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

Application rejections, illness, CV gaps: advice from aspiring lawyers going through the process

Pursuing a career in law is hard. It’s as simple as that. It can feel like you’re the only person not securing vacation schemes or training contracts as your peers post their new roles at firms all over LinkedIn and Instagram – and you can’t work out where it is that you’re going wrong. It’s an easy mindset to fall into but it’s vital to take a step back, reassess, breathe and go again. We spoke to several aspiring lawyers whose routes into law were either put on hold, made difficult because of their background or disrupted as a result of the pandemic. This feature aims to show you that you’re not the only one having a bumpy ride into the legal world.

Solicitors Qualifying Exam – your questions answered

From September 2021, the route to legal qualification in England and Wales is changing with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam.

Key questions

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?

First-year action plan

You’re in the first year of your law degree and you want to know what you should be doing. Here is a brief checklist to get you started.

Vacation Scheme Insiders

University of Oxford

Chemistry

December 2018

What you need to know

From exams to legal work experience, here's a run-down of what you need to know ahead of your first-year at university.

LCN blog

First-year open days

It’s that time of year where many eager first-year students submit applications for places on open days at law firms. In the next few weeks and months, some lucky students will receive coveted invitations to such events and, for many, it will be their first chance to interact with such large and high-profile firms. Of course, many ‘meet the firm’ style events this year will be online instead, but this does not prevent them from being useful!

How should you prepare for the big event to ensure you make the most of it?

Videos

See more videos

LCN VIDEO Five top tips for attending your first LAW FAIR | LawCareers.Net

LCN VIDEO Five top tips for FIRST YEAR LAW STUDENTS

EASY MISTAKES TO AVOID on application forms

LAWCAREERSNETLIVE What did last year's attendees learn at LawCareersNetLIVE?

SQE What is the SOLICITORS QUALIFYING EXAM (SQE)?

LawCareersNetLIVE conferences go virtual for 2020

Applications are open for the LawCareersNetLIVE careers conferences taking place virtually in November and December later this year.