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- Editors in Australia, Italy, Spain, and other countries compared the cost of a law degree locally.
- They also looked at job prospects and what salaries recent graduates can expect in the field.
- A law student in France may pay a few hundred euros in university fees with no other major costs.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
In some countries outside of the U.S., you don’t need to go to graduate school to become a lawyer.
Take Australia, for example, where an undergraduate law degree costs as little as $11,500 (15,000 AUD).
Business Insider editors around the world have provided the required education, costs, salaries, and job opportunities for prospective attorneys in their countries.
See the comparison below.
Note: Currency conversions were made on the date of publication, and salary numbers are annual.
US
How long does education and training take? Four years for an undergraduate degree plus a 3-year juris doctorate program at an American Bar Association-accredited law school. Lawyers must also pass a licensing exam, called a “bar exam”, for each state in which they would like to practice, and lawyers in most jurisdictions also have to complete continuing education courses each year.
Salary for recent graduates: First-year associates at a Big Law firm can expect $190,000 as a starting salary and a pay raise of $10,000-$15,000 per year. The majority of Big Law salaries are standardized, and firms pay based on graduating class because they are competing for the same talent pool of top young lawyers. Early-career lawyers at top firms can expect a bonus of between $15,000-$20,000, although the number varies based on a firm’s financial health and the economy. For attorneys not at a Big Law firm, the average starting salary for the Class of 2019 was $72,500.
Cost of education: $26,000-$40,000 per year for a public school degree; $43,000 per year for a private school degree; and up to $61,000 per year for a top school.
Job prospects: In normal years, new attorneys have a decent shot of landing a job, and in 2019, nearly 34,000 graduated and entered the workforce. Ten months after graduation, 74.3% of the Class of 2019 reported having a full-time, long-term, bar passage-required job, with a growing number – more than half – entering private practice, according to the National Association for Law Placement. Others found work in business; as a judicial clerk; or in the government, military, public interest, or education sectors.
However, the coronavirus pandemic caused U.S. law firms to reduce salaries and lay off some attorneys and staff. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for legal occupation in December 2020 was 2.3%, up from 0.6% a year earlier.
Top law schools according to US News Rankings:
- Yale University
- Stanford University
- Harvard University
- Columbia University
- University of Chicago
- New York University
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Virginia
- Northwestern University
- University of California, Berkeley
-Samantha Stokes, Insider
Australia
How long does education and training take? Four years for an undergraduate law degree, plus additional time for completing practical legal training (PLT), getting admitted to the local authority in your state or territory, and applying for a practicing certificate. In total, it can take up to five to six years.
Salary for recent graduates: For junior lawyers working at mid-tier law firms, the starting salary is between $46,000 and $50,000 (60,000-65,000 AUD). Working at a top-tier firm can net between $54,000 and $62,000 (70,000-80,000 AUD).
Cost of education: Between $11,500 and $25,000 (15,000-33,000 AUD)
Job prospects: While there is tough competition among graduates, there is still a relatively decent chance of getting a job in the industry. According to the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD), 8,499 law graduates headed into the Australian job market in 2018. The 2020 Graduate Outcomes Survey found that those who studied law and paralegal studies had a 75.7% full-time employment rate.
Top law schools according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021:
- University of Melbourne
- University of New South Wales, Sydney
- University of Sydney
- The Australian National University
- The University of Queensland
- Monash University
- University of Technology Sydney
- University of Wollongong
- The University of Western Australia
- University of Tasmania
-Sharon Masige, Business Insider Australia
France
How long does education and training take? To work in the legal department of a company or an administration, completing a two-year technical university degree can be sufficient. An undergraduate degree of three years gets you a license, which can lead to careers as a legal assistant, real estate negotiator, clerk, or police lieutenant. With an additional 2-year master’s degree, graduates can become lawyers specializing in public law, private law, European, or international law.
Salary for recent graduates: The gross salary of a young graduate is around $35,000 (€30,000) for a company lawyer, according to the website L’Etudiant.
Cost of education: A 3-year license costs $200 (€170) for the university fees, and the 2-year masters costs $290 (€243) for the university fees. Students pay nothing for tuition.
Job prospects: 76% of law students found a job six months later and 88% a year later, according to a 2019 report. In 2020-2021, 37,200 new students enrolled in law studies after high school, according to the Ministry of Higher Education, and there were a total of 213,500 students studying law in France in 2019-2020, according to this ministry.
Top law schools: There is no official classification of law studies in France, but the most reputable universities for law are notably Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne and Paris 2 – Panthéon Assas. The universities of Strasbourg, of Lorraine, of Paris Saclay, of Nantes, of Aix-Marseille, of Toulouse 1 – Capitole, of Montpellier are also strong.
-Business Insider France
Ghana
How long does education and training take? Four years for an undergraduate degree and two years of study at the Ghana Law School (GLS), which is the only graduate school providing access to the bar. After their studies, students undertake a pupilage for six months to a year.
Salary for recent graduates: Most law firms pay pupils between $120 and $170 per month. Top tier firms like Kimathi and Partners pay between $510 to $680 per month. Most firms in Ghana use the commission system, where the pupil or junior lawyer working with a senior lawyer can receive around 5% commission on a case or document. Senior lawyers at renowned and respected law firms can eventually earn between $20,700 and $68,000 annually.
Cost of education: Between $820 for a public university and $8,580 for a private university. Private universities have more flexible programs, with students choosing to take weekend, evening, or distance courses. The GLS costs $2,588 per year of study.
Job prospects: Many people with law degrees who have not been to the GLS cannot be admitted to the bar and often work as paralegals. Law graduates can also end up in other fields including politics. Employment data for lawyers in Ghana was not available at the time of publishing.
Top law schools in Ghana:
- University of Ghana
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
- Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration
- Mountcrest University College
- University of Professional Studies, Accra
- University of Cape Coast
- Wisconsin International University
- Central University
- Kings University College
-Victor Oluwole and Magdalene Teiko Larnyoh, Business Insider Africa
Italy
How long does education and training take? Completing a law degree in Italy takes five years. Graduates then complete an 18-months traineeship in a legal firm and a compulsory training course before passing a final exam that takes place once a year, typically in December. The whole process can take up to seven years.
Salary for recent graduates: According to the latest figures by Almalaurea, one year after getting a law degree the average net salary is $15,600 (€13,176), which rises to $18,200 (€15,348) after three years and $20,000 (€16,728) after five years.
Cost of education: Fees for public university range from a minimum of $180 (€151) to a maximum of $3,000 (€2,531) per year, depending on family income, according to Federconsumatori. Students that choose to attend university in a different city must pay extra for accommodation. Fees at private universities fees range from $5,900-$14,000 (€5,000-€12,000) per year, depending on family income.
Job prospects: Five years after graduating, according to the latest Almalaurea data, 71.6% of law graduates have gotten a job. Among them, 45.5% are self employed and 33.3% have a permanent contract.
Top law schools according to Censis:
- Piemonte Orientale
- Trento
- Milano Bicocca
- Bologna
- Genova
- Modena e Reggio Emilia
- Insubria
- Firenze
- Perugia
- Trieste
-Business Insider Italia
Mexico
How long does education and training take? Between three and five years for an undergraduate degree. Many universities’ law programs last 4.5 years. A professional license, obtained via a thesis or general knowledge exam, is required to begin practicing.
Salary for recent graduates: The average annual salary is about $7,000 (146,880 pesos).
Cost of education: At the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the cost is $0.04 (1 peso) per year. The admission test costs $19 (400 pesos). The cost is higher at other universities, such as Tec de Monterrey, where students pay $52,000 (1.1 million pesos) for their law degrees.
Job prospects: The employment rate for lawyers was 94.8% in 2020.
Top law schools according to a ranking from the newspaper El Universal:
- Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE)
- UNAM
- Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
- Universidad de las Américas Puebla
- UNAM- Aragón
- Universidad Iberoamericana
- Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO)
- UNAM – Acatlán
- Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla
- Universidad de Guadalajara
-Liliana Corona, Business Insider Mexico
The Netherlands
How long does education and training take? To be considered a lawyer (jurist in Dutch), which is not a protected title in the Netherlands, you need to complete a 3-year undergraduate law degree and a one-year postgraduate degree.
A specialized lawyer who practices on behalf of clients, e.g. solicitor, criminal defense lawyer, or attorney-at-law, called an advocaat in Dutch, needs the same degrees plus a 2.5-year legal apprenticeship. After their education, new graduates can register as probationary members of the Dutch bar and become full members when the apprenticeship is completed.
Salary for recent graduates: On average, junior lawyers earn roughly $40,000 (€34,000). For specialized lawyers (solicitors/attorneys) average salaries range around $86,000 (€72,000), according to Glassdoor. Those with senior positions at top-tier firms can earn over $118,000 (€100,000).
Cost of education: Universities in the Netherlands can use two types of tuition fees: statutory and institutional. Which one applies depends on your nationality and whether you have already obtained an undergraduate or postgraduate degree from a higher education institution in the Netherlands.
Dutch students and students from an EU/EEA member state, Switzerland or Surinam are eligible to pay the statutory tuition fee of $2,500/year (€2,143).
Students with other nationalities are required to pay the higher institutional tuition fees. These range from $7,100-$18,000/year (€6,000-€15,000) for undergraduate programs and from $9,500-$24,000/year (€8,000-€20,000/year) for postgraduate programs. These higher fees also apply to students, regardless of their nationality, wishing to start a second undergraduate or postgraduate program after having already obtained a similar degree from a Dutch higher education institution.
Students wanting to become specialized lawyers will pay for the mandatory 2.5-year legal apprenticeship. This costs an additional $17,500 (€14,780) (excl VAT).
Job prospects: 70% of graduates report having found a position within a year and a half of obtaining their degree. Most graduates end up as specialised lawyers. Popular alternatives are jobs as legal advisors or paralegals.
Top law schools according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021:
- University of Leiden
- Tilburg University
- University of Amsterdam
- Maastricht University
- Utrecht University
- Erasmus University Rotterdam
- University of Groningen
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Radboud University Nijmegen
-Bob Heurman, Business Insider Netherlands
Nigeria
How long does education and training take? Five years for an undergraduate degree in law (LLB or legum baccalaureus), a mandatory one-year stint in the National Youth Service Corps and one year studying law at the graduate level, after which you can get called to the bar.
Salary for recent graduates: Recent graduates who have just completed their law school training usually have between a year to two years of work experience, which can earn them a salary of $2,300-$2,800 per year. Working in a top-tier law firm could bring a salary ranging from $3,000-$3,240.
Cost of education: An undergraduate law degree in Nigeria requires a cost of $985 for the five-year program at a public school. At a private school, the cost of tuition and fees comes to $3,324 for five years. The graduate degree has an average price of $787 for tuition and all fees, including textbooks and the bar training fee.
Job prospects: Employment figures for lawyers in Nigeria are not readily available, but finding a job in the middle-tier to the top-tier law firms that pay well is very competitive. Because of this, many recent law graduates settle for jobs in the low-tier firms which are many across Nigeria.
Top law schools in Nigeria according to Nigerian Infopedia:
- University of Illorin
- University of Lagos, UNILAG
- University of Ibadan, UI
- University of Nigeria, NNSUKA
- Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU
- University of Jos, Jos
- University of Benin, Edo State
- Lagos State University, Lagos
- Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
- Babcock University, Ogun State
-Victor Oluwole and Magdalene Teiko Larnyoh, Business Insider Africa
Spain
How long does education and training take? All in all, five or six years: a 4-year undergraduate law degree and a required 1.5-year master’s degree including a supervised internship in a law firm or company legal department. Future lawyers must also pass an aptitude test, which the Ministry of Justice runs annually.
Salary for recent graduates: According to the European University, a first-year junior lawyer in the private sector could take home between $17,000 and $21,000 (€14,400- €18,000) after tax. Take-home pay rises to $28,500-$43,000 (€24,000-€36,000) in the third year and could reach $143,000 (€120,000) for a lawyer with 10 years of experience working at a prestigious firm.
Lawyers in the public sector are required to pass competitive exams and can earn between $59,000 and $71,000 (€50,000-€60,000).
Cost of education: Between $5,700 and $7,100 (€4,800- €6,000) total in a public university. The price in a private university can get much higher, reaching up to $13,700 (€11,500) per year. The cost of the graduate degree also depends on the university you attend. Public universities cost between $2,400 and $7,100 (€2,000-€6,000), but private universities can cost up to $38,000 (€32,000).
Job prospects: It takes recent graduates an average of three to six months to find their first job, according to studies carried out in Spanish universities. About 80% obtain a job in line with their training with most working as lawyers (37%), in the public sector (26%), and in banking and insurance (14%).
Top law schools according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021:
- University of Navarra
- Pompeu Fabra University
- Complutense University of Madrid
- University of Valencia
- Autonomous University of Madrid
- University of Barcelona
- Carlos III University
- University of Seville
- University of the Basque Country
- University of Granada
-Andrea Gómez Bobillo, Business Insider Spain
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