Prepping Early for a Legal Career

The legal world has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years, especially in the U.K. This means that the profession is getting a growing amount of attention for people looking for work, ranging from students taking the conventional route to become solicitors to other switching gears in their careers. In addition, we can’t neglect the fact that there are a range of different legal jobs other than solicitors that a person can make a decent living with.

When it comes to any job, though, the earlier you start getting ready, the easier it is to find work. Here are some ways that you can begin your preparation.

The Skills

We’ll start the conversation with the most common path into the legal profession: going to law school. If you have legal aspirations, there are a few different skills you can start developing now, starting with awareness. In this context, awareness means being up to date on relevant news and business that could affect a legal firm and its clients.

Why does this matter? A lawyer also has elements of a businessperson when working for a firm, in that they need to consider decisions that are best for the firms they work for. The best way to do this is by providing appropriate advice. Students can join a university club or society, or just get involved on industry websites that provide this information.

Equally important is being able to communicate. English and Communications degrees may get a bad rap in some circles, but being able to express complex points clearly and accurately is essential to being a proper lawyer.

The Path

Once you become a law graduate, being a solicitor sounds like the obvious path to take, but there are several other options that can be worth considering as well. For example, you may want to consider becoming a barrister, a legal advisor who puts forth legal arguments for judges and juries. There is a similar skillset, but little to no direct contact with the public.

For those who want to work their way up or may not have a law degree, it may be worth considering being a paralegal. This is a U.S. invention that is becoming more popular in the U.K. as of late. Paralegals work in a support role to various lawyers, but don’t actually give formal legal advice. This is appealing because a non-law graduate can get some valuable experience, though they will probably need the Common Professional Examination or Graduate Diploma in Law.

There are several different routes that people can take in the legal field, which can make it difficult to those in law firms to determine who the best candidates are. This can create a bit of an issue for your HR departments, but one way to ease the issue is to bring on the skilled consultants at Symphony Legal. This includes working on staying compliant as well as working on your people management, with review of your current HR processes as well as team development, workplace mediation, and many more services.