First-year law students: First-year law students

In this episode we give you lots of tips of things to do in the first year of your law degree in order to launch your career. We spoke to Jane Wood, Course Leader and Principal Lecturer at Nottingham Law School, Maaya Sachdev, President of Warwick Law Society and Charis McGowan, Emerging Talent Coordinator at DWF.

How do I become a lawyer?

The Beginner's Guide to a Career in Law

Essential reading for those starting out

Feature

Year 12/13 and first-year opportunities: open days and insight schemes

Most trainee-hiring law firms run work experience schemes and events specifically for year 12/13 and first-year students. So, if you’re seriously considering becoming a solicitor, you’ll be doing yourself a big favour by getting involved at this early stage of your career – if not just to identify whether a career in the legal profession is for you. Use this list of law firms offering opportunities to year 12/13 and first-year university students to get you started!

Key questions

How can I get work experience in my first year of university?

"I’m a first-year student, how important is legal work experience and do you have any advice for securing some?"

What types of lawyer are there?

Solicitor, barrister and paralegal - find out about the different branches of the profession

When do I start looking for a job?

It's never too early to start thinking about your future career. Here are the main employer deadlines

Do first-year exams matter?

If they don't count towards my final degree, does this mean law firms won't see my exam results as important?

In this week's newsletter

Sign up to LawCareers.Net to receive the LCN Weekly newsletter, diary updates, events, surveys and other emails providing information for future lawyers.

Meet the Lawyer

Galina Usorova

Galina Usorova shares her journey cross qualifying as a solicitor in the UK after practising in Russia and provides insights into her role in the fraud and asset recovery team at Stephenson Harwood LLP. Plus, she outlines a high-profile case where she acted for a Russian businessman who was resisting a claim brought by two banks.

Videos

See more videos

LawCareersNetLIVE Manchester 2024: trainee panel

Masterclass | researching law firms – identifying the firm for you

LawCareersNetLIVE Manchester 2024: partner panel

Meet the Lawyer | Abigail Saffron - Baker McKenzie

The latest news

News

Top law firms say SQE graduates lag behind LPC counterparts in key legal skills

Trainees who qualified via the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) are said to be underperforming in core legal skills compared to those who completed the Legal Practice Course (LPC), according to new research by Legal Cheek.

News

Your commercial news round-up: positive UK economic turn, Burberry job cuts, footballers’ personal data, cyberattacks

The country sees a surprise surge in the economy in recent statistics, while footballers fight to protect their data and moral positions. Meanwhile, the quintessential British fashion house Burberry makes job cuts, and the cyberattack saga continues for M&S. Read on to find out more!

News

Mid-tier law firms increase bonuses to reward high billing hours

Mid-tier law firms Simmons & Simmons LLP, RPC and Shoosmiths have launched new policies to reward lawyers for billing higher hours, with bonuses of up to 40% of base salary on offer.

Getting started

Your first-year university checklist

Here's a list of things you should be doing in your first year at university

Career paths

Take a look at our simple timetable of the different legal career paths

What you need to know

From vacation schemes to law fairs, here's what to focus on this year

Looking beyond exam season

Some inspiration for you over the summer!

Blog posts and other insights

LCN Says

Dimitar Dimitrov - How aspiring lawyers can succeed with no legal work experience

Dimitar Dimitrov

By focusing on the non-legal experience you already have and the transferable skills you’ve developed, you can demonstrate your potential and commitment to prospective employers.

Toby Pitchers

Blog post

Vacation scheme dos and don’ts

The process of securing your dream vacation scheme can be challenging. Once you’re on the scheme, you come to the next hurdle – convincing the law firm to give you an actual, tangible training contract.

LCN Says

Olivia Partridge - The 15 podcasts all law students should listen to

Olivia Partridge