[terminalcommand]

Slightly off-topic but I wanted to ask why and when did you start studying CS after law.

I recently graduated from law school and now am an intern at a law firm. I have a strong interest for CS, and it bothered me for a long time that I went to law school instead of CS.

I'v overcome those feelings over the years and dedicated myself to become a lawyer. But your post caught my interest.

I'd be glad if you could share some of the story behind you studying cs after getting your law degree.

[niklasd]

After my law degree I worked for a year in a big international law firm (I didn't yet had my license, so I was a kind of trainee – similar to you position right now). I realised that there is a huge interest in technical solutions to make the work more efficient (often labeled as "Legal Tech"). But there was very little actual understanding of technologie, which I think is one of the reasons why there aren't yet many real world application which are really making a difference. That was when I decided to go back to university for a CS degree.

Some learnings so far: 1) I get great feedback for my decision from other lawyers, who are genereally very interested but not well versed in tech. 2) Legal Tech feels a bit overhyped right now, but eventually it will change the field drastically. Law firms need lawyers who have technical skills. And that doesn't necessarily mean a whole CS degree, some programming skills etc. will already do it.

I personally love tech that much that I don't want to go back to a law firm to practise law, but rather actually develop technology. But for you, if you want to become a lawyer, I can promise you that you will find a fertil ground for your interest. It soon will be one of the most sought after skills for law firms. So if you learn some programming (maybe you already know some), take some online courses (there are great resources for CS online), then the next time your law firm gets offered a (as magic advertised) ML tool or needs to implement a new tech solution which really influcences the workflow, you will be the star of the firm for being a critical but competent colleague. Or if you're starting your own law firm, I think there is great potential for a more automated workflow. In your position, I would be very glad for you CS interest – you in the right field and it is the right time for it!:)

[terminalcommand]

Thanks a lot for your detailed and motivating answer. Actually I know quite a bit about programming. But generally try to hide that I'm highly interested in computers. Because if anyone notices, I get asked why I chose to study law in the first place. Over the years I learned not to look like a computer nerd and how to look and behave like a lawyer. I also had some problems with interpersonal communication, but through trial and error I've become socially adept and now I can get things done.

It is really nice to hear that my skills and interest in computers won't go wasted in practicing law. I hope my firm also gets offered an ML tool where I can show my skills. For now I can navigate the document management systems with ease, use some word add-ins (contract companion etc.), I guess that'll change in time and I'll have access to more sophisticated tools.

[trampypizza]

If you don't mind me asking - whereabouts (geographically) are you based? I'm hoping to get into law after a couple of years working in technology but I haven't been able to find that much information online about the meeting point of law and technology and my searches haven't found me any communities for law similar to HN for technology.

[niklasd]

Germany. If you look up Legal Tech meetups (often hosted by law firms) you will find some law students/lawyers interested in tech. But it's still a small community. And for real techies in law, that's an even smaller pool of people.

[trampypizza]

Cool, what you said about going to do another degree gave me the impression you were probably based in Europe! I'm in the UK myself. Yeah I think that's probably the way to go, thanks for the advice.

[Maven911]

I would love to work with you or bounce off some ideas on how to changeup the somewhat legacy legal tech

[trampypizza]

I'm gonna go one step further with the off-topicness. Do you get much of an opportunity working within law to focus on technology?

I'm about to go back to University to study law but I would love to be able to combine Law with technology. Seems like an interesting area.

[niklasd]

Possible jobs include:

- Working as a lawyer in a law firm and being the expert/contact person for any tech stuff.

- Working as project mananger for Legal Tech in a law firm (Magic Circle law firms are already having these jobs)

- Being a lawyer specialised in IT/tech/IP laws, which require a domain understanding.

- Working for or founding a Legal Tech start-up.

- Owning a law firm that is having an automated workflow which is specifically engineered.

Right now, there aren't too many jobs on the market. But they will become more. And I can promise you, for most of all people tech is a black box (which is also bothering people), and with it being more and more integraded in our workflows, being tech savy will become more important in virtually any job (including government etc.).

[trampypizza]

It's good to hear that there are plenty of technology focused opportunities in the legal profession. The only one I had thought about prior to your comment was specialising in IP and technology, so I will definitely look into those other avenues.

[sharadov]

I worked for Legalzoom in the United States for about 5 years, there is a lot of opportunity for disruption, and at last count there were re 500 something startups in the US. A combo of law and tech would be awesome, that's what one of our co-founders who was a developer did. He went back to school and got a law degree.