Not too many people studying law
University law schools appear to believe that there are not too many lawyers being trained, the latest issue of the New Zealand Law Society’s magazine LawTalk says.
LawTalk says there is a scarcity of current graduation statistical research in New Zealand, but academics are hopeful that a study will commence shortly to follow graduates across a number of disciplines to see what they do in the 10-year period after leaving university.
In 2010, 687 students graduated with an LLB and a further 128 graduated with an LLB (Hons). Data from Canterbury University was unavailable because of the earthquakes.
LawTalk says that while law retains its character as a “professional” discipline, undergraduate legal education in New Zealand has become more than a preparation for legal practice.
The Director of Undergraduate Programmes at AUT University Law School, Mike French, has told LawTalk that as a group, law graduates generally consistently have one of the highest employability rates of all categories of graduates in New Zealand.
“Increasingly, students are treating the law degree as a generic, undergraduate degree which provides them with an academically rigorous education and enables them to graduate with strong analytical, problem-solving and communication skills,” Mr French says.
He says these skills are relevant to a wide range of employment options, including business, local and central government, journalism and other professional areas.
Professor Mark Henaghan, the Dean of Law at Otago University, says all of his students obtain work, whether in a legal profession or otherwise.
He says about 80% of Otago’s students completing an LLB or LLB (Hons) go on to work in practice “but others go into a wider range of occupations that a law degree opens the door to”.
“There are not too many people studying law,” Professor Henaghan says. “Only one purpose of the law degree is to train lawyers; the law degree is used in a very wide range of occupations.”
Auckland University’s Associate Dean of Law, Steven Penk, says that 60% of law students go on to practice law in Auckland, although nationally it’s about 50%. He says that of law students going into law practice in New Zealand, one-fifth do not stay in the legal profession beyond the three-year mark after graduating.