Key questions
Should I go to university or try one of the new routes, such as a legal apprenticeship? Over the past couple of years,
Why are work placement schemes so important? Getting work experience at law firms is essential. Work
Below are some of the most commonly asked questions about a career in the law. If you want to ask something not covered here, email your query to oracle@lawcareers.net.
placement/vacation schemes (usually run during university holidays) are a good place to start; they provide an opportunity for you to find out about not only the law, but also individual firms. Firms increasingly rely on extended work placement schemes to select which candidates they want to take on as trainees, so getting on a scheme is a great chance to impress and earn the offer of a training contract.
the chance to join the legal profession as a legal apprentice has become a real option to launch a career in law. Apprentices join firms as school leavers and work in roles similar to that of a paralegal, while receiving on-the-job training that takes them towards a formal qualification. Solicitor apprenticeships also allow those with A levels to qualify as a solicitor without going to university. See the ‘Apprenticeships’ section on p6 for more detail and our companion publication, The Law Apprenticeships Guide 2020 .
What is commercial awareness? Law firms often stress that their lawyers need to be
Why should I choose law over other professions? Don’t pursue a legal career for the sake of it or because you’ve
‘commercially aware’, which is a phrase that can cause confusion. In essence, it means that commercial lawyers deal with more than just the law. They must understand the client’s business and the market/environment in which it operates, and be proactive in spotting and suggesting ways to avoid potential problems that the client might face. Commercial awareness does not mean the same thing to a student as it will to an experienced businessperson, and nobody expects you to be an economic expert. What firms are looking for is a combination of basic knowledge, common sense, interest and enthusiasm for commercial matters, and, most importantly, the ability and willingness to ‘think business’.
heard that it pays well; you need to have a strong desire to be a lawyer in order to succeed. Do you find law interesting? Is there a particular area of law that has already caught your attention? Are you the kind of person who would thrive in a legal environment? The only way to really find out whether law is for you is by doing some work experience within and outside of the legal profession.
Do law firms prefer candidates to have a law degree? Most firms are looking to recruit
How do I go about getting legal work experience? Work placement schemes are a great way to learn more
a balance of law and non-law graduates – in fact, roughly half of all solicitors are from non-law backgrounds. Studying another subject at university may help to make you a more well-rounded individual. This means that if you have a burning desire to study English literature, but think you might want a career as a lawyer, it’s fine to do English at uni and convert to law by doing the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). This postgraduate course squeezes the seven foundations of legal knowledge into one year. You then join the law graduates and do either the Legal Practice Course (LPC) or the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), followed by a training contract in a law firm or a pupillage in a set of chambers. But note: most firms do favour traditional academic subjects (eg, history or sciences) over more modern options (eg, media studies or drama).
What skills and strengths do you need to be a good lawyer? A number of core skills are
about the profession and many firms run schemes specifically for first years. You can get a comprehensive list of firm schemes on LawCareers.Net’s work placement deadlines page. But you are not restricted to these structured programmes – you may be able to get a day or two shadowing a trainee or lawyer simply by writing speculatively to firms/chambers you’re interested in or which are local to you. You should also get involved with university pro bono schemes or legal advice centres. Even if you’re stuffing envelopes or answering phones, it’s all a valuable introduction to the types of work and client interactions that lawyers are involved with every day.
needed to be a good lawyer – many of them you can hone through your academic studies and work experience. The core strengths sought by legal recruiters are: • intellectual ability; • motivation; • resilience; • accuracy/attention to detail; • teamwork; • leadership; • commercial awareness; and • communication skills. If you have the majority of these, law could be a good option for you!
How important are grades at A level and uni?
Law is an intellectually rigorous career, which is why firms and chambers require excellent academics; in fact, many simply won’t look at applicants who have less than a 2.1 degree, and As and Bs at A level. It is therefore vital that you get the best grades you possibly can.
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