Waiza Rafique in this article advises the young law graduates and those considering to adopt it as a profession what fields they can enter after obtaining a law degree.
I’m often asked what career prospects one may adopt after doing a law degree especially in Pakistan. Law is a noble profession but due to certain inherent challenges of our legal as well as political and administrative systems, people generally seem reluctant to choose Law as a career. Besides the challenges of the system, I believe, it’s the lack of awareness about the potential opportunities and career options available to the Law students that keep people from entering into this field.
Generally, the only career that people can think of after doing a law degree is Litigation (the traditional legal practice), however, the true state of affairs is quite different. So here in this article, I would cover five basic out of many other career choices that a law student can consider.
Litigation is considered the traditional legal practice which entails going to the courts, meeting clients, drafting and then arguing the cases in court rooms. This is perhaps the only career that a law student and general public fancy themselves doing when they think of adopting law as a profession.
A lot of law students in Pakistan, particularly females, feel reluctant to opt this as a career because they think it is difficult to go to courts and deal with the “kachehri” culture. However, a lot of people specifically choose to practice this because it is rigorous, it involves a constant process of learning and development, it is flexible and brings along the traditional grace of a lawyer arguing in the court room!
Another option that law students can consider as a career is academia. It involves teaching law subjects at law schools and interdisciplinary colleges and universities. As an academician, you need to be on continuous research, study, writings and publications. Academia is perhaps the strongest area that helps development of jurisprudence or the science of law. It is a choice best suited to people who love research, reading and writing. It brings along the comfort and peace of a classroom with zero hustle bustle of the “kacheri” culture.
Joining judicial services or judiciary is a dream job for many in the legal fraternity. Like every other government job, it brings along the protocol, perks and privileges of an officer, the power and authority to run the system and influence or make changes in the system in actual terms. This career enables you to view the dispensation of justice from the other side of the table, having its own unique challenges and issues.
In-House Counselling is preferred by the people who want to work in corporate sector and consider court work as exhaustive and too demanding. It involves advising your clients, let’s say a bank or a company, providing them legal opinions and legal services of any sort except court work. Well, In-House Counselling is demanding in its own ways but here you can, again, avoid the hustle of the court, if you consider that a plus!
Here your client is not a private entity or a person but the state itself. You are required to represent government in the cases where the government of your respective province or the government of Pakistan is pleaded as a party. You might serve as the Public Prosecutor, Law Officer of any Government Department, District Attorney or a Law Officer in the office of the provincial Advocate General or Attorney General of Pakistan.
Summing up, I would say that all of these careers involve a lot of research, learning, continual professional development and above all, plenty of international exposure for your personal as well as professional grooming. Moreover, it must be noted that Law is a very flexible profession so you can blend each of these five careers with each other and some of them with other professions too, e.g media, writing, politics, social work, development sector, international relations etc. etc. to the extent that you can even experiment with this degree in your own unique way too!
Isn’t that fun?
I’m often asked what career prospects one may adopt after doing a law degree especially in Pakistan. Law is a noble profession but due to certain inherent challenges of our legal as well as political and administrative systems, people generally seem reluctant to choose Law as a career. Besides the challenges of the system, I believe, it’s the lack of awareness about the potential opportunities and career options available to the Law students that keep people from entering into this field.
Generally, the only career that people can think of after doing a law degree is Litigation (the traditional legal practice), however, the true state of affairs is quite different. So here in this article, I would cover five basic out of many other career choices that a law student can consider.
- Litigation
Litigation is considered the traditional legal practice which entails going to the courts, meeting clients, drafting and then arguing the cases in court rooms. This is perhaps the only career that a law student and general public fancy themselves doing when they think of adopting law as a profession.
A lot of law students in Pakistan, particularly females, feel reluctant to opt this as a career because they think it is difficult to go to courts and deal with the “kachehri” culture. However, a lot of people specifically choose to practice this because it is rigorous, it involves a constant process of learning and development, it is flexible and brings along the traditional grace of a lawyer arguing in the court room!
- Academia
Another option that law students can consider as a career is academia. It involves teaching law subjects at law schools and interdisciplinary colleges and universities. As an academician, you need to be on continuous research, study, writings and publications. Academia is perhaps the strongest area that helps development of jurisprudence or the science of law. It is a choice best suited to people who love research, reading and writing. It brings along the comfort and peace of a classroom with zero hustle bustle of the “kacheri” culture.
- Judiciary
Joining judicial services or judiciary is a dream job for many in the legal fraternity. Like every other government job, it brings along the protocol, perks and privileges of an officer, the power and authority to run the system and influence or make changes in the system in actual terms. This career enables you to view the dispensation of justice from the other side of the table, having its own unique challenges and issues.
- In-House Counselling or Advisory
In-House Counselling is preferred by the people who want to work in corporate sector and consider court work as exhaustive and too demanding. It involves advising your clients, let’s say a bank or a company, providing them legal opinions and legal services of any sort except court work. Well, In-House Counselling is demanding in its own ways but here you can, again, avoid the hustle of the court, if you consider that a plus!
- Government Services
Here your client is not a private entity or a person but the state itself. You are required to represent government in the cases where the government of your respective province or the government of Pakistan is pleaded as a party. You might serve as the Public Prosecutor, Law Officer of any Government Department, District Attorney or a Law Officer in the office of the provincial Advocate General or Attorney General of Pakistan.
Summing up, I would say that all of these careers involve a lot of research, learning, continual professional development and above all, plenty of international exposure for your personal as well as professional grooming. Moreover, it must be noted that Law is a very flexible profession so you can blend each of these five careers with each other and some of them with other professions too, e.g media, writing, politics, social work, development sector, international relations etc. etc. to the extent that you can even experiment with this degree in your own unique way too!
Isn’t that fun?