Selecting the right way to reach the status of a lawyer is one of the important steps that a keen, legal profession-oriented person should take. Several options, such as the possibility of pursuing the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree course or sitting the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), confuse many when choosing a career in law. To aspiring lawyers at the very beginning of the legal profession, this introduction intends to clarify the pathways they must take to decide for their future. Readers can go through the provided information by which they make informed decisions about which stream is best for law for the start of their legal career.
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Which Stream is Best for CLAT 2025?
The answer to “Which stream is best for CLAT?” depends more on the person’s core abilities and likings. Mostly, the aspirants tend to take up Humanities or Commerce streams to lay a strong base on the subjects related to this exam, like English, Mathematics, Legal Reasoning, and General Knowledge. Whether you are biassed with skills or not, you must select a stream that aligns with your academic strengths and career aspirations and will safeguard your success in CLAT and your future legal career. One can also pursue CLAT after graduation from the arts, science and commerce stream.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages regarding the three streams for CLAT.
1. Arts/Humanities Stream for CLAT
Advantages
- Alignment with Syllabus: The art students can easily cover the topics like ‘Current Affairs’ and ‘Legal Reasoning’.
- Comprehensive Reading Skills: The main focus is the abundance of reading tasks, which is suitable for the Language and Reasoning sections.
Disadvantages
- Quantitative Techniques Challenge: Arts students are not accustomed to the quantitative aptitude part, as it includes maths, there they will need extra effort for “Quantitative Techniques”.
2. Commerce Stream for CLAT
Advantages
- Quantitative Aptitude: The ‘Quantitative Techniques’ section can be easily achieved through Accountancy and Business Mathematics subjects, which makes it easy for students to understand.
- Current Affairs and Economics: For the ‘Current Affairs’ section, following the news, keeping up with the latest developments, and paying attention to political crises are highly recommended to be a well-informed citizen today.
Disadvantages
- Legal Reasoning: It demands you to make extra efforts to go through the ‘legal reasoning’ part.
3. Science Stream for CLAT
Advantages
- Quantitative Advantage: A better understanding of mathematical problems as the students are accustomed to subjects like physics and mathematics.
- Analytical Skills: Having a ‘Logical Reasoning’ section and being keen on logical reasoning skills sets the ground for a better understanding of the given topic.
- Science News: Understanding of basics of scientific developments with relevance to the ‘Current Affairs’ section.
Disadvantages
- Current Affairs and General Knowledge: It means revising the topic blow-by-blow in deeply unfamiliar areas of the ‘Current Affairs’ section.
Which Stream is Best for Becoming a Lawyer?
Want to know which stream is best for law after 10th or after the 12th? Here we will discuss the different streams and how they are relevant for studying law in future.
1. Commerce or Science
Both the Commerce and Science streams show a lot of career prospects for someone opting for law as a career. Commerce creates the basis for comprehending the legislation relevant to commercial matters; for example, Economics, Business Studies, and Accountancy bring about it. While social science might be more encompassing in terms of subject matters, science gives students professional knowledge of specialised fields of law, like intellectual property law or environmental law, through subjects such as physics, chemistry, and mathematics. That’s why the best viable LLB degree is the one that suits your personal preferences and your capacity. Immediately after the 12th grade, you are eligible to get admitted into either a 3-year or a 5-year LLB degree, which is the minimum requirement for practising as a lawyer in India.
2. Commerce Stream
The Commerce stream can be an advantage for a future lawyer because it prepares for classes like corporate law, tax law, and financial regulations. Commerce subjects also stimulate skills that are highly demanded in legal education and practice, such as analytical skills, maths abilities, and general economics and business knowledge.
3. Chartered Accountant (CA)
The knowledge of legal issues in financial and business domains helps Chartered Accountants not only get that opportunity but also allows them to make the wisest decisions in the field of law. The dual professional qualification in both economic and legal spheres will improve the skills of CA’s in analysis and problem-solving capabilities. This combination of knowledge will help them find the solutions relevant to particular legal and financial issues. Being a hybrid between tax advisement and business consultancy, CAs get clients who seek authoritative advice. In a corporate setting, CAs with the dual qualification of being LLB can offer combined legal and financial views and have an edge over tasks like contract drafting and appearances in legal procedures.
4. Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
Moving to LLB after completing B.Com, one can have a spectrum of lucrative career roles in future. The other prospects of emerging employment for CLAT after graduation in commerce are the law agencies’ activities of public sector undertakings (PSUs), job creation in governmental workplaces and opening their legal firms. Besides that, one can even be a trial lawyer, research analyst, document drafter, and government lawyer. Some law schools furnish a curriculum that awards two degrees together, a legal degree with a business degree, so the students can complete both programmes in five years rather than the usual six years. Such an integrative approach broadens students’ knowledge and better positions them in job prospects.
5. Science Stream
Demand for legal professionals is not limited to the knowledge of law and order. A post-liberalisation environment, filled with the complexities of business, has brought forth new hurdles for the legal field, giving rise to exciting opportunities in this area of law. Prospective career paths such as Cyber Security Lawyer, Army and Air Force, Environmental Law, Trade and Intellectual Property Law, Legal Consultancy, and Judiciary, Taxation, and Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions departments are also promising if you opt for CLAT after graduation in science stream.
The competencies in problem-solving, communication, report writing, and being capable of intense research are among the transferable skills of a science student that are copiously helpful in the legal profession. Filing this requirement with the general features of a lawyer’s daily work coincides with providing evidence-based proposals. Now, more and more scientists are given a chance to have a lifestyle and status comparable to the lawyers who used to be getting social recognition for decades. In addition, keeping with this trend, more than 45% of students from leading NLUs have a background in the science stream, illustrating that law is a career option that is appealing to a diverse group of students.
Which Stream is Best for LLB to Become a Lawyer?
Choosing which stream is best for LLB – either Commerce or Science – may pave the way for an excellent legal career. The closest shot at the commerce curriculum, the Chartered Accountant (CA) export accomplishes this through a comprehensive education in financial regulations and business laws. At the same time, a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) degree would be focused more on areas such as corporate governance and commercial law.
Nevertheless, a B.Sc. degree is for students taking science courses with unique options in forensic science, which will be very helpful in learning the scientific aspects of legal practices. Furthermore, science courses are likely to encompass pre-law classes, which explore the functions of law and lawmaking, among other concepts. Future lawyers can shine by enriching their base with pertinent technical work and obtaining additional legal qualifications regardless of the stream. The best manageable stream mainly depends on one’s choice, capability, and career attributes.
FAQs on Law Stream
- Which Stream is Best for CLAT?
There are no specific streams that are best for the CLAT exam. Applicants can appear for the examination from the following streams: Arts, Commerce, or Science. CLAT evaluates applicants on subjects such as English, General Knowledge, Legal Drafting, Intellectual ability, and Mathematics.
- Can I Take CLAT after Graduation?
Of course, a graduate candidate can access any law programs offered by the various universities participating. Notwithstanding, CLAT is restricted to doctoral students’ selection criteria.
