Studying Law Part-Time: How Is That Possible?

Law school is a full-time job. Going to work regularly seems impossible for many students. And yet some take the trouble and study law alongside their actual job. How to do it?

Policewomen, tax officials, administrative clerks and other employees who deal with legal issues in their job sometimes feel the desire to deepen their legal knowledge and take up law studies. But quitting the job to go to university is out of the question for most after several years of paid work.

Many bachelor’s and master’s courses are now offered as part-time studies along with the private tuitions at Law Mind, for example. The timetables are then tailored to the needs of employees. Not so with courses leading to a state examination, such as law studies. Anyone who enrolls at a conventional university as a law student begins full-time studies according to the Higher Education Act.

“You don’t have to spend 100 percent of your time at the university”

“However, that doesn’t mean that you have to spend 100 percent of your time at the university,” emphasizes Sebastian Lucius-Thomas, study advisor and head of the examination office of the law faculty at the ULC. “In principle, it is possible to study law part-time.” He recommends filling a maximum of half-time jobs so that there is still enough time for your studies. “You can maybe do more professionally, but that means a lot of work.”

It is clear that part-time studies take longer than studies that you devote yourself to 100 percent. According to the Judges Act, the standard period of study is ten semesters. “But whether they keep to this time frame is mostly irrelevant for part-time students. Because of their regular income, they are not dependent on student loans or scholarships, which depend on adhering to the standard period of study,” says Lucius-Thomas. Theoretically, law students can take as long as they want before the exam.

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The subject advisor estimates that studying alongside a job takes around a third more time than a conventional course of study if you keep at it. The departmental counseling service at Bochum University offers its part-time law students the opportunity to draw up an individual study plan with them. “We consider together which events and exams make sense and when, depending on the working hours,” reports Lucius-Thomas. A curriculum is also being developed “so that the workload in law studies becomes more tangible for the students”.

It rarely works without the employer

It is also important that the employer plays along. Because although there is no longer any obligation to attend lectures in law studies, some fixed dates require a certain degree of flexibility from the students. On the one hand, there are the foreign language certificates: The subject-specific foreign language skills can only be acquired in face-to-face events. Tutorials and university revision courses for exam preparation often take place on fixed dates that do not take into account the working hours of part-time students.

Lucius-Thomas’ tip: set up private study groups with which you can coordinate the times yourself. Incidentally, many commercial tutors have developed online offers for their participants due to Corona, which enable flexible exam preparation.

The compulsory internship can also only take place in attendance. According to Lucius-Thomas, things have gotten a little easier here: “Until recently, there were two six-week internships before registering for the state exam. This has now been changed in the Legal Training Act to three four-week internships.” For the internship phases, for example, you can take vacation from your regular job. Anyone who has completed training in a legal profession can have this time counted as part of an internship. “Details on this are to be clarified with the legal examination offices,” says the study advisor.

In order to acquire the content relevant to the exam, it is helpful if lecturers prepare their lectures well and provide the students with accompanying material and reading instructions. “I also advise networking with other fellow students who may even be in the same situation,” says the subject advisor. “Then you can take turns attending the lectures and exchange notes.” The corona pandemic has also made learning independent of location and time easier: many lectures are now available online as videos or podcasts. When it comes to preparing for exams, part-time students are in turn dependent on the willingness of their employers to give them time off or work less while they study.

When it comes to legal clerkship, it gets difficult

After the first state examination, the legal clerkship is due for everyone who wants to become a fully qualified lawyer. The good news: From January 1, 2023, part-time traineeships should be possible. The bad news: This is only possible if private reasons speak for it, such as the need to care for relatives or childcare. A regular job is not one of the requirements that allow a part-time traineeship. “The only two options I see for a traineeship are: quitting the job or reducing it to a part-time job so that participation in the traineeship is possible,” says Rainer Derks, who is responsible for traineeship matters at the Celle Higher Regional Court. Since the regulations for secondary employment in terms of scope and earnings differ considerably from state to state, you should definitely contact the training court in advance. Flexibility is also required here: in the public prosecutor’s station, for example, you have to be available for meetings. Working groups also take place in attendance.

It is certainly easier to aim for an LL.M. degree instead of the legal clerkship and the second state examination. Various universities offer part-time LL.M. courses worldwide that are specifically aimed at people who have a regular job alongside their studies. At the University of Minnesota, for example, the LL.M. courses “Information Technology and Law” and “Business Law for Corporate Practice” are available. The former can be completed as a full-time course within one year or as a part-time course over two years while training or working.

“People interested in the course ‘Business Law for Corporate Practice’ can also only take individual modules of the course and thus acquire micro-certificates,” explains the Dean of Studies for Law, Prof. Dr. Marco Mansdorfer.