Law Degrees and Overseas

[Óttar]

I am in a bit of a pickle at this time in my life. I graduated less than a year ago, and I'm stuck trying to figure out what to do. I moved to Boston after graduation, and the job market here is terrible. I moved here initially planning to relax, seeing what would come my way for 1 - 2 years. With a B.A. in History, and a Mittelstufe certificate in German from the Goethe Institute, I have only the slightest amount of work experience.

I am in need of a practical certification, so tomorrow I am applying to the Boston Language Institute to get Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certification. Knowing the ins and outs of English grammar, cases, and terminology will help me in the long run as I have a great interest in languages, but I need to have a more solid foundation in linguistic terminology in order to fully be able to learn more languages.

Thing is, I have been playing with the idea of going to Law school. There is more job security and a goodly possibility of a high salary. Sir William Jones, founder of the Royal Asiatic Society (while stationed in Calcutta, Bengal, India he learned many Indic languages including Hindustani and Sanskrit) went to law school after he realised that the fact that just because he was an expert in Germanic languistics did not mean that he could "conjugate verbs for food" as it were. Many learned men famous for other things got law degrees.

So here I am caught between pursuing my passion for language learning, and going to law school. Do I go to grad school and maybe major in international relations with a minor in modern languages, to get an international job? Do I perhaps get an M.A. in Modern Languages? Do I get a law degree and maybe combine that with something on the side (as a law degree can take one many places, and is very flexible.) ?

And my last question is this.. Just how hard is it to go to law school in Europe, and if I get a law degree in the US could I practice law in Europe (as I am thinking of moving to Ireland or the UK for besides being where my ancestors came from, access to Europe as a whole)?

Decisions, decisions...

[SwordoftheVistula]

[QUOTE=Óttar;47739if I get a law degree in the US could I practice law in Europe (as I am thinking of moving to Ireland or the UK for besides being where my ancestors came from, access to Europe as a whole)?[/QUOTE]

It's kind of a hassle, but you can do it. You have to pass their equivalent of the bar exam, England's is the easiest (also you can take the test in NYC), and then after a few years you can transfer to any other country in the European Union. Australia works pretty much the same way, you have to take a few extra classes (also in most European countries as well I think) and then pass the exam there.

In the US the market for lawyers has fallen a lot due to the economic crisis. It could be different a few years from now when you'd graduate. If you want to move to Europe and are willing to go back to school for a few years, you'd be better off getting a science degree, even an undergraduate one.

[Skandi]

Hmm I wouldn't recomend a science degree over here, to get a job with one you pretty much have to do a masters. but you can take a one year law conversion course they are quite expencive-£6-7,000 for domestic students but you can certainly do one with a history BA as that is what a friend is looking to do, aparantly the law firms like history students.