Scots law, advice needed

Hi so I just want to preface this by saying that Scot’s law with English Literature will still get me my LLB, I’ve been assured by the university staff that while doing joint honours I can definitely complete all the courses necessary to be a qualified solicitor in Scotland.

I’ve been given an unconditional offer for Scot’s law with English literature starting in September, but I did notice later that if I do joint honours I won’t be able to qualify as an advocate. This cutting off of a career option really bothers me, as I think I might wanna do personal injury or procurator fiscal but still don’t want to lose this as an option. I’m also worried employers will see that I’ve done English literature as well and think I’m not as competitive or a good applicant for a job in law.

Because of this, I might just drop to single honours regular Scot’s law LLB, which Glasgow assured me wouldn’t be a problem and they can do it for me before teaching starts.

The reason I applied for Scot’s law English literature in the first place was because I am VERY passionate about creative writing, writing has always meant so much to me, I chose to go down the law route as I can see myself enjoying the study and career of law while it also would give me financial stability and the ability to support and spend time with my future kids depending on the route I go down which means a whole lot to me.

Writing though, is my true passion like if being an author was a simple career and easy to do, I would do it in a heartbeat, which is why I wanted to continue studying English into university, therefore the Scot’s law llb with English literature seemed like a perfect choice for me.

So I’m really struggling with what to do, any advice would be so appreciated.

Reply 1

liquorlawtumn

All my experience with English sets is they are more than happy to see an undergraduate degree alternative to law - some seemingly preferring it because they like a well rounded candidate who has interest beyond the law ('law-robot' is the term I remember hearing). I can imagine English lit requires lots of analysis and reading so also close to a legal practice in that sense. I'm less sure about the qualification side unfortunately so I think research down that line should be your main focus. I'm not sure if the GDL extends to Scotts practice (+ whether if it does, you would want an extra year of studying added) but I think it's worth a look?!

Reply 2

Stiffy Byng

I think that, at your stage in life, following a passion is a good idea. Finding a career and income can come later, although I appreciate that the costs of higher education are a big factor nowadays.

In Scotland, it is quite common for people to become solicitors first and later become Advocates. That might be a route to investigate.

Reply 3

Stiffy Byng

A small point of detail: Scots law does not require an apostrophe. Lawyers tend to be detail-oriented and a tad pedantic about such things!

Reply 4

Jetti

Original post

by Stiffy Byng

A small point of detail: Scots law does not require an apostrophe. Lawyers tend to be detail-oriented and a tad pedantic about such things!

Haha don’t worry, I do know this but the autocorrect on my phone does that, which is why it’s corrected in my heading but wrong in the body

Reply 5

Jetti

Original post

by Stiffy Byng

I think that, at your stage in life, following a passion is a good idea. Finding a career and income can come later, although I appreciate that the costs of higher education are a big factor nowadays.
In Scotland, it is quite common for people to become solicitors first and later become Advocates. That might be a route to investigate.

Hey, higher education is free in Scotland and I’ve been accepted to Glasgow, which is great because it’s both #1 best for law and is in my city, which means I don’t need to move away. So costs really aren’t an issue for me at the moment 😁