Law personal statement help (referring to law books!)

I’ve started to write my personal statement for law as my school wants a first draft in soon. I was wondering which books any current law students, or even current year 13s who are applying for law, would recommend reading and writing about. I have heard about the ones everyone reads, e.g. letters to a law student, but is it too cliche/ basic to be reading those kinda books? I really want my personal statement to stand out and have highlighted that I’m interested in pursuing human rights law.

What are some notable recommendations for law books that I can write about? I worry writing about something that everyone reads doesn’t sound as impressive. Does anyone have any advice, as well as, also what they wrote about it?

Thank you!!

Reply 1

The1WhoKnocks42

You don't need a specific book to be honest. If you find strong articles online from well known sources or read up on cases you are interested in or readings that have particular relevance to current world events you should be good. I did some reading from legal articles about the 2022 FIFA world cup in Qatar regarding the treatment of workers there as well as a lot of the sponsorship agreements eg with Budweiser in a majority Muslim country. In terms of books I would recommend staying clear of the basic cliché books like The Secret Barrister unless you actually are interested in their contests and to gauge an understanding of what jobs in the law look like but in terms of personal statements stay clear as every Tom **** and Harry will be reading them. Overall books aren't necessary just find some writings your interested in and ensure the rest of your statement supports why u are suited / are interested in law though work experience / extra curricular. I'm sure I could find mine that got me offers to Leeds Liverpool and Leicester if you wanted something to compare to :smile:

Reply 2

User282839308

Original post

by The1WhoKnocks42

Thank you so much for such a quick response!

That makes sense- thank you! I’ll be sure to therefore read up on cases I have genuine interest in, compared to reading cliche books like you mentioned.

In regards to well known sources, do you have any recommendations on what is notable as I don’t want to make the mistake of referencing something from an unreliable/ unheard of source?

That would be great if you would be able to find your statement! Just out of interest, which uni did you end up going to, just as i am considering Liverpool? Thank you again ☺️

Reply 3

JE9

Original post

by Jaykaur4

I’ve started to write my personal statement for law as my school wants a first draft in soon. I was wondering which books any current law students, or even current year 13s who are applying for law, would recommend reading and writing about. I have heard about the ones everyone reads, e.g. letters to a law student, but is it too cliche/ basic to be reading those kinda books? I really want my personal statement to stand out and have highlighted that I’m interested in pursuing human rights law.
What are some notable recommendations for law books that I can write about? I worry writing about something that everyone reads doesn’t sound as impressive. Does anyone have any advice, as well as, also what they wrote about it?
Thank you!!

I’d recommend opening with a book in which the law is a feature, over a central theme. Leveraging your interest in human rights law would be a clever way of doing this, perhaps suggesting a certain piece intrigued you to the concept of law, despite not being the focus.

Building on this, you could then introduce a general academic piece of literature relating to the law, but choose wisely, perhaps avoiding the ‘law student’ related books; instead, you may opt for a book on the role of law in society, instead of a book on legal theory, as you will be learning these theories in the degree, thus for your PS, you’re merely demonstrating a growing interest- Bingham’s ‘The Rule of Law’, although popular, is a stellar example of more academic legal literature.

Then, continue to build on the manor in which your interest for HR law specifically developed and keep it fairly focused from there- diversified sources of articles, seminars and podcasts would be useful too, but primarily books, due to their generally superior academic nature.

By laying it out in this blueprint, your interest to law seems to have stemmed naturally, through a book in which you may not have been searching for a focus on law, yet were intrigued by it, causing further reading around the subject.
This will simultaneously make you appear more original, particularly if you segment your specific area of interest.

I hope this is useful.

Reply 4

nwar

Study Forum Helper

Original post

by Jaykaur4

I’ve started to write my personal statement for law as my school wants a first draft in soon. I was wondering which books any current law students, or even current year 13s who are applying for law, would recommend reading and writing about. I have heard about the ones everyone reads, e.g. letters to a law student, but is it too cliche/ basic to be reading those kinda books? I really want my personal statement to stand out and have highlighted that I’m interested in pursuing human rights law.
What are some notable recommendations for law books that I can write about? I worry writing about something that everyone reads doesn’t sound as impressive. Does anyone have any advice, as well as, also what they wrote about it?
Thank you!!

There is nothing wrong with starting with “basic” books and building off them. What About Law is a good book that covers various aspects. Once you read an introductory text, you can then start reading about areas you find more interesting, which will then result in you naturally reading more niche books. Follow your interests!

Eve Was Framed was my favourite “basic” book, and that started an interest in how the legal system treats offenders who are also victims and I ended up reading a lot of Nils Christie’s work (he has a pretty cool paper called The Ideal Victim and a super super cool book called A Suitable Amout of Crime). When writing about my reading, I just talked about which parts were convincing, which parts I didn’t agree with, which parts left me with more questions and how I addressed those questions.

You really don’t need to worry about sounding “impressive”. Strongly believe that there is nothing more impressive than true interest and good research into the degree.

Reply 5

Yellowcatz

Original post

by Jaykaur4

I’ve started to write my personal statement for law as my school wants a first draft in soon. I was wondering which books any current law students, or even current year 13s who are applying for law, would recommend reading and writing about. I have heard about the ones everyone reads, e.g. letters to a law student, but is it too cliche/ basic to be reading those kinda books? I really want my personal statement to stand out and have highlighted that I’m interested in pursuing human rights law.
What are some notable recommendations for law books that I can write about? I worry writing about something that everyone reads doesn’t sound as impressive. Does anyone have any advice, as well as, also what they wrote about it?
Thank you!!

'Misjustice' by Helena Kennedy was really interesting! It's about how women are treated in the law - women who kill, victims of sexual violence, BAME women, working class women, sex workers etc etc.
Also, 'In Black and White: A young barristers story of race and class in a broken system' by Alexandra Wilson. It gives you an insight into life as a barrister and the inequalities that exist within the legal profession. (And no, these books did not put me off going into law, it made me even more determined!!)
I'm really interested in sociology too so these books had great links that I could mentally make back to both a level law and sociology!! If you want to read for genuine interest and personal statement, I recommend these books! I did a lot of further research after reading Misjustice, as a lot of the statistics and studies shocked me

I also mentioned in my personal statement a free open university online course I did on Modern Slavery! As you're interested in human rights law, maybe you try this out?

Also, you could write about any law trips you've had e.g. sitting in the public gallery of a court case in the Crown Court (I haven't done this but my teacher recommended it, and I'd like to sit in one this summer before Uni). I went to the National Justice Museum in Nottingham when there was a feature on child offenders, which I found so unsettling so I did research into that too

Look for any articles, books, law websites, cases etc that you personally find interesting!

I hope my suggestions are helpful! 🙂🙂 I got offers from Leicester, NTU and Nottingham btw (so mid tier unis, except Nottingham but they offered me a different course). If you're looking for a high tier uni these ideas are still useful for research and interest (which is so so important) but I'm not sure how to write an incredible PS

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 6

nwar

Study Forum Helper

Original post

by Yellowcatz

'Misjustice' by Helena Kennedy was really interesting! It's about how women are treated in the law - women who kill, victims of sexual violence, BAME women, working class women, sex workers etc etc.
Also, 'In Black and White: A young barristers story of race and class in a broken system' by Alexandra Wilson. It gives you an insight into life as a barrister and the inequalities that exist within the legal profession. (And no, these books did not put me off going into law, it made me even more determined!!)
I'm really interested in sociology too so these books had great links that I could mentally make back to both a level law and sociology!! If you want to read for genuine interest and personal statement, I recommend these books! I did a lot of further research after reading Misjustice, as a lot of the statistics and studies shocked me
I also mentioned in my personal statement a free open university online course I did on Modern Slavery! As you're interested in human rights law, maybe you try this out?
Also, you could write about any law trips you've had e.g. sitting in the public gallery of a court case in the Crown Court (I haven't done this but my teacher recommended it, and I'd like to sit in one this summer before Uni). I went to the National Justice Museum in Nottingham when there was a feature on child offenders, which I found so unsettling so I did research into that too
Look for any articles, books, law websites, cases etc that you personally find interesting!
I hope my suggestions are helpful! 🙂🙂 I got offers from Leicester, NTU and Nottingham btw (so mid tier unis, except Nottingham but they offered me a different course). If you're looking for a high tier uni these ideas are still useful for research and interest (which is so so important) but I'm not sure how to write an incredible PS

Helena Kennedy >>>>>>
Actually love her work so much, her writing is super interesting but also really accessible.

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