How to build your practical legal skills at university

If you are thinking about a law degree and a future career in law, take a long hard look at how that degree will develop your practical legal skills. Prospective legal employers will take your legal knowledge for granted, so look to your prospective degree programme to deliver and develop those ‘hard’ skills that will make you an attractive candidate.

So, what practical skills should you focus on in your degree and how do you develop them? Take these three key examples, as follows.

Extract key information
Over the course of your degree, you will have plenty of practice at note-taking and effective listening. In lectures and tutorials, you can train yourself to extract the key facts and arguments from a case or problem and to follow lines of argument.  Make sure that your lecture notes are concise, pick up the lecturers’ main points in a legible form and in tutorials, prepare to argue your point and use examples from statute or case law to back you up.

Presentation skills
We all get nervous when asked to present an argument or lead a discussion; it is natural that we want to do it well. However on a degree course, you will have plenty of chances to practise in a supportive environment, so learn from your best lecturers and your peers what works and what doesn’t. Ask for feedback every time you present and act on the feedback. If you do this, there’s a good chance that when it comes to interviews for placements, training contracts and pupillages or chatting to prospective employers at open days, you will feel more confident and be able to present yourself better.

Effective writing
What you write in an email or letter to a client as a lawyer not only sets out your take on an issue or problem, it is also a window into your skills as a lawyer; it is your shop window for prospective 'clients', be they your supervisor or a client asking your opinion. The same applies when you draft a legal document - it has to work legally and not contain any errors or mistakes that might reflect badly on you or your employer. Take care in the preparation of work and learn to proofread your essays before you hand them in. It’s a skill that really helps you in any legal job and when you’re writing applications to employers.

These are the key practical skills that law tutors and employers constantly look for.  They are also transferable between different types of legal employment; whether you want to be a solicitor or are attracted to the Bar. Ask your future law school how their study modules will actually help you develop these skills.

Most importantly - when you arrive on your degree course, remember to reflect on and practise these areas, as they will make your studies much more enjoyable and successful. They also give you a great platform for working life after your degree.

Giles Proctor is head of Roehampton Law School.