High School Students considering a law degree: know what you're signing up for.

Most Ontario High Schools are now sending out codes for students to use to apply to University. This is an exciting time and one full of a lot of decisions for students. Many of those students want to be lawyers. Many are being lied to by the Universities they’re applying to.

So, High School Students, here is the straight goods:

1. Law School is really expensive and many lawyers don’t earn a first year salary of more than $ 50,000.00.

2. If you don’t do well on the LSAT, you can go to a UK or Australian Law School that doesn’t require that: however, future Canadian Employers will presume you went there because you couldn’t get into a Canadian Law School and that is a disadvantage for being hired.

3. You cannot just start working when you come back to Canada after getting a foreign law degree. You need to spend more money getting your National Committee on Accreditation approval – that’s at least another year and more money – before you can Article or go to the Law Practice Program.

Be wary of Canadian Universities offering you a “dual Canadian/UK LLB” this is not the “great deal” they’re making it out to be.

I work with many lawyers who were sold the “UK” law degree path without ever knowing the above information and they all wished they had known before they signed up. So, now you know.

Inga B. Andriessen JD