Tell us what you want, what you really really want: aspirations of LC.N readers

At LC.N, we like to think that we keep in touch with you, our readers, on a regular basis. From answering queries through the anonymous Oracle service, to being involved in interesting Twitter conversations in the ether, it’s important to hear what students want and need to know. Of course, one of the most important times for our team is law fair season; we meet thousands of law students across the country and it’s always an intriguing exercise in gauging the changing expectations year-on-year.

It’s easy to assume that law students are often unanimous in their views - but of course it isn’t always the case. The LawCareers.Net Future Lawyer’s Survey provides a platform for you to share your experiences and ambitions for the future. We learn whether there are more aspiring barristers out there than we expected, or if the City remains an attractive proposition for most. How have you fared securing work experience - bags of vacation schemes or a less successful reality? So we’ve collated some of the most noticeable findings below for you:

Solicitor or barrister?

Some 77.7% of respondents wanted to train as solicitors, 11.4% as barristers and only 8.6% did not know which branch of the profession held more appeal. Although the difference is marginal, 2014 marks a three-year decline in the number of people who want to become solicitors (82.92% in 2012, 80.34% in 2013), while there has been a rise in those interested in the Bar (up from 9.39% in 2013).

What sort of organisation would you like to train with?

The most popular organisation to train in was a 'major international law firm', with 26.8% of the vote, while training at a 'mid-sized City law firm' was the second most popular choice of respondents (18%). At a time of significant change for legal aid and uncertainty for practices dependent on such work, students were cautious in selecting the option of ‘high street/legal aid/law centre’ as their training institution of choice (selected by only 7.7%).

Work experience

The value of work experience is well publicised; at LC.N, we emphasise the difficulties you will face if applying with no evidence of time spent with law firms or chambers. However, only a small proportion of those answering the survey had completed any work experience. Merely 25.6% had completed a vacation scheme and 18.2% had done a mini-pupillage.