitor look like childsplay. You will probably have to put up with being a junior staffer on a very low salary at the start. But the work can be really fabulous.

PS Lewis is once again talking freestyle. The best thing of all if you want to work for these organisations is to be a highly qualified (PhD) person from a country with economic development problems.

Reply 14

drmoney89

Lewis-HuStuJCR

lool, who said Anything about english law?! you have a very weird english law fetish.

Reply 15

drmoney89

oh and thank you MR. gardner ,the info you provided makes alot of sense!

Reply 16

Lady Narcissus

Edinburgh is certainly number one! There are two Scottish lecturers who hang out together in our department who I have a love/hate relationship with. Trust me, they would not accept anything other than prestigious number 1 and they went there