This article is written in conjunction with the IE Law Society.
By Lucía Sobrado

Most people assume that a career in law is reduced to practice or teaching. Far from this, however, law is an academic discipline in itself, and lawyers can also devote their time and expertise to research. To gain some insights, I interviewed Professor Antonios Kourutakis, whose career has been centered around research for prestigious institutions such as UCLA, Oxford, and today, our very own IE University.
How do you decide what your area of research is?
find a topic you really like, and it won’t feel like work!
Law is a very broad subject, and there is a wide range of topics to choose from. Sometimes you feel “the spark,” and that is what happened to Kouroutakis. His passion for Constitutional Law started in his first semester at the University of Athens. According to him, it was “love from first sight,” and until this day it is the course he teaches at university. He explains that the more you read about constitutional law, the more questions you have.
He felt a driving force to learn more and to be able to reflect on these questions. At university, he was involved in multiple activitie,s such as the Constitution Engineering Society, where he could dive into questions regarding relevant regional and international affairs, such as the unification of Cyprus. Antonios explains that constitutional engineering allows you to see gaps or address those issues which need to be more developed.
Antonios’ proper legal research career started during his LLM master’s at UCLA, and his first research paper was about the involvement of the army in politics. However, this was only the beginning since his research career peaked during his PhD at Oxford University. His final thesis on Temporary Legislation was mentioned by the House of Commons and courts worldwide. During this time, he devoted himself 24/7 to research, using his access to Oxford’s large library and resources.
Antonios also emphasises the importance of a good supervisor to achieve one’s best potential, he defines this process as “being in the dark and trying to find the keys,” and your supervisor helps you find the keys.
Is it possible to be a full-time researcher?
Legal research is tedious. A good paper can take around six months, and a book more than a year. Nowadays, it is difficult to be creative when researching since there is already research on most topics. Therefore, Kouroutakis believes that a critical skill for becoming a successful researcher is the ability to anticipate potential issues.
Far from what people usually think, pursuing a career as a researcher can be financially rewarding and professionally stable, particularly when employed by a research center, university, or organization. Antonios Kouroutakis took this path after completing his studies, securing a full-time position as a legal researcher in Germany. This role provided him with a unique level of autonomy—he was his own boss, free to explore any topic of interest, with only periodic internal evaluations to review his progress.
In academia, careers often encompass teaching, research, or a combination of both. Therefore, after a few years of focusing only on research, he decided to start teaching and combine both jobs. He explains that “being a researcher while teaching allows you to innovate and be better every day.” This approach to teaching allows him to integrate new material and insights from his work, enriching the learning process for his students.
Finally…
On a last note, he recommends all of those interested in a legal academic career find a topic that they truly like, and then “it won’t feel like work.”
Check out more Professor Antonios Kourutakis here.
Featured image courtesy of iPleaders