Curious about a career in law but uncertain how exactly to get there? Studying a degree in law is a great first step. But the road to becoming a practising lawyer isn’t as straightforward as graduating with a law degree. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help clear up the confusion and illuminate your path towards a successful legal career.
Step 1: Start your law degree
The journey to becoming a lawyer begins with an undergraduate law degree (we hear that Curtin has a pretty good one!). Whether you pursue a standalone Bachelor of Laws or a Law double degree that combines law with another discipline, the choice is yours.
Completing a standalone law degree will open career paths that reach well beyond just law. But, if you want to broaden your horizons even further, you can earn two degrees with just a few more years at Curtin. You can pair your law studies with a double degree with a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Innovation, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Science (Psychology). Check out our Study Curtin website for more information.
Step 2: Progress through your undergraduate degree
Make the most of your undergraduate law study! At Curtin, you can engage in simulated proceedings in our state-of-the-art moot court, work on actual cases in the John Curtin Law Clinic, or join our comprehensive Legal Internships Program to get practical legal experience. You may also have the opportunity to study in our overseas exchange program at our summer law program at Ghent University, Belgium.
Typically, an undergraduate law degree takes four years to complete. With Curtin’s accelerated structure, you can complete your single law degree in just three years. Your first year is studied in semesters at Curtin Perth, while your second and third years are carried out in trimesters at our Curtin Law School campus in Perth City located in the heart of the city’s legal and court precinct.
If you enrol in a double degree with law, your course will take between 4.5-5.5 years to complete. You will have additional years at Curtin Perth before completing law in the trimesters at Perth City.
Step 3: Complete your Practical Legal Training (PLT)
If you want to become a lawyer, your next step after completing your undergraduate degree in law is to undertake the mandatory Practical Legal Training course, also known as PLT. This structured training program is designed to help you hone the practical skills you’ll need as an entry-level lawyer. In some situations, you can start PLT at Curtin even before you finish your undergraduate law degree, if you have only 1 or 2 optional subjects to complete!
Curtin is currently the only university in Western Australia that directly offers a complete pathway from high school to admission to legal practice, including Practical Legal Training. Our Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (PLT) can be taken straight after you finish your law degree. This eight-month course will equip you to meet the practical requirements for legal admission and to gain further knowledge and skills to equip you for your professional legal career.
As part of the PLT course, students are required to gain legal workplace experience. Curtin’s PLT team can assist students with gaining a legal work experience placement, and there are also options for students to complete work experience within the John Curtin Law Clinic.
Step 4: Secure your admission to practice
Nearly there! Once you’ve graduated with your law degree and completed your PLT, you can apply for admission to the Supreme Court of Western Australia, in conjunction with the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia. Being admitted as a legal practitioner in a special sitting ceremony of the Supreme Court finalises your transition from student to lawyer.
Be sure to keep up to date with most recent information regarding admissions.
As a newly admitted legal practitioner, you’ll also need to apply for an Australian practising certificate and be supervised in your practice while you gain professional experience.
Step 5: The final verdict – you’re now a lawyer!
With all these steps completed, it’s time to take a bow – you’re now officially a lawyer in Western Australia! Your journey from the classroom to the courtroom is complete, and a rewarding legal career awaits.
