How to become a lawyer is one of the big questions you’re probably asking yourself. A law degree is one of the most interesting educational options available today for anyone interested in entering a profession that is in high demand in society.
How to become a good lawyer is, without a doubt, the goal set by those who have a particular passion for ensuring, through their work, that established laws are upheld and that ‘justice is done’. Would you like to practise this essential and exciting profession in the future?
If you’re still weighing up whether you see yourself as a lawyer in the future, you should know that a law degree remains one of the courses offering the most career opportunities. A career in law and the legal profession opens the door to a wide variety of job opportunities in institutions and companies, in both the private and public sectors. That is why lawyers continue to be in high demand both nationally and internationally. Hence, many students choose to pursue a career as a lawyer. We will all need to consult a lawyer at some point in our lives for one reason or another.
What to study to become a lawyer
Would you like to study law? If you are studying a face-to-face law degree or an online one over four academic years, you’ll have the opportunity to acquire all the knowledge and skills needed to master the essentials of being a good lawyer.
Furthermore, once you have graduated with a law degree, the next academic step you will need to take is the one that leads you towards obtaining the qualification required to practise as a lawyer; in other words, you will need to undertake the Master’s in Access to the Legal Profession. With this qualification under your belt, you will finally be able to practise the profession you are passionate about, gaining access to a career with a wide range of career opportunities, as detailed in this other blog post.
Among other things, this official UAX Master’s degree in Access to the Legal Profession (90 ECTS) prepares students to successfully pass the national assessment test for admission to the legal profession, as set out in Royal Decree 150/2014. Furthermore, those who undertake the programme acquire the professional skills needed to work in competitive and ever-changing environments. As one would expect, the Master’s programme provides access to an external work placement ( 30 ECTS) at leading law firms, to facilitate graduates’ entry into the job market.
Currently, it is possible to study the law degree on a full-time basis , online and via a blended learning programme. Today more than ever, we can tailor our university studies to our actual needs by choosing how we wish to study the degree. Consequently, we can even balance our studies with work if we study law via distance learning.
What does it take to become a lawyer?
Law is a degree programme in which you have to take in a heavy theoretical workload – consisting of laws upon laws – so it is challenging in terms of the ability required to absorb many concepts and recall them verbatim. However, thanks to the practical component of the degree, it will be easier to reinforce the theory and, more importantly, to recall it in every exam and throughout our future careers as lawyers. Furthermore, if, after completing your university studies, you decide to sit the competitive examinations for the State Legal Service, you’ll have to face a demanding selection process, after which (if you secure a post) you’ll become a State Lawyer, with a secure and well-paid job. It’s well and truly worth it! Other paths and decisions may lead you to become a solicitor; in this previous post, we focused on what a solicitor is and how they differ from a lawyer.
Are you firmly committed to studying law? As well as knowing that studying this degree will open up a range of career opportunities, you should be aware that the world of law encompasses a multitude of different branches(visit this blog to discover them ), whether you choose Public Law (the branches that regulate the activities of the State and its relations with citizens) or Private Law (those dealing with the rights and obligations of individuals and their relationships).
During the Law degree, students cover the various legal branches they need to know to practise the profession: civil, administrative, criminal, commercial, tax, EU or international law, amongst others. Students therefore acquire a basic understanding of each of the specialisms within this degree programme, enabling them to understand the legislation and the workings of the judicial system, whilst gaining an insight into how a country functions, and becoming familiar with resolving the conflicts that arise in everyday life, and learn how to draft and present legally sound arguments. In short, students acquire the essential skills vital for practising law.
However, whilst studying for a degree in Law, it is important to start thinking about which specialism we identify with most and where we believe we can make the greatest contribution to society through our work as legal professionals. For this reason, in the final years of the degree, you must begin to narrow down your choice to one or another branch of law – with which you have become familiar throughout your studies – by selecting those optional modules that particularly appeal to you.
This is the first step towards developing the ideal professional profile we have chosen as legal professionals, but it is not the only one. Once we have obtained our degree, we will have within our grasp the great opportunity to progress and take a significant step forward in our professional careers by undertaking a specific master’s degree to specialise in that area of law which particularly motivates us. The next step in our education is, as we have already mentioned, to study law (alongside the bar exam preparation course), or a Online Master’s in Law .
Do you see yourself practising as a lawyer in the future?
