Research what kind of lawyer you want to be

How to research what kind of lawyer you want to be The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook is a free and comprehensive guide to starting a career in law, which includes information on all the different types of lawyer and an exhaustive directory of hiring law firms and barristers’ chambers. Before deciding where to apply, you first need to think about what kind of solicitor or barrister you broadly want to be – do high-value commercial deals get you excited? Helping to patent exciting new technologies? Assisting families and people in need with their problems? Defending or prosecuting people accused of crimes? Here we show how the Handbook can be used to learn about all these areas and more, and then find firms or chambers which work in those areas ahead of making applications.

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Learn about the different types of lawyer and what they do The Handbook contains in-depth interviews with lawyers in every specialism, from banking to immigration law; from Islamic finance to human rights. Head to p.179 to read up on all the different solicitors’ practice areas and p.525 for barristers’ practice areas. Both are full of inside information provided by lawyers working in those areas themselves – useful for deciding which career path might be for you.

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Identify firms practising in the areas which interest you Once you have learned more about the different types of law and have found one or two broad areas which really sparked your interest, you can use the Handbook’s training contract and pupillage indexes to find firms and chambers which work in those areas. Aspiring solicitors should consult the training contract regional indexes beginning on p.233, while those set on the Bar can find the barristers’ pupillage index on p.573. Both sets of indexes enable you to see firms’ and chambers’ locations, size, number of vacancies and areas of law covered.

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Read up on the firms or chambers that you have identified. Your next stop is the training contract directory (p.303) or the pupillage directory (p.585), where you can learn more about the firms or chambers that you have identified as operating in your chosen practice areas and locations. The directory entry for a law firm or chambers will tell you more about the organisation – this can include its clients and types of work, its minimum academic requirements for applicants, work experience opportunities and its contact details should you wish to apply. For more tips on how to use both directories, see the Handbook’s useful guides – for solicitors on p.232 and barristers on p.572.

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You are now armed with much of the knowledge you need to apply to a firm or chambers operating in the areas of law which really interest you. Make sure to augment your research by reading about your chosen organisations in the legal press, and then channel all your knowledge and understanding into a well-crafted application that is highly tailored to the specific firm or chambers in question. The 2016 edition of the Handbook is available through your careers service, law department and at law fairs.