Studying Computer Science as undergrad and law as major?

[x-ecutioner]

hi there,

as I have been programming as a hobby for several years now, I don't want technology out of my life and I want to study it in the future. I also enjoy the course of law and would not mind becoming a lawyer primarily due to the job security and high pay.

Ideally, I would love to study computer science as a minor and law as my major.

1) is this an unusual combination?
2) do companies need people with this kind of combination?
3) what kind of tasks would i be completing with such qualifications?


any help would be greatly appreciated,

thanks,

x-ecutioner

[DemonWasp]

1) It's certainly not common, though I suppose given the parallels between the fairly-algorithmic, rules-based legal process and computer science, they seem similar on the surface. The actual studies will probably be very very different.

2) There are probably some positions where companies need to know the legal ramifications of what their software is doing, and someone with such a major would be useful for that sort of work.

3) As per my example from #2, you would be reviewing the function and code of applications developed by a company and comparing them to privacy laws, copyright laws, patent laws and the like to ensure that the code isn't breaking any laws. You'd do well to familiarize yourself with the GPL, GPLv2, GPLv3, BSD and other types of licensing.

Note, however, that I couldn't be called an expert: I stopped law after I discovered that I hated it in grade 11.

[jernst]

I met a guy at Guelph who came to give a talk on patent law since some of the people in our program have ideas which could be turned into patents. I guess he had his undergrad in computer science but took a law degree after that and became a patent lawyer specializing in technology. I found the guy to be very helpful since he knew how to communicate well with both "sides" since each seems to have its own language and jargon at times. I could see someone with both of those skills being useful at many tech companies.