Five things for future lawyers to think about this autumn

And we’re off – a new academic year is underway and with it, a new cycle of recruitment and work experience opportunities in the solicitors’ and barristers’ professions. To new first-year law and non-law student readers, welcome. To those further along on their journeys, welcome back. LawCareers.Net (LCN) will be here throughout 2016-17, on the site and through our weekly newsletter email, as well as in person at university law fairs, careers conferences, student law society events and other key dates in the legal calendar. Our aim is to provide you with a comprehensive resource on everything you need to build a career in law, from advice on networking with recruiters and lawyers, to applying for work experience, training contracts and pupillages, to commercial awareness.

The path to becoming ready for law is a long one that requires constant, steady learning and activity to gain what you need for your CV and to get you thinking – and talking – like a lawyer, so do make LCN a regular stop on your travels. However, I thought it would be useful to round-up what should be on your mind over the next couple of months, whether you are starting a degree, in your final year, starting a postgraduate course or approaching applications for a training contract or pupillage. We will be covering all the below in much more detail in the coming weeks, but just to get you started…

Join your student law society

If you’re at university, joining your institution’s student law society is a great way to meet fellow future lawyers, access valuable opportunities to interact with employers and develop key skills, for example, through debating or mooting. Most societies will welcome non-law students too.

Go to law fairs

The autumn term is the time when law firms and barristers’ chambers visit campuses across the country to meet students. Attending a university’s law fair is an excellent way to get a first-hand impression of different firms and chambers, and gain the kind of information you need to gauge whether somewhere is right for you that you can’t get online. Law fairs are good networking opportunities – a chance to make a good impression with a firm’s recruiters that may stand you in good stead if you apply for a vacation scheme or training contract later. LCN will be at most of the fairs too, advising students and handing out free copies of The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook 2017 – come and say hello!

Develop your general knowledge and commercial awareness

Lawyers don’t work in a vacuum. They actually play a crucial and active role across society. If you are not interested in what is going on in the wider world of politics, business and culture, you might be on the wrong track. Prospective lawyers should be able to describe the difference between right-wing and left-wing ideologies, what austerity means and the arguments for and against it, what the term ‘neoliberalism’ defines, and what the current state of play is regarding Brexit – and that’s just for starters.

Tied to this is commercial awareness, which for a lawyer means understanding the business objectives of your clients and using your legal expertise to help them to achieve their aims. A lawyer is a trusted adviser and should therefore always have the client’s needs in mind when conducting research, giving advice and writing correspondence. Even if you want to be a private client lawyer, some of your clients will themselves be business owners and you will need to understand their situations in order to give good advice. Commercial awareness also means appreciating the business environment in which law firms operate – the sectors that they serve and their geographical locations. Those in the middle of their studies or even applying for training contracts are not expected to be business experts – this will come with time and experience. However, employers will expect you to have some knowledge and to be interested in what they do, as well as the big wide world. A good place to start is LCN’s weekly commercial news round-up, as well as our Burning Question section, in which lawyers from a variety of firms tackle a different legal/commercial issue each week. The more you read, the more everything makes sense and fits together, and the more you will become interested in – and hopefully passionate about – what is happening in the world.

Apply for work experience

Gaining some legal work experience is an essential stage on the route to becoming a lawyer. Most employers want to see some evidence of it on your CV, but more than that, it makes sense to experience what the work and lifestyle is really like in order to decide whether this profession is really for you. Applying for a place on a vacation scheme (for solicitors) or mini-pupillage (for barristers) is an excellent way to gain experience and potentially a training contract or pupillage, too, but there are plenty of other ways to build up experience, such as by volunteering at a local legal advice/pro bono centre or contacting your local high-street firm about some informal shadowing or helping out round the office.

Finance

Studying to become a lawyer is ridiculously expensive. Many universities look set to raise their tuition fees beyond the current, eye-watering high of £9,000 a year, while law schools teaching the Graduate Diploma in Law, Legal Practice Course and Bar Professional Training Course can charge students upwards of £15,000 to study. It is therefore so important to be on top of your finances to avoid finding yourself in a situation you don’t want to be in. Getting involved in a diversity access scheme is a must for those who are eligible, but tuition loans probably remain the best (only?) option for most people, although many students are understandably put off by the guarantee of emerging from education with a mountain of debt to pay off. I have huge sympathy for this view and it is with great reluctance that I ‘encourage’ you to take out these loans, but it is also worth pointing out that the repayment system is almost nothing like a standard loan – you only start repaying when you are earning a decent salary, and then the payments are only small increments. I broadly believe that the ongoing marketisation of higher education is disastrous for equality and social mobility, but I would also argue that university is one of the best ways to equip yourself to be aware of and challenge the vested interests and structures that perpetuate this situation, and gain the tools that will enable you to pursue what you want to do in life. Knowledge is power, while meeting new people creates opportunity, so if you can help it, don’t let a callous government and money-fixated university executives discourage you from your rights.

That’s probably enough to be getting on with for now – until next time!