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law or journalism ???

I need some insight/advice.
I love reading and writing, although the latter needs some work, so I am drawn to journalism however I am also drawn to law, the ability to basically put bad guys away in court and the status of it is highly appealing.

which would you take? which would be more interesting/worthwhile?

general advice welcome :smile:
Reply 1
Original post by fizzylemon626
I need some insight/advice.
I love reading and writing, although the latter needs some work, so I am drawn to journalism however I am also drawn to law, the ability to basically put bad guys away in court and the status of it is highly appealing.

which would you take? which would be more interesting/worthwhile?

general advice welcome :smile:


I think your view of law is a little narrow, putting bad guys away is criminal law and therefore only one module of a law degree :P, you will study many other topics such as contract, land and EU law. It's more about problem solving, solving legal issues using your knowledge and research about cases and statutes to argue your view of how a case should be decided. You also will have to provide critique of the current law, does the law go far enough? Is the current provision inadequate and why? Studying a law degree should be studied through an interest in law, it's hard work so without this, I wouldn't recommend law. If you do have an interest, try reading up before you apply and really decide if you want to study law :smile:. Writing skills are important as you have to be able to write concisely, so it's up to you! :smile:


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Original post by fizzylemon626
I need some insight/advice.
I love reading and writing, although the latter needs some work, so I am drawn to journalism however I am also drawn to law, the ability to basically put bad guys away in court and the status of it is highly appealing.

which would you take? which would be more interesting/worthwhile?

general advice welcome :smile:
If this is what is drawing you to law you need to take some steps to gain a better understanding of what practising law is actually like, because at the moment you're way off the mark. Frankly your view on what being a lawyer entails seems to be drawn more from television and crime thrillers rather than anything else. That's not to say that a career in law isn't for you; simply that you need to ensure that you are better informed about the practicalities of a law career before you make such a (potentially) important decision. Even if you do decide that you might like to be a solicitor or barrister, you must also realise that studying law as an academic subject and practising it as a career are two very different things. Your law degree will not teach you how to be an effective advocate, or how to run a trial. It won't even teach you about the rules of litigation; the focus is the law itself as an intellectual subject rather than the practicalities of working with it. So again, it's important that you understand even what you'd be getting yourself into from the perspective of studying law.

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