So You Want to Go to Law School? What I Wish I Knew.

One of my favorite stories to tell is how I accidentally stumbled into the law. It was never the main plan of my life. In fact, it wasn’t even a subplan at all. I only played as a lawyer for my primary school’s career day because I had the costume.

I studied business in secondary school (which in my opinion is the better course to study if you want to get into law school) with a plan to do business administration in the university and then major in marketing.

So how did I end up in law school? I’ll shorten the answer by just saying right after WASSCE, a lawyer came to speak to us and I loved everything she had to say about legal stuff.  My father had casually mentioned that law would suit me nicely and my senior colleagues in law school said it was all about reading. I loved reading so then that would mean law would be a walk in the park, right? Little did I know.

It wasn’t until I got into law school that I realized, it is indeed a lot of reading but not in the way you might think. Legal language is a language all on its own and that’s why a literate person can read a contract but still enter into an agreement that they didn’t understand. It’s a completely different ball game.

I had to read the case of Marbury v Madison at least five times through before I started to understand what the heck was going on. My head was reeling the first time I tried reading that case.

When they say it’s reading, they mean its reading. It’s not like a cute novel that you cross your legs and read. You read so much you might start seeing words in your dreams. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little.

The second thing that came as an absolute shock to me was that law school was a whooping six years. SIX YEARS? I was completely unprepared for that. I was equally unaware that you needed to write this really hard exam in order to get into the Ghana School of Law to complete your legal education. I hear that’ll no longer be the case soon enough and I look forward to that.

I also had no idea what to expect when it came to the practice of law. What job opportunities are available to me? What are working conditions like? All I knew was that you could make lots of money in law, whatever that means.

So, I thought to myself, well Ewurama, you have a whole book teaching people to study, why not write an article telling people what you wish you knew before you decided to read law in the first place?

In telling you that there’s lots of reading and very complicated reading, I have covered essentially 60% of what you should know. Let’s take it from there.

Unless and until legal education reforms are instituted, let’s assume that four years of LLB and two years of BL at the Ghana School of Law (GSL) is still the norm. Let’s look at what that’s like.

In LLB, you’ll be learning the substantive law. You’ll do courses like constitutional law, contract law, Ghana Legal System, criminal law, land law, law of torts (these are the examinable courses for entry into the Ghana School of Law). Then there are other courses like commercial law, company law, public international law, conflict of laws, alternative dispute resolution etc.

Dare I say that where you study your LLB directly influences your chances of getting into GSL. Top law schools in no particular order are University of Ghana, KNUST and UPSA. If in case you’re reading this and your law school doesn’t feature, please don’t chew me, this is just my opinion. Well, that and the GSL pass rate stats.

All of these courses I mentioned could constitute a whole four years of study and yet you have a year or sometimes a semester to learn these things. What that means is that you will not have the same luxury of time as your comrades pursuing other courses. You have case law to read, textbooks, articles, acts of parliament, the constitution – I could go on and on.

So, if you aren’t a disciplined person or a person willing to sacrifice some enjoyment, then law school might not be for you.

Now in truth, law school can be extremely depressing, especially when your grades are not doing so well. A common thing some lawyers say is you can’t go through law school if you don’t believe in God. Especially, in GSL, times get rough. That’s why it’s important to know how to study. Hence why I wrote my book ‘Study Tips'.

Study Tips

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PS: since writing that book, I am no longer accepting certain questions sent to my dm. the answers are in the book. Get the book! I give you all the hacks to studying effectively so you can have an easier schooling experience and the best grades possible.

Without the right academic tools, you could wind up failing courses or repeating years and this is an extremely harrowing experience. One that also happens more often than you think. To help protect you from getting there, that's why I wrote my book.

Don’t internalize failure as a possibility for you but know that it’s something that happens very often in law school and is not a reflection of who you are as a person or the kind of lawyer you’re going to be.

Moving on.

GSL is about the procedural aspect of the law. There, you’ll learn things like drafting in civil law, criminal law, conveyancing, family law etc. You will learn the law of interpretation, law of evidence, company and commercial law and ADR just to name a few.

What makes GSL difficult? Now guys, I want to be candid with you because time is money and I don’t want to waste yours. What makes GSL tougher than LLB in my opinion is that the ones setting the questions are not the ones teaching the courses, point blank period.

Is it possible to excel in GSL? Yes. You don’t have to struggle with poor grades. The problem though was that sometimes concepts would be taught to you as 123 and then the exam questions are set and it feels like I, II, III. It’s so frustrating.

One course that beats law students black and blue is Accounting. I mean the whole point of law was to avoid math, right? Well, one of the reasons I chose law was I hated accounting and yet here it was in all its mathematical glory, failing the best of the best.

That’s why I mentioned business as the better course in SHS. Because not only do you study accounting beforehand but you also do a lot of commercial law, contract law etc in business management (an elective course in business). None of my friends who studied geography and the likes ever got to use that knowledge. Just saying.

I will always say that if your main motivations for studying law is simply to make money, you’re better off starting a business. Lawyers at the bar for several years will tell you that much. I don’t want to say too much about the practice of law because I’m just a year at the bar, what do I know?

I do know that it’s nothing like the Harvey Specter theatrics you saw on Suits. It’s often times not so glamorous and truth be told, those cinematic depictions of law are highly inaccurate. You cannot get away with half the things they do in the court room without being slapped with a contempt of court charge. In fact, all of those characters you see in the likes of How to Get Away with Murder would have been rightfully disbarred by now. Maybe they should rename the show, ‘How to Get Away with Legal Malpractice’.

Oh, and before I forget, law school is expensive. I mean that with a capital e. For all the imaginary money you will soon be making, remember that it’s going to be six years of expensive school fees and costly textbooks.

Law, specifically litigation, isn’t about how well you can argue. If you are a good debater, it isn’t grounds to consider law. Although, it might not be a bad idea. Many people come in thinking that the court room is going to be one big debate ground and everyone is listening to how well you can argue. So those with the loudest voice or strongest poise win. I blame Suits for that. It’s nothing like that at all.

Being good in school is great, but a year out and I can definitely say that networking is better. Especially if you want to end up in a firm. Who you know matters in this legal jungle. It goes a long way. So, if your plan through law school is to be a recluse whose only friend is his books, you might find that you won’t land anywhere pleasant.

You also need to know that good paying firms are a dime a dozen. You might be making peanuts right out the gate till you have a few years under your belt and figure out your own way. Again, these are just my observations.

One of the things I wish I knew before stumbling into the law are the hours. Most firms and sometimes legal departments aren’t sticklers for a good-work life balance. It is very likely that you could be working over 8 hours a day. Particularly if you’re fresh out. It’s not unusual to get to work at 8 and close at 10 and that’s something you should know.

It’s also not particularly a profession that believes in remote work. Which in my opinion is a damn shame. You have your tech bros and creatives who sit in fancy cafes to work or role out of bed to grab their laptops to start work. You might not have that luxury.

Law can be divided into two main practice areas.

You could go into litigation. These are the ones that go to court and ‘Yes My Lord’ till their gowns are faded and wigs are falling off the bone. Before you decide you want to be a litigator, maybe visit court. I heard so many horror stories that I was very uninterested in litigation. I think I may have been too rash now.

Then there’s the solicitor aspect of the law. In this category you have your guys that draft contracts and the like.

Some lawyers do both. In countries like England, both require different training and specific qualification but in Ghana, once you are called as a lawyer, you are a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana. So, you can litigate and you can solicitate (I don’t think that’s how the word is used but you get the point).

What I will say is that there’s a world of opportunity with the law – so many practice areas you could choose from. You could end up in the Attorney-General’s department. You could be an in-house lawyer for a company. You could be in a firm where you major in company and commercial law. You could be an entertainment lawyer. You could be a criminal defense attorney. You could major in aviation or oil and gas. The world really is your oyster with law.

It is an interesting course to study. For all it is difficult, it is also interesting and it opens you up to so much. You study the law in basically every important field known to man. According to some of my lecturers, that’s why lawyers are called ‘learned’ because you know a bit about everything.

One thing I will say before concluding is that those who study the law as postgraduates after having some work and life experience are better placed because they know what the corporate world is like. They have some experience which they are now adding the law to.

I hope this information has been helpful and if there’s anything you need me to touch on further, just let me know in the comments and I’ll get right to it.

I’ll end by saying law school is an arduous journey and its practice is harder than you think. If you want to study law or practice it, make sure you’re really sure that’s what you want to do so that when the hard times come, you have something to fall back on. It isn’t all grim and dark though. There are many beautiful aspects to studying the law or being a lawyer.

I'll bet you'll look good in a wig and gown too.