In Hong Kong, studying law and studying economics require almost completely different skills and almost no one will associate the two subjects together. This does not mean that the two subjects are inherently unrelated. As we can see, the situation is not true in United States where law and economics is a popular dual programme and the two subjects are considered to be closely related. But anyway I teach in Hong Kong and I know most students' focus is not very globally oriented. Hence, I do not expect that, in Hong Kong, I can encounter students who are interested in both subjects. To my surprise, in recent years I encounter three economics students going to pursue legal studies.
To introduce something basic first, these students all went or are going to pursue a JD degree, which is a common practice for those who have already taken a first degree for studying law. If students have no first degree, studying law requires taking the degree of LLB. The above students take JD because they are all economics students, already with a first degree.
The first student went to Harvard Law School some years ago and today I guess she has already graduated. I must make clear that I contributed nothing to her admission to Harvard although she was in my economics classes.
Normally my economics classes are very large and I cannot know most of the students. But I know this student because she had sought my advice over a topic that would be adopted in a student debate. I normally turned down requests from students over these advising issues but it happened that this time I was familiar with, and interested in, the topic, which is about one new policy in urban renewal. I accepted her request. She came to my office together with her debate team members. She asked many questions while her team members mainly took notes. I was impressed by her active attitude. And this attitude paid off. Later, I asked her about the result of the debate. She said they won, and their rival lost as they simply misunderstood some basic facts of the topic. Well, perhaps my major contribution to her debate was that I was a fact-provider.
Anyway, we didn't contact since then. After some while she graduate, I heard from another colleague (likely the one who wrote recommendation letter for her to Harvard) that she was accepted by Harvard. As I was not this student's referee, I don't know her "secret" method of getting into Harvard. But as far as I know about her, her spirit is good enough as can be revealed in her preparation for the debate. She should be well-deserved for what she got.
For the second student studying law, I know her better as I was her referee in her applications for the various law schools in US. Actually, before she made up her mind to pursue a law degree, she had ever talked to me about her study in economics. She was obviously very hard-working and motivated student. One thing that troubled her was: She had not yet got an A from me though she got some A- from me. I sort of forgot how I responded to her at that time.
Later, she decided to pursue a law degree in US partly, or probably, because she was motivated by the successful story of someone getting into Harvard mentioned above. Based on what she heard from some senior students, her applications should be lodged as soon as possible (not to wait until deadline) as offers are often made early and will no longer be given when schools have secured enough students.
She asked me to write her a letter and I was more than happy to do so. To me, the job is not very straightforward as I am only an economics teacher, not someone familiar with laws. Though I know these law schools will understand this situation, I want to write a more relevant letter for her. Fortunately I am not completely ignorant about laws, and I know that in US law and economics are closely related. I simply wanted to tell these law schools that what she learned in economics could be an asset for her study in law. I also mentioned several famous law-economics scholars in US, whose areas of study have some relevance to my own: Louis Kaplow, Steven Shavell, Richard Posner, and Jules Coleman. I think I at least can show that I am not completely ignorant of legal studies so that these law-school people will not undermine my opinions completely when I recommend students to them.
After some months of offers and acceptances/rejections, she eventually went to NYU. I must make it clear that her success in getting this offer is 100% due to her quality. If she was not so qualified, she won't get what she want.
The third student did not intend to go to US but wanted to become a lawyer in Hong Kong. He was also well-prepared for his pursuit. He had made an appointment with me for talking about his plan to study law almost two years before his final year. In fact, he had already talked to an admission offer at a law school. I am not quite sure why he wanted to talk to me as I was not supposed to be a person who knows these things. I was also not his designated academic advisor in the department. Anyway, we talked about the options to become a lawyer in Hong Kong. Fortunately, I am not completely ignorant of these options. I told him what I know but I must say that eventually he dug out what was the relevant information for him. And he eventually decided to take a JD degree upon graduation.
I am very happy that students studying economics have interests in studying law. As mentioned, most students are not very globally oriented. They may be very interested in economics. This is of course good. But I also want students to acquire a broader perspective as this is what university education (unlike high school) is about. Studying law requires different skill and, by paying some attention to it, you can acquire quite a different perspective of the world or society. One common thing between law and economics is that both emphasizes logical thinking. But economics' emphasis is on the logical rigor enabled by using mathematical models while legal studies' emphasis is on argumentation and persuasion. Economists often forgot that they have to persuade people to accept for what they say. A by-product of this attitude is that their theories are often misunderstood and sometimes ignored. I think economics students have much to learn from lawyers.
My research interest has only a very small part of overlapping area with legal studies. I am interested in some ideas about justice while this is also an issue concerned by jurisprudence, a course in a typical legal studies programme. In fact, for this very small overlapping area, the economic and legal approaches are also very different, and the latter approach obviously receives much more attentions. It seems that economists also have much to learn from lawyers.
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