The best part of being a law student probably isn’t the hours and hours of readings, the challenging assignments or even the (open book) exams. After four years at uni I know that the glamorous law school life shown in Legally Blonde is the stuff of Hollywood and TV dramas. Still, sometimes it’s nice to be able to tell people, “Yes, I am a law student.”
Over the years I have slipped my law student status into conversation and used my degree in an attempt to solve various dilemmas. A few examples include:
Arguing with my mobile phone company about my telephone bill: “I’m a law student… I will take you to the telecommunications tribunal…”
Trying to return a faulty (or what I believe to be faulty) product: “These heels hurt my feet therefore they are not fit for use… trust me, I know these things, I’m a law student.”
I even tried to convince a bouncer that they had legal discretion to allow me entrance into a club, despite the fact that I had forgotten my proof of age card at home: “I’m a law student, I know my rights!”
Not surprisingly, these attempts didn’t always work.
I guess mentioning my law degree was pretty cool in my first few years of university, but I have since realised the danger of pretending to know what you’re talking about when, let’s face it, you don’t have a clue. There’s a good reason why law students aren’t allowed to provide legal advice to others, and why we probably shouldn’t test our lawyering skills on our own quandaries. If you’re not careful you may find yourself in a sticky situation where not even your best legal arguments can help free you!
Plus you never know if that customer service assistant, sales assistant or bouncer is really a law student in disguise!
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