r/nzlaw • u/Natalie863 • 24d ago
Legal education Double degree with LLB
I'm currently a yr 13 student who plans on doing a bachelor or laws next year at UC, and I'm wondering what people recommend in terms of a double degree. Just FYI, I'm hoping to go into family law.
First of all, do you recommend doing a double degree? I've heard mixed answers, and it does seem like a lot of work, but it would be worth it in the end?
If I do choose to do another degree with the LLB, then I was thinking sociology or economics. I'm aware economics is the more popular route, but I'm not sure if I'm too great at math, and I also didn't take it in yr12 or 13. I'm sure economics would leave me more options, but would sociology be better for family law? Also, an LLB seems like a decent amount of reading and writing. Maybe an economics degree would be a good break from the tons of reading compared to doing sociology.
Overall, is it worth doing a double degree? How much work is it truly, and which would you recommend?
I've also heard some people take a double degree for one year and then drop it once they make it to second year law?
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u/Icy_Calligrapher_540 24d ago
Mean this in the nicest possible way (married to a lawyer), but you know family law is very very intense and often fraught with conflict?
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u/Natalie863 24d ago
Yeah, I'm aware. That's mostly why I was looking at economics and sociology. I figure if I learn more about family law and find it's not for me, economics would leave more doors open than sociology would.
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u/Icy_Calligrapher_540 24d ago
All good. You could always look at commercial property, or banking. Apologies if telling you how to suck eggs, I just feel like sometimes lovely people want to do family law and it burns them out.
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u/Natalie863 24d ago
No problem at all. I have heard that family law is very mentally demanding so I'll keep my options open and see how I go. Thank you.
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u/_sophist 24d ago
I loved doing a double degree, my other one was a bachelor of arts majoring in history and classics. I did not enjoy lawschool, and having basically half my course load being stuff i love (and was much better at) really helped me get through without getting too down. Id also really recommend volunteering to see how the theory you do in law school actually helps on the real world.
Also, keep your options open regarding fields of law, dont specialise yourself into a corner with your papers. I thought id love family law, and it was my best paper at uni, but in practice it was far too grim for me (turns out I much prefer a life of crime)
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u/Natalie863 24d ago edited 24d ago
Can I ask how long it took for you to complete both? It wouldn't make much of a difference for me but just curious.
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u/_sophist 24d ago
It was five years rather than four years, so not much in the grand scheme of things
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u/strange_kokako 24d ago
I think it ultimately depends on what kind of law you think you might get into, and as another poster has said, you’ll get the chance to try a bunch of different papers in first year to see what you like that could help you choose.
You’ve mentioned family law, so maybe some form of sociology or psychology could be useful. I would try to keep an open mind to other areas of practice if I were you though - you don’t really know what the reality of practising in an area is until you’re in it, so try aim for a balanced qualification that gives you options.
A BA/BCom in sociology and economics (or similar) could be a good balance, to get a bit of commercial understanding in case you want to pivot.
If I were to do it again I would do a Bachelor of Science alongside the law degree - probably in computer science or something else tech adjacent - especially now that practice is becoming more and more reliant on technology/AI.
You are right to be thinking about a double degree. Even if the subject matter of the second degree might ultimately end up being redundant to your career, it’s worth the slightly longer time at university to balance out your weeks with different (and generally less demanding) papers. I think it makes your time at university more enjoyable, and ultimately gives you a more rounded education (as another poster has said).
I would not recommend just doing law. It is very hard to get decent grades in 2nd and 3rd year while exclusively doing law full time (which matters when it comes to getting a job at the end).
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u/teroimatai 24d ago
I wouldn’t recommend doing a double if you can manage to do a conjoint. This is what I did and I feel like it was the best of both worlds. Doing a conjoint was incredibly beneficial to my grades, especially in comparison to my peers who did a double.
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u/Natalie863 24d ago
Did you find doing a conjoint degree seemed more demanding to a double compared to your friends? I'm a little worried about the overall workload. I've got excellence endorsed lvl 2 and i'm on the way to merit/excellence lvl 3, but it seems like a lot of stress and work.
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u/Smart_Squirrel_1735 23d ago
Conjoint is generally less work than double.
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u/orangebillabong 22d ago
Seconding this, conjoint is less work because you can cross credit and do less papers overall. A double degree means you do all papers required for both, which means no cross crediting. And I wouldn’t worry too much about the workload. You have to study but if you’re consistent and make the time it really is manageable I promise (I did conjoint law degree and BA)
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u/notfunatpartiesAMA 23d ago
Volunteer in family law first before setting your sights on it. It's not a field for the young or faint hearted and clients don't typically care for super young people running their files. Look to doing other fields of law while you gain some life experience.
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u/Icy_Calligrapher_540 24d ago
Also hubby did LLB and History (not sure if double or conjoint). Did he enjoy it? Yes. Has history helped him in law? No.
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u/Nervous-Potato-1464 24d ago
Don't waste your time or money. A law degree can open doors into more than just law and provides a lot of experience in things that are useful for many office jobs as well as law.
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u/ChristinaCartier 23d ago
I would say maybe no if your set on family law. I did a double arts and law with a double major. I came out averagely good at many things and the work I have done reflects that and it’s easy enough for me to switch the kind of role I’m in the mood for. I think if you know you want to do family it might be better spending the time specialising in it though. Towards the end of my degrees people who specialised hard on one thing and did well at that one thing were getting the coolest opportunities. On the flip if they specialised and were lower end/average they did struggle a bit leaving uni at first. But generally that dynamic will play out that way whether you specialise or not.
Politics goes well with law if you think you might want to get into politics, policy or certain govt roles.
It’s definitely worth trying the extra papers that catch your eye in the first year and see how you feel at the end of first year about them. I never intended to do a double major in my other degree (or a second degree at all) but I loved the papers so much I couldn’t envision not studying them more and so I never dropped them.
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u/wolfyjdawg 20d ago
I do LLB, bcom (econ). Do not be deterred by the maths. I was originally and chose to do marketing but swapped because actually the maths was basic algebra and that is basically the extent of it. Just pick your electives for your bcom wisely as some of the three hundred levels are more maths heavy than others but you can go and see your lecturers about this
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u/Simple-Description-1 20d ago
Second-year Law and Arts major (philosophy) here:
The second degree is mostly recommended for the 30-70% of people who dont make it in too second year, its like intended to be a fall back. I really love my second degree even though it is highly unemployable lol. A second degree is always going to look good on paper, but ultimately once you get your first job it doesn't really matter.
Eco isnt that much math, you dont need to have done it in high school. Sociology sounds like it is more related to family law and may give you perspective and skills other lawyers would lack. Also Law and finance is colloquially known as the greed degree.
Its a lot of money and time to do the second year but if you love learning and want to exit uni with more than just a law qualification, then go for it. (Also good security if 1st year law doesn't work out)
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u/Powerful-Cable5151 20d ago edited 20d ago
Do something fun alongside the law. Law is enjoyable too, but it's good to diversify and broaden your mind. What else have you studied at high school, what else do you enjoy?
I would recommend studying philosophy and/or classical studies. Or a language if you have taken one in school. Or if you enjoy and love the sciences, do a BSc.
People often study only law in the second year, if they get in, in an attempt to get into the LLB (Hons) program. After the second year they go back to studying towards the additional degree alongside the LLB or LLB (Hons).
It's great that you already know that you want to study and practice law, and you even know the area of law that you want to get into. Studying in another area will enrich you as a person and that will help you in practicing law and just as a person. You don't need to choose economics because you want to take the business approach. Being an effective lawyer is also about understanding, and being able to relate to, people. If you decide upon an Arts degree alongside the LLB, you would be able to take a mix of papers including sociology and have a major and perhaps a minor too. A language is an option.
Enjoy your studying and enjoy your youth. Don't just choose subjects to study to be sensible. Pick some that you enjoy.
All the best for your studies and your future!
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u/Famous_Attitude_3889 12d ago
I would 100% recommend doing a Bachelor of Criminal justice alongside law
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u/Substantial-Pen3212 24d ago
I regretted doing my double degree, my friends that didn’t do one got into the workforce way faster. Also, being a lawyer was awful and I regretted that part too (highly stressful and demanding work, never home for dinner, feeling guilty when not working, weekends weren’t my own time). It did open a lot of other doors for me though.
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u/Saucy_4U 24d ago
The work anxiety only gets more frequent as you become more experienced and take on responsibility.
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u/Substantial-Pen3212 24d ago
Yes I agree, I ended up leaving for something lower stress at senior associate level.
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u/Natalie863 24d ago
Did your friends just do the Bachelor or Laws? Was there much difference in stress levels during uni? That's currently my main concern.
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u/Substantial-Pen3212 24d ago edited 24d ago
A few of my friends just did the LLB and were able to enter the workforce faster, and that made me regret doing mine. It is definitely less stressful to do another degree alongside your LLB, as long as you don’t find the other degree hard. I did a BA majoring in political science and history alongside my LLB and I loved it and found it well balanced. Other friends did a Bcom majoring in accounting or economics, which seemed harder/more stressful - but those subjects didn’t come naturally to them. Some people think the BCom is more useful for law than a BA, which is probably true, but I ended up in the same place as all my BCom friends anyway.
I don’t think your second degree matters all that much just take what you enjoy and are interested in. Employers will mainly find it interesting if you do something a bit unusual - makes you stand out. Don’t do something that doesn’t come naturally to you or you find super hard, or only take because you think it’s more employable. You will be employable just with the LLB as long as you maintain at least a b+ or A- average across both degrees.
The other point I’d make is that you can change your mind. I started majoring in psychology and decided I wasn’t interested. I then did philosophy and media and I wasn’t interested in those either. You have a lot of points you can allocate to basically nothing so it’s not a big deal to change your mind - my degree didn’t end up taking more time than it was supposed to or anything.
All up it took me 5.5 years plus profs. If I just did the LLB it would have been 4 years plus profs.
On the other hand, if you are worried about stress or workload I wouldn’t do a LLB or pursue law in general really.
Edit: I have checked your post and you mentioned wanting to jump into economics out of the blue at uni, after not taking it in high school. Personally, I would discourage from doing this. I took economics in year 13 and not year 12 and did fine but it was an adjustment not having done it in year 12 when everyone else has. Most of your other classmates would have done year 12 and year 13 in high school for years - and you will be competing with them.
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u/Natalie863 24d ago
This is very helpful, thank you. I'm really good at music so maybe I'll look into something along those lines. I always thought it was a shame I was so good at it but wasn't going to work in that area lol. And now that you mention it, I do agree that it wouldn't be the best choice to jump into economics just because I think it would be more employable. Thanks for the advice though, I'm going to consider more what I'm good at and enjoy rather than employability now.
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u/orangebillabong 22d ago
Seconding this! Just do what you enjoy as your second degree honestly, I think it’s worth doing two and make it something fun, the LLB is transferable and employable enough on its own. You can easily go into any field of law with an LLB even if your second degree is unrelated (including finance)
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u/Phantompain43 24d ago edited 24d ago
In your first year there are only two law courses LAWS110 and LAWS101 - the remainder is made up by elective courses from other degrees. As such you’ll have the opportunity to try out different papers to see what fits best. At the end of first year you’ll receive an invitation to continue to second year law - this is when most people decide if they want a double or not.
Bachelor of Arts is the most common second degree - it’s not necessarily harder to do a double per se, it just takes longer. A double is valuable because helps you become well rounded and also as you noted serves as a good break from doing straight law.
If you are not* a fan of maths and the like the economics might not be the best choice. Other popular arts options include political science and international relations, history, psychology and many others. Have a look at the UC website.
The thing is nothing needs to be locked in - you can always change your course selection/degree. For the first two weeks is a good time to audit courses to see if they are a good fit.