Should I become a lawyer?

It is mid way through 2024 and I have just finished around half the papers of year 4 of a 4 year LLB degree. It has been very interesting and valuable to my work so far and there are many things which I have used from the degree in my immigration work already. The big question though is should I become registered as a lawyer and be an immigration lawyer, or stay as a licensed immigration adviser with a law degree? In the end I don't think it makes much difference as the combination of skills and experience is much more important than the occupational registration.

What I have learned so far though is that while a lot of the learning in the LLB is really useful to an LIA and improves the skill set and approach to immigration work, there is little that would assist a general lawyer to be a good immigration lawyer. I mean that in the LLB degree content there is very little immigration content, but a lot of really good legal analysis and argument skills as well as a broad knowldge of various law which can often be applied in an immigration context.

I am really pleased with the decision to do an LLB and the area where knowledge in law is very useful is in appeals and PPI responses, generally making sure INZ follow their legal obligations to assess applications fairly and without bias.