Getting A Career in Law | lawyer

Like all jobs, there are challenges and opportunities -  let’s start with the challenges, because if those don’t put you off, then you can read about what makes it worth doing!

• The first challenge is an academic one. Do you have, or are you looking forward to, mainly A* and A grades at GCSE, A and B grades at A level, and at least a 2:1 degree? If so, then keep reading. The further you are from this, the harder it becomes to get into law. Practising as a legal professional is unlikely to be accessible for people who are not able to demonstrate a good academic track record. However, in theory it is possible to develop a career as a legal executive without high level entry requirements, but the examinations you need to pass to qualify have a strong academic component - so academic ability is important and experience of study at a higher education level will certainly help.    
• Unfortunately however, it is not enough to be academically able! You need to be able to relate naturally and confidently to a wide range of people, both to be able to understand their needs and to be able to communicate how you can help. This covers both colleagues and clients and the spoken as well as the written word. You need to be able to both influence and empathise. If you can provide strong evidence of your ability in this set of skills, then this is another good reason to consider a career in law.
• You need to have a rare skill with information too. If you can understand a lot of information quickly and work out the practical implications of what you have learnt, then you have a skill which a career in law will need you to use. One particularly important aspect of this is commercial awareness- you need to be the sort of person who for example reads newspapers and considers the various implications of business developments. A person understands the likely implications of contemporary developments for their clients is likely to make a good solicitor or barrister.
• You are going to need to be able to keep a cool head under stress, too. Whilst the level of this will vary from job to job, in some jobs it is not unusual to work a day of twelve hours or more at busy times.
• Needless to say all this requires excellent time-management skills.
• Even if you have all these skills to a good level, this will not guarantee you a job!  Once you have a law degree or another degree plus a one year conversion course, the next step is to gain a training contract with a law firm.  There are more people wanting these than there are contracts available. Vacation schemes and other work experience will increase your chances of finding a training contract.

So why do people do it?

• You get the opportunity to work closely with a wide range of clients on interesting and important work.
• You work in a close team with your colleagues - often a supportive team with plenty of social contact
• You become an expert and that expertise is valued by your clients and colleagues
• There can be a wide variety of work.
• You often see clear results from your contributions.
• The financial rewards can be impressive after a few years of experience. - solicitors could be earning £40,000 to £50,000 within a few years, and sometimes considerably more. Barristers could be earning £40,000 to £200,000.

…All of this is simply a roundabout way of saying that a job as a solicitor or barrister is a fantastic job for the right person – if you have both the confidence and the evidence that you are that kind of person, then go for it!

Coventry University Careers Service

04-01-2010