Undergraduate Law, Postgraduate MBA?

Question

I am not 100% sure on this.

Could I do an undergraduate bachelors degree in Law, and then go onto doing a post-graduate MBA?

I live in the UK, so I think it may differ from the US - but I'd love to somehow combine both.

The best thing for me would be to do obtain a degree in law - take the bar exam and become a qualified solicitor and then go on to do an MBA as my career aims are sort of HR/operations management (which involves legal issues).

Answer 1

You can use a law undergraduate degree just as you would any other arts and social science degree.You don't have to use it for a law career and many of my friends have used it to enter investment banking or consultancy. There is nothing stopping you taking an MBA afterwards, although most of the decent business schools will look for a couple years of work experience after your first degree. I agree with Taranto that most of the really good Business Schools are in the US. The London Business School is the best in the UK. Be aware that business school is very expensive and you may have difficulty getting loans or funding for an MBA in the US. The best bet would be to have an employer sponsor you, although they are unlikely to do this for a HR administrator. That said a more expensive prestigious MBA may matter less for a back room role such as HR.

If I can offer some advice about your proposed career path I personally wouldn't bother qualifying as a solicitor You wouldn't take the bar exam (the BVC) as that is for barristers. You would have to take the Legal Practice Course (LPC). This is a year long course which can costs between £10000-£12000. For some people they successfully got a training contract at a law firm in the year (actually normally in the summer between the 2nd and 3rd year of their degree) before their LPC year. The law firm taking them on may pay their fees and possibly offer a grant for living costs. If you don't get a training contract then you'll have to fund the LPC year yourself and hope to get a training contract then. Once you complete your LPC you then start your two years working at a law firm as a trainee. It is after you complete these two years that you qualify as a solicitor. As you see it'll take you an additional three years after your degree to qualify. Training contracts are very competitive so you'll have to ask yourself why you are going to go trough all of that, use up three years of your life and possibly incur even more debt and then not practice as a solicitor. Furthermore no law firm will take you on if you tell them that you plan to drop law in favour of HR and particularly if you qualify at one of the City firms you would have to accept a massive pay cut to switch to a HR job.

I would suggest that you just apply for a HR job straight out of university and don't bother qualifying as a solicitor. You can still use the legal knowledge you learnt in your degree. After you work for a few years you can apply for an MBA if that's what you feel will help your career. If it is the legal issues that are more attractive to you forget about switching to HR and perhaps qualify as a solicitor specialising in employment law.

Answer 2

Things ar edifferent in the US. Here, a law degree is a graduate degree.

There would be no problem getting an MBA in either the UK or in the US, after getting an undergraduate degree in law. Think about coming to the US. The best MBA programs are over here. In the UK, only LBS compares to anything in the top 20 in the US.

I have an MBA and a PhD in business. There were several foreign students with undergraduate degrees in law in my MBA class.