Should I go to university or try one of the new routes, such as an apprenticeship?
Why are work placement schemes so important?
Getting work experience at law firms is essential. Work placement
Over the past couple of years, the chance to work in the legal profession by way of a legal apprenticeship has become a real option. A small number of firms have started schemes whereby they take on school leavers to work in a role similar to that of a paralegal, as well as receiving on-the-job training that takes them towards a formal qualification.This is something to consider instead of going to university to study law – your reasons for doing so may be financial or the more vocational training might suit you better. See the ‘Apprenticeships’ section on p6 for more detail and our new publication, The Law Apprenticeships Guide . profession and many firms run schemes specifically for first years. You can get a comprehensive list of which firms are doing what and when on LawCareers.Net’s work placement deadlines page. But you are not restricted to these structured schemes – you may be able to get a day or two shadowing a trainee or associate simply by writing speculatively to firms/chambers you’re interested in or which are local to you. You should also get involved with any university pro bono schemes or legal advice centres. Even if initially you’re just stuffing envelopes or answering phones, it’s all a valuable introduction to the types of work and client relationships that lawyers are involved with every day. How do I go about getting legal work experience? Work placement schemes are a great way to learn more about the
schemes (usually run during university holidays) are a good place to start; they provide an opportunity for you to find out about not only law, but also individual firms. Firms increasingly rely on extended work placement schemes to figure out which candidates they really 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.
Do law firms prefer candidates to have a law degree?
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Most firms are looking to recruit a balance of law and non-law
graduates – in fact, these days roughly half of all solicitors are from non-law backgrounds, while studying another subject at university may also help to make you a more well- rounded individual. That 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).
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