Is a career in law for you? 6 reasons why people become lawyers

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Long hours, constant learning, dealing with difficult clients and often distressing cases, the prospect of loosing an entire case, the constant pressure…why would anyone choose to become a lawyer?

It’s amazing that despite all this, thousands of people every year decide to take up a career in law and even more surprisingly – enjoy it! Ask any law firm – check out lilawyer.com if you’re looking for legal representation – and they’ll tell you that working as a lawyer isn’t just a job that pays the bills, it’s a vocation and a way of life. Wondering if it’s the career for you? Check out these 6 reasons why people become lawyers. Who knows? Maybe you’ll join them!

The money

Ok, ok it sounds pretty cold. But for some people the lucrative legal world is attractive simply because the salary reflects the hard work you put in. The idea of earning a six figure income certainly an attractive prospect, and if you choose to become specialised in a certain area of law then you have the potential to earn even more and enjoy your job as you do it!

The prestige

All lawyer jokes aside, the world of law is a prestigious one. It cries wealth, knowledge and an extended education. To be a lawyer is to be within circles of other successful professionals and have links to the elite. As a successful lawyer, your reputation will always proceed you and there’s also a glamourous depiction that goes with it. It’s a job that looks good and sounds good.

You can help others

The main reason people get into law, is that it gives them the chance to help others. As a lawyer, you’ll meet people from all backgrounds and all walks of life, and you’ll be the person they turn to for help and justice. It’s an honour. Whether you’re helping someone through a domestic abuse case, or you’re helping an estranged couple come to an agreement over access to their children, you’ll work every day knowing that you’re making a real difference to someone’s life. 

Challenge your brain

We all know that heading to law school and then passing the bar requires years of extended education and hard work. However, the work of a lawyer means that you never stop learning and for some that means the chance to challenge their brain and literally learn something new every single day. Not only that, but as no two cases are the same, you’ll get to work on your problem solving skills and work logically to get your clients the results that they deserve.

Comfort

The world of an attorney is a far cry from the sterile and often dull working environment of the average office worker. If you enjoy a plush office and all the perks that comes with it then you’d best start working towards that law degree.

Role diversity

From family law to personal injury, employment law, civil litigation and even environmental law, there are so many law divisions you could become an expert in. The possibilities are endless!

Co-op legal scales back training contract targets

From Roll on Friday 18/10/13:

Co-operative Legal Services has admitted that it will be unable to reach its target of providing 100 training contracts a year.

Yikes. That’s a lot of training contracts (suddenly not happening).

CLS, which is the legal branch of the Co-operative, announced only last year that it planned to take on more trainees than any Magic Circle firm: 100 a year within just five years. But students who signed up for expensive law courses thinking that this heralded an upturn in the grad rec market should have saved their money.

Whoa. Hang on a second. Since when did the average law student become the proverbial moron in a hurry (actually, don’t answer that!)? Any law student (current or prospective) should have their eyes wide open when considering their career and they shouldn’t be mollycoddled or forgiven for naiveté if they plan on a career in law thinking it’s still the gravy-train it once was. Let’s face it: there’s plenty of doom-mongering and tales of unemployment woes out there for any ignorance to be utterly inexcusable.

Let’s stop treating law students like morons. They know what the chances are of their careers panning out perfectly (or they damn well should do). Give them a little credit.

The Lawyer reports that after a bad year for the Co-op, only ten trainees were taken on in this year's intake.

A spokeswoman for the Co-op told RollOnFriday that said that the numbers might increase in future, but "we are focussing our efforts on our learning academy". In other words, filling its ranks with loads of cheap paralegals rather than investing in training the solicitors of the future.

Sadly, that seems to be what every law firm is doing at the moment. Pity the poor trainee solicitor, I say. They’re a dying breed (soon to be made extinct if we carry on at this rate).

I once overhead someone say that a paralegal is to a solicitor what a processed fish stick is to caviar. I’m not going to attribute that statement to anybody in particular, but they know who they are. (I’m sure they go home and cry themselves to sleep at night.) Whilst no one can doubt the value, skills and knowledge of paralegals out there, I find the notion of a mass ousting of solicitors in favour of an army of paralegals a rather worrying prospect.

At any rate, if this paralegal invasion continues at its current rate, the whole structure of the profession is going to quickly change beyond all recognition. It follows, then, that legal education, qualifications and vocational training is going to need a massive re-think before it’s too late.

Law graduates lose out in the early salary stakes

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Despite having a reputation for rewarding its professionals with high salaries, new research suggests that law may not be the most lucrative subject to study – at least in the early years following graduation. New research from the Higher Education Statistics Agency revealed that law graduates typically earn less than the average salary of their peers.

Indeed, even those graduating with degrees in social studies (long regarded – unfairly or otherwise – as being less demanding subjects compared with many traditional subjects) earn more than their counterparts who opted to study law. This is unlikely to be welcome news to current law students studying in London or elsewhere.

Figures from the class of 2008/09 show that law graduates earned an average of £26,000 in November 2012, £1,500 less than the overall average of that year’s graduates. Social studies graduates earned an average of £3,000 more than their peers who studied law.[1]

On the flip side, however, law has one of the highest levels of full-time employment amongst its graduates of any subject.

Some 79% of law graduates are currently in full-time employment, compared with a total average of 72% for all graduates from 2008/09.[2]

Of course, that’s not to say that all law graduates are employed in legally-related jobs, let alone having secured training contracts or pupillages. Indeed, some estimates suggest that of total number of law graduates, as few as 10% - 15% go on to become practising solicitors.

Nevertheless, law has long been recognised as being a well-respected and worthwhile subject to study and one that equips its graduates with a vast array of useful, transferable skills that employers are anxious to see.

While the legal profession is undoubtedly changing, with fewer graduates going on to qualify as solicitors and barristers as firms develop a preference for armies of paralegals, law remains a solid choice. It also happens to be an exciting and challenging degree. Universities are also increasingly offering law courses which combine law with other disciplines such as Law and Management to provide even more diverse and specialised courses.

Potential law students should not be discouraged from studying law just because their first salary post graduation might not quite match their peers who studied other subjects. Adopting a longer-term view of the quality of career that law can offer, there are lots of far worse subjects out there.

^{[1] Story cited from the Law Gazette 09/09/13.
[2] Story cited from the Law Gazette 09/09/13.}

Law students more realistic about their futures

From the Solicitors Journal 06/08/13:

Nearly half of law students are not confident about getting a training contract after university, a survey has found.

Forty-seven per cent said they were considering other careers as a backup despite almost half claiming they began planning for a legal career before university, according to the survey carried out by careers website Target Jobs.

Actually, that seems quite high given the number of training contracts available out there.

It shows that a good proportion of law students are reasonably optimistic they’ll secure a career as a solicitor despite all the doom and gloom around the current state of legal job market.  Maybe it also reflects the fact there are other ways to qualify as a solicitor for those so inclined to try.  Perhaps students are waking up to this a little more now.

For several years, there have been calls for the size of intakes into law schools to be more closely aligned with the number of vacancies for legal jobs out there. Some kind of recalibration is long overdue.  That’s something that those concerned with legal recruitment & law jobs in London know only too well.

While there’s a lot truth saying that a law degree is a useful qualification in its own right, the simple fact remains the majority of law students study law with the intention of eventually practising.

Like many legal bloggers, I get quite a few emails from students and people just setting out on legal careers asking for advice. It’s pretty clear that the legal recruitment process looks like a convoluted maze to many, riddled with nepotism, bias towards Oxbridge candidates and which is impenetrable by anyone with a ‘Desmond’ or below.

Competition for all legal jobs (and particularly training contracts) has never been higher, but the opportunities are still definitely there. As always, making yourself stand out from the crowd as a candidate is key. Despite recruitment processes becoming more corporate (even sterile), the importance of individual personalities playing a key role in determining who is hired for a particular position should not be overlooked.

Having unusual interests, skills and quirks to your personality can still make the crucial difference – particularly at the interview stage. Many students are tempted to interpret that advice as meaning they need to become attention-grabbers in a bid to get their name out there.

But restraint and sound judgement are called for. Celebrating your more unusual interests or high-octane lifestyle might be one thing, but showing yourself up is quite another. Ill-judged use of social media platforms is an all too frequent way of getting yourself noticed by recruiting law firms in the wrong way. Think about it: the fact you can rival Miley Cyrus when it comes to ‘twerking’ really isn’t a transferrable skill legal recruiters would be interested in.

But it might be just the thing to get you struck off as a candidate for a legal job.

Stating the obvious – postgraduate study makes a HUGE difference

^{Darn it – there was no electronic version (at least not that I could find). Still, that scanner’s got to justify its existence somehow! ;-)}

Anyhow, let me run that first line past you again.

Students who want to stand out in the job market now need postgraduate degrees, says a think-tank.

Really?

It took a think tank to figure this one out?  Is this another case of “more tank than think”?  Which politician was it who coined that one?  ;-)

This isn’t any kind of revelation at all; graduates have been experiencing the “degree inflation” phenomenon first hand for several years.  Quite why it’s popped up again suddenly as “news” is beyond me.

When I was towards the tail end of my LL.M, I immediately noticed what a difference having a postgrad qualification made.  In fact, my employer explicitly told me it was my postgrad degree which made the difference in them hiring me over other candidates (helped in no small part by my quirky dissertation). 

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that postgraduate study made a huge difference to my employability.  Sadly, it’s gone from being the icing on your curriculum vitae cake to being a quasi pre-requisite now.

And from things I’ve heard anecdotally, I know I’m not the only one who’s witnessed this.

RoF break an exclusive (if not so fresh) story to readers!!!

From RoF 23/11/12:

Exclusive: Clarke Willmott no longer accepts trainee applications
 
Clarke Willmott has confirmed that it will no longer be accepting training contract applications from students. The firm will however continue to take on trainees from its stock of paralegals.

Shock horror – or what?!?

Well, actually, Clarke Willmott have been openly saying that on their website since May or June (and that’s just since I’ve been aware of it; this may have been the case for even longer).

I suppose it still counts as an “exclusive” if it’s been common knowledge for yonks, and nobody is interested in “breaking” it. Just not a very worthy one, that’s all.

It must’ve been a slow news day over at RoF last week!!

At first sight, this might seem a great scheme: CW can try before it buys, as it will be able to thoroughly test its candidates' pagination skills before offering a training contract. And the firm won't have to foot any students' LPC fees.

But how many students will go for a paralegal job at CW if they are offered a training contact at another firm? CW may save a few quid, but it risks scraping the bottom of the grad rec barrel.

That grad rec barrel is a big and deep one, folks. I don’t think legal talent will be in short supply any time soon. And besides that, I’m surprised that more firms haven’t adopted this approach, quite frankly. It strikes me as a logical and meritocratic way of sourcing trainee solicitors.

College Students Present: How to become a solicitor

(Plus tips on rubbing your own belly for camera).  And that’s always a good thing, right?

And…. action!

Yes, this video extravaganza from a group of college students charts the training pathway involved in becoming a solicitor.  It seems like one needs:

1.  GCSEs,
 
2.  A levels,
(no previous knowledge of law is preferred)  (are universities really still saying that?

3.  Then a degree (a qualifying law degree or a non-qualifying law degree any old one will do when combined with the GDL,

4.  The legal practice course,

5.  And once that’s completed, a training contract for 2 years. 

Well, I’m glad they cleared that up.
Please tell me the careers advisor didn’t put them up to this?

Btw - hat tip to Legal Cheek for flagging this up in the first place.  (Never let it be said that I don’t give credit where it’s due.)

I took a particular interest in it when I realised the college at which this home video howler was filmed wasn’t a million miles away from where I used to live at one time.

I absolutely dread to think what this part of the syllabus making this video fell under.

Anyhow, I’ve spent the last few minutes snickering at the guy on the left who takes great pleasure (I mean really great, judging by the look on his face) at rubbing his own belly in the background. 

^{Yeah baby}

But he’s not the only one to get in on the belly-rubbing action.

All we need now is for someone to pull a silly face.  Ah – there we go.

It’s strange how none of the girls partook in the silliness. Must be a maturity thing.

Wasn’t college just great? 

Desperate Young Lawyer – asking the impossible

From the Metro Friday 19^th October 2012*:

Well - it seems that desperation abounds in the legal profession. 
Really?  I’d never have thought it. 

It seems that the sender might be in need of having a few myths debunked:

All Most law firms are insane;

All lawyers without exception must sell their soul to the devil (it’s a pre-requisite for a practising certificate);

Announcing yourself as desperate probably won’t do you any favours, but hey, recruiters sometimes prize honesty.

I think I might have overheard the sender of this particular text talking on a mobile phone on a train a few weeks ago.  (If it was that individual, here’s a piece of advice: calling the SRA on a packed train giving out all of your personal details to all and sundry within earshot is a bit of an own goal if you ask me.  The fact you had to call them back after passing through a long tunnel caused the call to drop simply worsened the crime.  The amount of people who seem to think they’re the only one’s in the carriage as they spread their confidential papers over the table at a packed table seat or finish their expert medical report on their laptop in plain view of others is utterly staggering.  You can’t always rely on your fellow commuters being as respectable and gentlemanly as me by averting their gaze immediately.) 

Ahem. 

Btw - My eagle-eyed girlfriend spotted this one in Friday’s metro; I missed it entirely, of course.

When she asked if I’d seen it this morning, I said that I hadn’t but thought it might be good for a mention on Law Actually. Not only did she dig the relevant edition out from the recycling pile, but she even tore the page out. What a girl! 

She isn’t Assistant Editor-in-Chief for nothing, you know!

Law Actually is recruiting...

We’re looking for a Google Reader Reader

Law Actually is a UK-based global leader* in the blawgosphere.

_{Who the frick are we kidding?!?!?}  

After being repeatedly driven to distraction by an unmanageable list of Google Reader subscriptions, editor-in-chief (the Michael) has decided to recruit someone to do it for him and report back providing a digest of all the blogs and blawgs and other stuff out there he regularly peruses.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and hardworking individual, driven to succeed (you know, all the usual bits of airy-fairy recruitment mumbo-jumbo which job descriptions are full of these days). The ability to organise and assimilate vast amounts of information is crucial yadda yadda yadda.

You should be familiar with Google Reader (for hopefully obvious reasons) but hey, training can be provided ‘on the job’ if required.

We’re looking for a candidate to grow with us. (we’ll put you in traction if necessary!!)

The ability to read is a must; the ability to understand what is read a distinct bonus.

Candidates should ideally be educated to degree level having obtained ‘a Desmond’ (2:2 :p ) or higher. That said, we’re not hugely fussed so if you’re not a graduate or made an absolute balls-up of your degree, all is not lost. Experience of law is preferable, but not essential.

A word of warning: free-thinking and creative individuals need not apply – you’ll only get bored and give notice within a week, so let’s not waste each other’s time.

The successful candidate should very likely be a female, 18 to 30,* be dynamic, self-disciplined and able to work as a valued part of a team or individually with curves in all the right places, and an ample bosom.* _{*comments officially redacted following employment law advice (God knows why).}

We’re looking for a candidate with a "Strong Work Ethic" (note the capitals there – we copied it off of another job description so we’re assuming it’s a term of art..). Put another way, we are less keen on those who are sloppy, slapdash, couldn’t-give-a-toss kind of employees (but hey, in these tolerant days of non-discrimination, you might as well apply).

Competent telephone manner (see... only ‘competent’ ... we’re not asking the earth here). As long as you can pick up the phone when it rings, know how to dial numbers and speak (English), you should be fine. Plus, we’re not adverse to a bit of back-chat at Law Actually particularly when the moron on the other end of the line is ‘asking for it’.

The successful candidate must also be able to facilitate with ease with technical concepts and details of managing data for our projects to ensure that the client’s deliverables are on time and on budget. OK – scrap that. We don’t know what any of that means either.

(Oh, we don’t tolerate smokers by the way, so any fag-ash Lils or Lennies out there need not apply!).

Your role will include:

· Reading Google Reader subscriptions (it’s a kind of what-it-say-on-the-tin job description).

· ... and that’s about it.... there might be the odd errand you’ll be sent on.

Salary: Competitive (GRIN) negotiable. You should be keen to go above and beyond - working some months without pay.

This is a fulltime role (although flexibility is called for).

Perks include:

- use of a computer (with a cutting edge operating system Windows Vista – pronounced “veeee-sta” or so Huw Edwards claimed).
- Law Actually branded bumper stickers
- use of uni-sex toilets (we reserve the right to charge on a per-flush basis, though).

Law Actually is an equal opportunities employer (if anyone asks).

Please email your C.V. with a description saying why you think you’d be a good fit for the role to: jobs-for-suckers@lawactually.co.uk

Oh – and for the avoidance of doubt, this job DOES NOT EXIST. (Let’s call it a belated April fool).

Qualify as an Attorney in New York or California

Yeah, baby.

Look what gem plopped into my inbox a few days ago.  I died a little bit inside when I read it.

Qualifying as an attorney in the US is an exciting career option and will enhance your CV on a number of levels. Most UK graduates with an LLB will be eligible to take the New York Bar course and the California Bar course is open to qualified solicitors and barristers of England and Wales.

Great. Because I’m sure that’s exactly what the US needs – yet more lawyers in a country that’s long been lawyered-out.

So, go ahead: throw good money after bad in your legal education and help the US sink under the weight of all those attorneys once and for all.  (Heck, at least they won’t be able to chase ambulances from down there!!).  

Reconceptualising the over-supply problem...

From Roll on Friday 08/06/12:

Michael Todd QC, chairman of the Bar Council, claimed on Wednesday that over-recruitment of students wasn't doing the profession, the students or social mobility any favours. Todd said it was a "great concern" that law schools were pumping out a hefty oversupply of grads with "no realistic prospect of pupillage". And he worried about those chucking £16,000 at a qualification which, for those who fail to obtain pupillage, adds little to employability.

Shhhh! Shhhh!

Michael, just because something’s painfully true and glaringly obvious, doesn’t mean it should be said out loud. Yes, there is a massive disparity between the number of students studying on the BVC (ahem) BPTC and LPC compared to the number of pupillages and training contracts available. Oh my GENTLE JESUS – are lawyers a dying breed?

But why the sudden fuss? We’ve had this sorry state of affairs for years and years now. Surely law schools haven’t suddenly grown a conscience overnight?

What happened to the ol’ chestnuts, “it’s a worthwhile qualification in its own right” or “the experience will prove invaluable regardless of your future career (if any)”. Can’t they be dragged out and polished up a bit?

Plus, can’t we just accept that students study law for a variety of reasons (however misguided some might be) and that qualifying as a solicitor or barrister might never be on the agenda of many? There are plenty of warnings out there now. If students are still going ahead and enrolling, maybe they just damn well want to.

Impoverished lawyers … practising law on a shoestring

From Business Insider 01/06/12:

While in law school … Erin Gilmer developed a passion for health law and policy, but pursuing that passion has made it exceedingly hard to pay her bills.

Since her 2008 graduation, Gilmer has completed a variety of health policy-related fellowships and other advocacy work, but all have been time-and-funding limited.

Since this fall, she has been on her own, attempting to build a practice, Gilmer Health Law, in the areas of patient advocacy and health care technology.

Good on her!

It’s just stressful, really stressful," she says. "But it gives me a new angle to when I’m helping people. I can understand exactly what they’ve been through. I know how hard it is to apply for food stamps. I know how hard it is to apply for medical assistance."

Geez Louise!! 

[A]t times she has her doubts. She can't afford a car, so she has to rely on the bus to get around Austin, Texas, where she lives. And currently unable to pay back her growing pile of law school debt, Gilmer says she wonders if she will ever be able to pay it back.

"That has been really hard for me," she says. "I have absolutely no credit anymore. I haven't been able to pay loans. It's scary, and it's a hard thing to think you’re a lawyer but you’re impoverished. People don’t understand that most lawyers actually aren’t making the big money."

Or any money by the sounds of it. A number of US bloggers I follow have been laid off since I first stumbled across their blogs and they have been forced to turn their (legal) hands to other things.  There’s something stomach-wrenchingly sickening about that (David Brent would no doubt have summed it up as “wasted talent”).

Many think (quite rightly) that we’ve had it bad in the UK. Still, it sometimes looks like a patch on what the US have endured since their mighty legal gravy train derailed so spectacularly during the economic slump.

Presumably the legal recruitment situation will come full circle (eventually) but the good times are probably a good way off yet. I’m sensing it’s still not a great time to be contemplating a career in law on the other side of the pond.

I’d like to think that I was brave, passionate and determined enough to pursue a legal career in the face of these massive obstacles that Erin et al have battled with.  I’m not totally convinced of it, though.

Guest Post: Creating the perfect legal CV

A CV is the first opportunity to show a potential employer that you are qualified for a role and getting it wrong can mean the difference between a job offer and not even making it to an interview.

While there are many specifics to consider when writing a CV for a legal role, there are general points which should be kept in mind – it sounds simple, but making sure any contact details given on a CV are correct is key. You don’t want a wrong phone number or email address to mean an interview offer is given to another candidate, so check, double check and then check again.

As well as this, remember that it is your responsibility to present information about yourself in the best way possible. By putting something at the top of your CV you are telling a potential employer that this is the most important thing about you – so make sure it is something like experience relevant to the role, and not the fact you have a GCSE in Art!

When writing your CV you should also make sure that you can explain and justify absolutely everything it includes, from gaps in your working life to roles you have taken which took you off your career path. Remember, if you took a day-long course in a certain aspect of law two years ago then you should not write as though you are an expert in that area, as you could easily be tripped up by an interview question.

When it comes to writing a CV for a legal position there are some specifics which can help your document to show your skills and personality in the best light.

Always start with your relevant qualifications, including where you took your LPC and what grade you achieved – pass, merit etc. Follow this with your current role and a brief bullet point list of your responsibilities.

After this include any cases you worked on which demonstrate that you have the skills asked for in the new role you are applying for.

Examples could include liaising with partners throughout the country and overseas, running a team, coordinating meetings between offices, giving training, drafting contracts and preparing claims.

On-shoring legal work is more popular than ever

(No matter what RoF call it!!).

From Roll on Friday 05/04/12:

Simmons & Simmons is joining the outsourcing race by opening an office in Bristol. The new outpost will be restricted to real estate, projects and dispute resolution work, and will initially have between 15 and 20 lawyers on the ground.

Outsourcing to Bristol. From London? Does that qualify as ‘outsourcing’? I know Bristol might seem to be a little off the beaten track to some (largely those who rarely step out of the capital for months at a time) but it’s really not a foreign country!!

According to reports, the firm will be sending a couple of partners and a bunch of senior associates to Bristol to launch the new practice. And the verdant countryside, cheaper cost of living and extra-strong cider will probably be enough to attract a few away from the City. However in the long term the development seems bad news for those doing low key real estate, projects or dispute resolution work and who want to remain in London.

Extra-strong cider? Oooh – that’s a cheap dig. I’m surprised they RoF didn’t run with the insult that Bristolians only drink ‘special brew’.

It's easy to see the attraction for the firm. For non-client facing work, there's not much need to house large numbers of lawyers in an expensive glass palace in the City of London, when they can just as easily do their jobs in Bristol which is already a strong centre for legal services.

Where law firms are housed in corrugated iron shacks, no doubt? Honestly!! Tut tut, RoF.

The legal gravy train has been delayed

From Roll on Friday 14/03/12:

Ah to be a lawyer in America. Who doesn't watch Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, errr, Shark and dream of a snazzy corner office, sexy cases, fervent closing submissions (complete with fist waving and authoritative pacing) and a f*ck off penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park? 

But it seems the American dream might not be all that for young wannabe lawyers. An already over-saturated legal market, combined with stuffed to the brim sausage factory law schools is making for a pretty unhappy situation. And given this is America - it's litigation time. 

Attorney Jesse Strauss is taking on 14 (mostly mid-tier) law schools on behalf of unemployed graduates, accusing them of "misrepresenting" employment statistics to encourage students to shoulder mountains of debt in the naive hope of gainful employ in the legal sector.

Employment stats have always struck me as something of an inexact science. Even assuming they’re accurate, they are still relatively meaningless when used by a single person to assess their chances of landing a job. A minor pointer, perhaps, when choosing a career and a particular university, but nothing more. So, when it goes belly up and you realise (several years after you should have) that things are dire out there and law firms aren’t recruiting like they once did, it’s time to sure you law school.  Really? 

Suppose you’re genetically predisposed to absolutely bombing at interview and that’s the real reason why you’re stuck in the dole queue? Is attempting to sue your parents going to fix that at all?

Surely everyone recognises the risks, going into it? University is a gamble with no cast iron guarantees. For an awful lot of people (if they play their cards right) it pays off nicely. But not everyone can be winners. As Kimi Raikkonen would say: “it is what it is”.

It always amuses me how much fuss Alumni magazines make about just how great their graduates’ employment stats are. Well, it’s super that 90% of the cohort is in employment. It’s just a pity that 95% of that figure are employed on a part-time basis flipping burgers and barfing in the French fries at your favour fast-food outlet.

And just in case anyone was in any doubt about the situation:

[A]ccording to the Law Society figures from April last year, there were 14,510 LPC places available in 2009/10 but only 4,874 training contracts registered. And [what’s more] the number law school places continues to rise (it's estimated by 5% in 2011/12) and CoL's apocalyptic forecasts of a shortfall of trainees continues to be manifestly unfulfilled[.]

I’d start preparing the noose now…

Good for a giggle: Solicitors don’t solicit. Well, not in that way...

I still find it staggering just how bad some university websites are at marketing their courses, given their budgets and specialist marketing departments. What with the hikes in tuition fees, increasing doubt over the value of degrees and the fact that traditional law school prospectuses are going the same way as the Yellow Pages, the effectiveness of their websites has never been more crucial.

I should probably explain: I’ve visited loads of law school websites over the years. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one, when, as a procrastinating student stuck fast in the grips of a never-ending paper, I decided to research the authors of some of the materials I was citing. There’s nothing like a trawl through the staff profile pages of law school websites to while away a few minutes, (and if you can convince yourself it’s a productive use of time, so much the better). And don’t knock it until you’ve tried it; sometimes it even bears fruit.

It’s very refreshing, then, to see the University of Glamorgan adopting an aggressive stance embracing social media that isn’t (just) confined Facebook and Twitter. As part of their ‘Glam-Insight’ programme, they have bravely decided to let a selection of current students blog about their experiences of studying at the university.  The resident law student, Rachael, is in her 3rd year with aspirations of qualifying as a solicitor and is keen to offer up nuggets of wisdom along the way.

The latest post on ‘Rachael’s blog’ (sometimes the simplest names are the best) was an absolute corker.

From Rachael’sblog 02/01/12:

“To be a good lawyer, you need to spend some time out of the library”

Good stuff: always start with a quote … she could have almost been a pupil of the Law Actually school of blogging.

As for the sentiment behind the words, I think it’s the old ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy for a boring CV’ message. Yep - that ol’ chestnut.

But wait - there’s more. Rachael’s got quite a way with words - in a laugh-out-loud kind of way.

Those are the words of advice given to me at a law fair a few weeks ago. At a first glance, such words seem quite dramatic – particularly in the context of soliciting.

In the context of WHAT, Rachael?!? Heavens above, girl!  Does your mother know about this?  I know the legal job market is grim at the moment but surely there’s no need to plan on breaking out the mini skirt, fishnet tights and red stilettos? And besides: that kind of get-up (and associated shenanigans) will almost certainly get you thrown out of the law library.

Rachael goes on:

However, today, the advice is invaluable. Of course, academic achievement is essential to being successful in law, but today, employers often look for ‘something special’ in their ideal candidate and thus place much importance on other aspects of your application as well as your grades.

I hope the ‘something special’ isn’t a euphemism. Graduates are desperate to land a training contract or pupillage at any price and senior partners might not be above taking advantage. And, fresh out of law school, there’s nothing worse than a Monika Lewinsky type of incident all over your new suit. (I mean: you could try claiming the dry cleaning bill back on expenses, but prevention’s better than cure and all that).

But I digress.

The moral of the story, then, children, is that proof reading is vital. Secondly, it seems there’s a bit more mileage left in blogs after all; maybe they’re now regarded as so old, they’re back in fashion. But perhaps most significantly of all, it’s that whilst solicitors do a lot of things (some good, some bad), most aren’t guilty of “soliciting”. (That sort of thing goes down very badly with the SRA).  I wonder what the official advice might be on this point?  Probably to confine it to the bedroom with your beau and to stay away from street corners.

Maybe there’s a practice note on this? 

Life as a modern law student - a few thoughts

On the back of my half-hearted ‘back to school’ series, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about just what an awful time it is to be a law student (or any kind of student for that matter).  Not to put anybody off, of course, (but seriously - think carefully).

Let’s face it: graduate jobs of any description are hard enough to come by right now.  I know a couple of people who are/were tackling the LPC part time and have put it on hold half way through because they’re so fearful of ploughing in the rest of the fees and then coming out the other side with a useless diploma and no chance of a training contract.

Understandably, there is a lot of concern that many would-be students are taking the attitude that going to university is simply not worth the expense, hassle and stress.

The Law Gazette report this:

The biggest fall in university applications in more than 30 years has seen the number of candidates applying to study law drop by a record 5.2%, according to figures released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

Last year 13,858 people applied to study law at 26 universities that supplied figures to UCAS, but this year the number applying to start their course in autumn 2012 fell to 13,139.

Things aren’t even looking good for graduate recruitment schemes at the moment.  A few years ago, graduate training schemes were all the rage for students with almost any degree.  What a difference 2 or 3 years make.  Your average graduate is now more likely to get a bucketful of smelly stuff from a rocking horse than get accepted onto one of those programs.

Not long ago, a law degree was meant to be one of the more useful and versatile degrees out there, and one that would stand you in good stead for a wide range of graduate careers.  I’m not sure that holds true right now.

Other ‘friends of friends’ are considering jumping ship, all of whom are at various stages of their legal education. Right on cue, I’ve been fascinated to read about US blawgger Katie Luper who recently finished law school and jumped straight on an engineering course.  Kudos to her for that.  I don’t think many law graduates would have the guts to do that.  I know I wouldn’t.

So all in all, it’s an uncertain, scary time, folks. But if you’re a prospective uni student with absolutely no idea which path to take, do the responsible thing: flip a coin and let fate decide.

You’ll thank me for it.

For construction jobs try visiting Mane Recruitment.

Refreshingly honest legal recruitment ad? Oh wait...

From Roll on Friday 02/09/11:

Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe has apologised after advertising a job for which the "ideal candidate" would be no older than 30.

The US firm posted an ad on its website looking for a European Corporate lawyer to join its Rome office. The ideal candidate would need very strong academics - "a magna cum laude Italian degree in law, a classical lyceum diploma with full marks, and an LLM degree possibly with merit or distinction" - and would enjoy working in a young environment. Which is just as well, seeing that they "would be 26-30 years old".

A spokeswoman for the firm said that "the advertisement was clearly an error and in no way reflects the firm's commitment to equality of opportunity. The advertisement has now been removed from our website. We apologise for any offence this may have caused".

Ah – it was that damn external recruitment consultancy, eh? Those guys!!!

But really, come on, you lot. You can think it (and let’s not pretend otherwise) you can practice it, you just can’t say it out loud.

Ahem.

If it ever comes to recruiting staff for Law Actually, I think I’d better get some help drafting the advertisements. Otherwise I shudder to think of the gross contravention of discrimination law that might come to pass.

Well, you know people are like throwing allegations about. 

Graduate Careers Market – a voyage of discovery

Or should that be misery?

The legal blogosphere is full of doom and gloom at the moment – more so than I’ve seen for a while and I include the US blawgosphere in that. And when those guys are down in the mouth, you know things are bad.

I saw some really shocking statistics from a couple of US law graduates the other day about just how few of them graduate with *any* job, never mind a legal job.  Graduate jobs of any description seem darn hard to come by at the moment.

In the meantime, graduate recruitment specialists are lining up to help – (at least it keeps one industry flourishing I guess). I’ve always been a bit sceptical about the value of careers advisers, but that doesn’t mean to say they’re all about as useful as a tintack in a jockstrap. I think half of the problem is that many students roll up with unrealistic expectations of what a careers adviser can do for them. Just proceed with caution and with limited expectations would be my advice; you can’t expect miracles.  If you can’t help yourself, somebody else isn’t likely to either.

Our generation of students moaned incessantly about just how hard we had it, but I think it was still preferable to what next year’s students are going to have to contend with. And they’re still years away from having to be launched headfirst into the soul-destroying maelstrom that is the graduate careers market.

But who knows – things might pick up? 

Pupillage Portal 2

Introducing Pupillage Portal 2 – the ideal game for embittered BPTC students and non-practicing barristers to play in between making those countless applications to chambers.

Painstakingly puzzle over how to solve the riddle of gaining a pupillage as your alter-ego, Chell, leaps from one scrape to another with the help of her trusty portal gun.  Just like the omnipotent chambers to which you apply, GLaDOS will continually goad you, trick you, mock you and ultimately reject you, leaving you a quivering heap of nerves on the floor.

Yep, just like the real pupillage portal then!

 

Available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

 

Here’s what folks are saying:

60 hours of gameplay and I’m still pupillage-less. What a bas**rd!!

 

“If I can’t get a pupillage with my portal gun in a video game, what chance do I stand in real life?  Screw this sh*t!”

Heck, we never said it would be easy.

Ahuwh, ahuwh, [more crying noises] … I’m not sure I want to be a lawyer anymore!

Anyway, enough of that.

So roll-up, roll-up and get your copy of the most pointless product since the Pupillage Portal for Cretins guide was published!