Matt Maciejewski, an associate in A&O Shearman’s private equity and M&A team, speaks about the important role non-legal work experience had on his legal career, the work/life balance at the leading London law firm and how to find out if a legal career is the right choice for you.   

Barristers specialising in this area may appear before the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, international tribunals (ICSID, ICC and LCIA), domestic courts and other international tribunals.

As graduation looms, so does the prospect of the ‘real world’ becoming a reality. Gulp. Especially with the past year and a half being so different (to put it politely), I for one can hardly believe that my undergraduate degree is almost over.

So, you’ve gone for it, a UK Master’s in law (LLM) and you’re ready to hit the ground running. However, let’s be honest here, you didn’t shell out for this degree just to read textbooks and cram exams. You want the full experience, the kind that sets you apart. In order to make that happen, you’ll need more than just lectures and essays. Let’s go through how to maximise your experiences at law school, with a focus on valuable opportunities that’ll help you in the long term.

Clíodhna Kelleher shares her experiences of working as a competition lawyer at Monckton Chambers, from the freedom it affords to the camaraderie of chambers. Plus, she details her range of work experience before qualifying as a barrister, including being a debate coach, a university tutor, a paralegal and even working for a non-governmental organisation. 

Isabella Gartside, early careers assistant at Ashfords LLP, highlights how crucial thorough research is prior to making an application, the importance of being genuine and how you can make yourself stand out. 

One striking difference between school/college and higher education is the need to hold yourself accountable. University learning comes with many new challenges, including the fact that you’re held less accountable by your lecturers and you must take that responsibility into your own hands.  

Housing/landlord and tenant law encompasses all aspects of residential and commercial tenancies and covers issues as diverse as anti-social behaviour, disrepair, human rights, possession claims, succession and assignment.

While I've already discussed how AI is being used by legal professionals and how it may be used in the future, there’s also a rise of individuals using AI imagery to create anything they can conjure. This creates a real legal grey area when it comes to potential ‘evidence’ of a crime, or the creation of nonconsensual indecent images.

The real contract celebrates what it’s like to be a lawyer at Clifford Chance. Hear stories from six lawyers, across our global offices, at different stages of their careers, as they write a letter to their past selves reflecting on moments in their legal careers and what the real contract means to them.

I want to talk about law-related books in my personal statement for university applications. What are your favourite legal books to add to my summer reading list?

I discovered that diligently following the course schedule provided by the law faculty was a destructive race to the bottom. Naturally some classes require more allocation of time and effort than others and this will vary with your interests. 

Find out which firms offer vacation schemes (also known as work placements) using our Training contract search and keep on top of approaching deadlines on our Vacation scheme deadlines page. Visit our Vacation Scheme Insiders section to get a sense of different firms’ vacation schemes and office cultures.

Passion for commercial matters is key at the transaction-focused London office of global firm Kirkland & Ellis, as Lauren Massey explains.

This blog was originally going to discuss the ins and outs of starting a law society – the things that you should know before starting, what the experience is really like, and the sorts of benefits to be gained. But, as I wrote, I realised that starting a law society is a rare thing. At universities, these are typically already well-established, and the odds of you being the first to incept the idea is unlikely. I instead have chosen to talk more broadly about leadership and taking on positions of responsibility as an aspiring lawyer. This will include tips for starting a society or being part of an executive committee but will also apply to non-academic life. 

If you're approaching the end of your law degree and don’t yet have a training contract or your next move lined up – don’t panic, you're not alone. Many law graduates find themselves in this exact position. The truth is training contracts are hard to secure and that’s why stepping into a paralegal role has traditionally been such a popular move.

It’s now the night before my virtual vacation scheme – a notion that has been entirely distant until this point. The reality has started to set in. I’m not sure how I expected to feel, but instead of felling apprehensive, I feel an excitement and almost impatience to finally engage with the life that I’ve been striving towards.

For many years mental health and the legal profession have been at loggerheads. Long hours, high-intensity workloads and covid-19 are among a seemingly endless list of factors that continue to contribute to the profession’s mental health crisis. And what about those vying to get through the door? The competition is, as ever, fierce and expectations high.

The number of firms adopting contextual recruitment practices is growing, but structural inequality and a lack of representation at senior levels mean that Black candidates continue to face additional barriers to becoming lawyers.

‘Capital markets’ is the term used for financial markets where debt or equity securities are traded.