How to find law experience in year 12 ASAP?

I’m in year 12 and I really want to be a corporate solicitor or at least work in a corporate environment in a top firm, therefore I need to go into a top university. I really need to get law work experience for this (can include programs, shadowing etc, just anything that will make me stand out) and I’ve applied to literally so many but i’ve either got no responses or have been rejected. I need this work experience soon before summer because during the summer i’m going to be abroad for around a month because of important family issues. Does anyone know how I can get this work experience/programs quickly and from where?

(edited 1 year ago)

Original post by Hajora0505

I’m in year 12 and I really want to be a corporate solicitor or at least work in a corporate environment in a top firm, therefore I need to go into a top university. I really need to get law work experience for this (can include programs, shadowing etc, just anything that will make me stand out) and I’ve applied to literally so many but i’ve either got no responses or have been rejected. I need this work experience soon before summer because during the summer i’m going to be abroad for around a month because of important family issues. Does anyone know how I can get this work experience/programs quickly and from where?

@Crazy Jamie might be able to help? Thanks :smile:

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Legal work experience is not required for entry into a law degree, including at "top" unis. In fact given the "top" law courses tend to be overwhelmingly academic courses, it's probably not even hugely relevant for them. They would be just as happy (perhaps more so) to see relevant wider reading and a critically analytical personal statement discussing that wider reading.

Note also outside of investment banking and management consulting, for "corporate" jobs (non-legal ones, at least) they don't care what uni you go to. So it's also a bit of a moot point for that anyway. You also don't need a law degree to do those non-legal roles and it's of no real benefit compared to anything else (you don't even technically need a law degree to become a corporate solicitor, I would note).

Reply 3

Hajora0505

OP

13

Original post by artful_lounger

Legal work experience is not required for entry into a law degree, including at "top" unis. In fact given the "top" law courses tend to be overwhelmingly academic courses, it's probably not even hugely relevant for them. They would be just as happy (perhaps more so) to see relevant wider reading and a critically analytical personal statement discussing that wider reading.

Note also outside of investment banking and management consulting, for "corporate" jobs (non-legal ones, at least) they don't care what uni you go to. So it's also a bit of a moot point for that anyway. You also don't need a law degree to do those non-legal roles and it's of no real benefit compared to anything else (you don't even technically need a law degree to become a corporate solicitor, I would note).

Thank you so much! By wider reading does it mean that I have to read books relating to law and discuss them in my personal statement? If so, how would I be able to go about that?

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Hajora0505

Thank you so much! By wider reading does it mean that I have to read books relating to law and discuss them in my personal statement? If so, how would I be able to go about that?

Yes, ideally academic ones.

And you'd go about it by...going to a library and reading them?

The same thing you'd be doing when you're actually on the law degree, except with wider choice of what to look at and write about based on your interests.

If you don't have an interest in law other than "I want to make a lot of money" you are probably better off doing another course you DO have an actual intellectual interest in, since as noted you would still be able to become a lawyer even after doing another degree

Reply 5

Hajora0505

OP

13

Original post by artful_lounger

Yes, ideally academic ones.

And you'd go about it by...going to a library and reading them?

The same thing you'd be doing when you're actually on the law degree, except with wider choice of what to look at and write about based on your interests.

If you don't have an interest in law other than "I want to make a lot of money" you are probably better off doing another course you DO have an actual intellectual interest in, since as noted you would still be able to become a lawyer even after doing another degree

I understand and I don’t want to be a lawyer just for the money. Also I meant how would I talk about them in my personal statement :frown:

Reply 6

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Hajora0505

I understand and I don’t want to be a lawyer just for the money. Also I meant how would I talk about them in my personal statement :frown:

That wasn't a criticism by the way, just an observation - a lot of people DO want to go into it for the money, but if that's the case you may as well do something you enjoy first, since it doesn't matter what degree you do :smile:

You would aim to "show" rather than "tell" about reading those things. So discuss how you read about X in Y book, which led you to reading more about X in Z, and came across author Ws interpretation of X which caused you to reevaluate your own position on X, for example. Don't just list out the books you've read! Discuss your intellectual "journey" through the topic, what brought you to it, how you explored it, where you went from that, how your reading changed (or didn't) your perspective, etc.

(edited 1 year ago)

Original post by _Rusty_

@Crazy Jamie might be able to help? Thanks :smile:

Not so much for corporate solicitor work unfortunately. I think the right advice has already been given. It is very difficult to find legal work experience before university. I'm not surprised the OP has struggled to even get a response from what I assume the law firms that they have written to. Most barristers' chambers have the same attitude, and the majority won't consider applications for work experience from sixth form students. One thing that the OP can do is to attend local court centres, though that advice is normally aimed at Magistrates and Crown Courts, where you can literally turn up on the morning and watch something from the public gallery. Technically the situation is the same in the County Court in that the majority of hearings will be public. The difficulty is that it can be very difficult to ascertain what sort of hearings might be relevant because the County Court deals with such a vast array of work, and they will also generally be much harder to follow even if the OP does go along and sit in a court room.

As has already been said, I don't think it's necessary for the OP to gain such experience at this point, but if they do want to I would suggest emailing their local County Court, explaining their situation, and asking if they can either shadow a judge for a few days (that is called marshalling, and is an entirely legitimate source of experience when pursuing a career in law), or if they can attend and watch a trial that might be relevant for them. That way even if they can't shadow a judge directly, they could at least put themselves in a position where they can watch a trial (as opposed to lots of shorter and less interesting hearings) and hopefully gain some insight to that aspect of the litigation process.

Reply 8

AdB09

6

Original post by Hajora0505

I’m in year 12 and I really want to be a corporate solicitor or at least work in a corporate environment in a top firm, therefore I need to go into a top university. I really need to get law work experience for this (can include programs, shadowing etc, just anything that will make me stand out) and I’ve applied to literally so many but i’ve either got no responses or have been rejected. I need this work experience soon before summer because during the summer i’m going to be abroad for around a month because of important family issues. Does anyone know how I can get this work experience/programs quickly and from where?

Hi!

If you are looking for work experience in year 12, there are a couple of firms such as Ashurst and Slaughter and May that offer this opportunity. I noted those two down because they were the first that popped in my mind. I would go about the application by explaining what attracts to these firms and why you would like to do a work experience there. What could be helpful is to read some of the cases that they worked on and explain why you would want to work on these cases. If you are looking for help with application writing, I could recommend Commercial Law Academy's "writing successful applications" course, which provides good points on how to talk about your interest for a specific firm.

How to find law experience in year 12 ASAP?

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