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Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
Undergrad degree in Philosophy and English? No.
Law School degree in, um, law? ...Still no.
Okay yes, I couldn't be a lawyer without going to law school, but realistically 90% of the useful stuff you learn is learned on the job. Honestly I've often thought my philosophy background has served me better to help think things through.
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Looking back on it, I think Philosophy is likely the single most useful/translatable undergraduate degree. At a minimum, it's great for logical reasoning, but there's an ever-growing need for critical thinking skills in society broadly.
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Originally Posted by blankall
Also a lawyer. Definitely use the legal research skills I learned.
Overall, law school needs an overhaul though. It should be more like a trades school, where hard legal skills are learned. Currently, you just touch on actual legal skills tangentially during course work.
The law school profession more or less acknowledges this, but continues to use law school in a gate keeping function. Law school is more about demonstrating your work ethic to potential employers than it is about learning.
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I've long been of the view that the 3rd year of law school should be sacrificed in favour of a second articling year. This would save students tuition costs, get them earning sooner, and put more emphasis on practical skills development.
Having spent time in a university where law is a classic undergraduate degree (i.e. started right out of high school) I'm definitely of the view that law students benefit from more life experience - i.e. a prior undergrad degree. But once they have that, there's no way they need a full 3 years of university legal education to launch their legal careers.