What can I do with a law degree?

If you’re considering a law degree, you may be wondering which law degree careers are open to you when you graduate. Law graduate careers are not confined to courtrooms. Certainly, it can serve as a profession pathway for many legal professions like solicitor, judge, barrister, but you can also work for government, charities, legal practices, large businesses and finance. If you’re considering a law degree, like one of ARU’s distance learning law courses, and wondering “What can I do with a law degree?”, read on to find out.

Law graduates can expect to gain valuable transferable skills with a law degree, providing leverage in a competitive job market and respect in the workplace.

You’ll learn to conduct legal research, analyse and critically evaluate it and apply it to legal situations. These are much valued skills in the employment space that demonstrates you can think for yourself and show initiative.

One of the key skills you learn on our LLB Law degree is to communicate information and persuasive arguments effectively through a range of oral and written arrangements.

As well as exploring criminal law, many law degrees delve into commercial aspects of law and business. Topics you may cover include business law, contract law, property law, and employment law. It raises your commercial awareness and gives you the flexibility to take your legal knowledge to commercial sectors.

Here are some legal professions you might consider with a law degree:

Solicitors provide legal advice and support. They can specialise in a particular area such as employment, criminal justice, immigration, human rights, business, property or family law. To qualify as a solicitor, you must pass the Solicitor Qualifying Examination (SQE). Find out more about becoming a solicitor here.

A barrister’s job is to represent a case in court. Barristers tend to be self-employed but can work for government department or agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service. Find out more about becoming a barrister here.

Chartered legal executives work alongside solicitors (usually under their supervision) to provide legal advice, draft legal documents and liaise with clients and other legal representatives. Find out more about becoming a legal executive here.

You could also explore:

• Paralegal
• Costs lawyer
• Judge
• Arbitrator
• Trademark attorney
• Licensed conveyancer

Learn more about our LLB Law degree where you’ll study the core areas of law required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board.

Gaining a law degree doesn’t narrow your options. Instead, it provides you with the foundational skills to explore alternative jobs with a law degree.

Those who work in compliance and risk management jobs need to be well versed in law and regulations and how to manage risk relevant to their organisation’s work. As a graduate with a law degree, you’ll have already developed the transferable skills that are a good fit for jobs in compliance and risk management. Skills like research, critical evaluation, problem solving, writing reports, ethical decision making.

Consider these related job roles:

• Compliance Officer / Analyst
• Risk Analyst
• Data Protection Officer / Manager
• Governance Officer
• Insurance Underwriter
• Local Government Officer
• Fraud Investigator

A law degree can be very helpful when it comes to employee relations, which is fundamental to both areas of human resources and recruitment. Law graduates develop many of the skills that are valued for those working in these areas. For example:

• dealing with sensitive issues and negotiating outcomes
• interpreting and applying employment law
• overseeing redundancy processes
• advising on hiring strategies
• ensuring hiring processes follow legal requirements
• championing equality and diversity initiatives
• advising on performance management
• helping to develop workforce policies

Consider these related job roles:

• HR Assistant
• HR Adviser
• HR Business Partner
• Employee Relations Adviser
• Learning and Development Officer
• Recruitment Consultant
• Talent Acquisition Specialist
• Resourcing Adviser

A law degree can prepare graduates for careers in emerging areas such as AI and digital ethics. As organisations increasingly adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and collect and process vast amounts of data, there is growing demand for professionals who understand the legal, ethical and regulatory challenges these technologies create.

Again, law degree graduates are well suited to adapt to these emerging fields because they’ve already developed many of the overlapping skills, such as:

• interpreting complex regulations
• evaluating evidence and risk
• critical thinking
• ethical reasoning
• policy analysis
• research and communication

Consider career opportunities in these areas:

• data protection and governance
• technology regulation
• AI policy
• regulatory affairs
• digital ethics

Many graduate jobs welcome a law degree. Here are some sectors to consider:

• law firms
• government departments (e.g. councils, civil service)
• Crown Prosecution Service
• financial institutions
• charities, including human rights charities
• healthcare organisations including NHS
• technology companies

Basically, any organisation (public or commercial) big enough to have a legal department.

In our opinion, yes, a law degree is worth it. A law degree can provide the skills that are desirable on any graduate’s CV and will help open doors to a wide variety of roles both within the legal profession and alternative job roles.

It provides career flexibility and transferable skills, and can lead to professional pathways to other sectors, and meet the growing demand for legal and compliance expertise.

Choose the flexibility of studying an online law degree with ARU Distance Learning. Studying online is a viable opportunity for those seeking career progression through further study or a complete career change. The flexibility of distance learning means you can study around existing work and family commitments – a great option for professionals who don’t want to give up their job while they study or have busy family commitments.

Explore our distance learning law degrees here.