MANY STUDENTS assume that the study of law at college is merely a prelude to becoming a solicitor or barrister. However, there are many other careers open to law graduates.

Colette Aungier, careers officer with TCD, says law students are very bright people. Points for law this year ranged from 455 to 570, so securing a place on a law degree is no mean feat.

"Law degrees are academic degrees, not a professional training. All of the conventional career areas are open to law graduates," she says.

TCD graduates have gone into financial services, investment banking, taxation and chartered accountancy. These are areas in which they are actively sought, Aungier says. A number have moved towards the media, and others have become civil servants, usually administrative officers and third secretaries.

However, the majority of TCD's law graduates still opt for professional training; Aungier says prospective students should not be put off by negative comments on the lack of availability of apprenticeships for solicitors. There is still room for good people, she says.

UCC and TCD now offer law degrees combined with a language French or German. As we move towards a more global economy, Aungier says, there is a need for people to be able to communicate in at least one European language. This applies equally to students who go on to study for professional law qualifications and those who opt for other careers.

Nicholas Leonard, careers officer with UCC, says the law content is diminished on the courses in UCC which offer law in conjunction with a language, but they cover all of the core areas and it is still sufficient for graduates to sit the entrance examinations of the Law Society.

For some years, indeed, it was sufficient for graduates to gain automatic entry to the professional course for solicitors at Blackhall Place, Dublin, but that situation has changed recently; all graduates must now sit an entrance examination.

UL offers law combined with European studies and law with accounting. Professor Dermot Walsh explains that both courses are four-year programmes which include two work placements.

Students of the law and European studies programme spend their second work placement in another European jurisdiction. Each year, students study six law modules, two language modules and two European-based modules. The weighting is very much in favour of law, with students covering all the core law modules, says Walsh.

"Combining law with European studies expands the student's education and experience beyond law and places law in a broader context. It makes the students more marketable both at home and in Europe," he adds.

Of the 46 UL graduates in 1995, 17 per cent went on to professional legal training; 44 per cent are employed in other fields in Ireland; 28 per cent went on to further academic study or research; 7 per cent are employed abroad and 2 per cent were not available for work or further study. "Many of these are working in a context where the legal and language skills are relevant to the work they are doing," Walsh says.

Students of the law and accounting degree study accountancy, economics, business maths and business information systems in addition to law. As with the European studies and law degree, the course is weighted in favour of law. The bulk of students end up in accounting, using law as an extra tool for the purposes of providing a better accountancy service.