Routes into Law
For many students, a career as a lawyer is an attractive
prospect. High starting salaries, and even higher potential earnings mean a
financially secure future, whilst challenging work promises an intellectually
stimulating job. However, as there are a variety of routes into law, here’s a
step-by-step guide to help you along the way.
Solicitor/Barrister
Route
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Every budding lawyer needs a law undergraduate
degree or an equivalent qualification. If you’re currently studying law, or
doing the LLB, you don’t
need to do anything else at this stage. If you’re non-law student, you’ll have
to take the GDL
(Graduate Diploma in Law), which is a one-year (full-time) or two-year
(part-time) law conversion course.
-
Now it’s time to choose the kind of lawyer you
want to be – solicitor or barrister. Potential solicitors must study the LPC
(Legal Practice Course), and barristers must pass the BPTC (Bar Professional
Training Course).
-
Having completed the LPC or BPTC respectively,
aspiring solicitors can now apply for training contracts, and barristers for
pupillages. Trainee solicitors must work for a law firm for two years, rotating
through a number of different departments (known as ‘seats’) and gaining a
range of experience. Following rotation, you can choose an area in which to
specialise. Meanwhile, trainee barristers will work at a barrister’s chambers
for one year, shadowing qualified barristers.
-
Now you’re qualified and ready to practice!
The Legal Executive
Route
-
Legal executives are a type of lawyer you might
not have heard of before. A chartered legal executive can carry out legal work,
have their own client files and specialise in a chosen area of law.
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To qualify as a legal executive,
graduates can take the CILEx Fasttrak course, following this with three years of qualifying
employment. After this, you will be a qualified legal executive.
-
Legal executives are able to become partners in
law firms, represent clients in court, and even become judges.
How do I choose a
career?
Deciding the type of lawyer you want to be is difficult, so
here is a breakdown of each role:
Solicitors don’t appear in court and are usually employed by a
firm. It is the role of a solicitor to build each case from scratch before
handing it over to a barrister. Solicitors will also do a large amount of work
which doesn’t involve court proceedings – such as transactional and
non-contentious work.
Barristers are responsible for fighting cases in court. They are
usually self-employed (within a chambers) and will argue the cases that
solicitors have built up. The benefits of self-employment mean that you can
choose the type and amount of work that you do.
Legal executives work for a firm. They can build up their own
cases, and also appear in court when appropriate.
What type of law
should I do?
Once you have decided the route you want to take, you might
want to think about the practise areas which interest you. Take some time to
research the different options available – areas of law include:
·
Commercial Law
·
Criminal Law
·
Family Law
·
Litigation
·
Property Law
Before you come to any decision, make sure you have looked
at all the options. Use this article as a starting point for your
investigations. When you’ve made a decision, then it’s time to start applying
for those law
graduate jobs!
