Careers Centre

Law careers for students

Think about your degree course at Leeds

The University of Leeds School of Law demands high admission standards so all students already have proven academic ability before they arrive. Law is a complex subject and wide ranging skills are needed to study it successfully. It demands analysis, logical thinking, research techniques, organisation of information and oral and written presentation of facts and opinions. Some of your teaching might have been by the ‘case-class’ method which, together with the first year module in ‘legal skills’, demonstrates leadership and your ability to work well in teams. You might have been involved with the Innocence Project, the School of Law Legal Advice Clinic or Streetlaw projects. A law degree from Leeds covers the seven foundations of legal knowledge and is impressive and highly valued by employers as the school maintains its global reputation. Think about the modules you have chosen and how these can be used in a CV. Don’t miss opportunities to take part in moots, employer workshops and presentations, legal voluntary work, /local schools links and any other extras the school and the Careers Centre offer. A Leeds law graduate is equipped to pursue a wide range of careers within law and should impress as an educated and reflective citizen: you can ‘think like a ’ and understand the law as a social institution.

Skills a Lawyer Needs

Research has shown that there are certain skills that law firms are seeking in their applicants. These include

Excellent academic record A good degree, preferably 2:1 or above, is perhaps the most important thing you have to offer. Law is an intellectually challenging profession so employers need to know you will be able to cope.

Legal work experience All work experience is important and valued by employers but it is vital for you to have legal work experience. This will demonstrate you have investigated the profession, experienced the work place and still want to follow your chosen path as a lawyer in the specialist legal area of your choice. The work experience should include internships in law firms and but Court visits, marshalling with a Judge, a placement at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or voluntary legal advice work are all valuable additions to a CV.

Motivation You must be able to show your commitment to a legal career. The training is expensive for you and your sponsors so employers must be confident that you know law is the career for you.

Communication Practising must be able to express themselves clearly, confidently and concisely in language that colleagues, courts and clients can understand. The role of a lawyer involves advising and negotiating so clear and succinct language is valued by clients and colleagues: they must draft legal documents that can withstand intense scrutiny. Law careers for Law students

Interpersonal skills All lawyers must have good “people skills” to get on well with the variety of legal colleagues, other staff and clients they deal with on a daily basis. Successful lawyers tend to be personable and able to show empathy and engender confidence. Employers want you to be an “interesting human being”.

Commercial awareness You must show an understanding of where the legal profession sits in relation to the economy. All students should be able to demonstrate awareness of issues that are important to potential clients. You need to demonstrate you understand that law firms are themselves commercial entities in business. Make yourself aware of current key economic issues and the likely legal implications. Keep abreast of global and political affairs by reading newspapers and following current affairs programmes. Read , or Counsel magazines.

Team work At interview and on application forms you will have to show evidence of good team work. Lawyers frequently work in teams and rely on each other to do an excellent job for the client and the profession.

Temperament Lawyers work long hours; may have a deadline to meet and can be given a complex brief hours before the case is due in Court. You will need to demonstrate stamina, time management, reliability and a calm temperament to show you will be able to cope with the potentially heavy and unpredictable workload.

Sound judgement As a lawyer you will have to make decisions frequently based on conflicting evidence. It is imperative that you can analyse the facts efficiently and then be decisive. Attention to detail is vital as one misplaced word can be a disaster. Lawyers are expected to be thorough and meticulous and to demonstrate absolute integrity.

When you provide examples of your skills, remember to use your degree content, study, work experience, volunteering, independent travel, membership of societies and any other interests. You need to show yourself as a dynamic and well rounded person.

Careers Centre Resources

. The Careers Centre on Cromer Terrace can help you in various ways. We have many law firms and course providers attending to give presentations, talks and workshops. See our events list on https://mycareer.leeds.ac.uk/home.html or come and collect an events booklet. . There is a Law Fair each year, early in November, in Parkinson Court which is attended by upwards of 70 organisations over the 2 days. . We provide a drop in service every day during term (no appointment necessary) when you can come and talk to a member of our staff about your career plans, decision making and to help you with the whole application process. . If you would like more extensive information on different careers and ideas of what you might like to do after you complete your course you could look at our pearltrees account www.pearltrees.com/leedsunicareers. . There are regular workshops to help with application forms, CVs, interviews and assessment centres. These are all advertised on our website.

The Advisory Staff at the Careers Centre (5-7 Cromer Terrace) will be happy to discuss your career plans with you, but if it is difficult for you to visit you can use our online guidance service, MyCareer Questions (http://eguidance.leeds.ac.uk/ ). There is also a dedicated Careers Consultant who works with your Faculty to ensure that we provide you with comprehensive, bespoke support. Our website (http://careerweb.leeds.ac.uk ) has lots of information to help you get started and includes lots of ebooks you can download to read at your leisure. We also have many books available in our Information Zone which are listed in the University Library catalogue and in our Pearltrees account.

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Law careers for Law students

Useful Websites

University of Leeds Careers Centre vacancies website https://mycareer.leeds.ac.uk/home.html Prospects www.prospects.ac.uk/graduate_job_search.htm TARGETjobs https://targetjobs.co.uk/ Yorkshire Graduates www.yorkshiregraduates.co.uk/ The Law Society www.lawsociety.org.uk Solicitors Regulation Authority www.sra.org.uk Law Society: Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) www.juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk LawCareers.Net www.lawcareers.net The Bar Council www.barcouncil.org.uk www.barstandardsboard.org.uk Bureau www.citizensadvice.org.uk Law Centres www.lawcentres.org.uk HM Courts and Tribunals Service https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service/about Law Society Gazette http://jobs.lawgazette.co.uk/jobs/ Prospects Job Sectors: Law www.prospects.ac.uk/industries_law_overview.htm Prospects: Law http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/e865d039#/e865d039/1 Gateway www.pupillagegateway.com/ Government Legal Service https://www.gov.uk/government-legal-service-gls-legal-trainee-scheme-how-to-apply Crown Prosecution Service www.cps.gov.uk Central Applications Board www.lawcabs.ac.uk Bar Standards Boards (BPTC) www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/ Simply Law Jobs www.simplylawjobs.com Commerce & Industry Group www.cigroup.org.uk Solicitors in Local Government www.slgov.org.uk

Do your research

The choice of career paths within the legal profession is wide and you need to research the available options very carefully. At the application stage you will have to convince a prospective employer that you have thought hard about the choices you have made. Think about your motivation, interests and enthusiasms. Would you prefer to work in a large organisation, or a smaller one? Does life in or the provinces appeal to you? Have you a particular interest that you could pursue within a legal career, human rights or sport for example? How important is a good work/life balance to you? Would you enjoy being self employed? Do you enjoy debating?

Speak to people doing the job. Attend as many presentations as you can both in the Law School and at the Careers Centre. Go to the Law Fair in November at Parkinson Court. Try to arrange as much varied work experience as possible. Apply for internships with solicitors and mini in Chambers. Go to the Magistrates and Crown Courts and sit in the public gallery to observe. Try to organise a day or two marshalling (work shadowing a judge). Volunteer for some pro-bono advisory work at a law centre or in the Union. Get involved with mooting competitions within the School. Talk to practising lawyers to help you decide which branch of the profession will suit you.

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Law careers for Law students

Barrister or ?

A law degree opens up many legal career routes (which will be explored here later) but generally the choice most law graduates who want to work within the profession have to make is whether to do an LPC to start training as a solicitor or go down the BPTC route to a life at the Bar.

Each course is one year full time or two years part time. There are many course providers and the quality of training and the costs vary enormously. You need to examine the courses available and decide which are the most suitable for you. Look at www.lawcabs.ac.uk for the LPC and www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/ for the BPTC. The on-line applications systems for both open in October or November of your final year at Leeds. There are various flexible and part time options available but you must look into these carefully as their application systems differ.

Traditionally the two professions had very distinct roles. Solicitors were always the first point of contact for clients and advised them on the merits of a case, referring to a for a specialist legal opinion or a court appearance when necessary. The boundaries are now slowly coming down as solicitors are gaining higher in court and barristers can be approached directly by a client. In addition a small proportion of barristers are employed in solicitors’ practices and in the CPS. Realistically you will have to decide which branch of the profession is right for you and aim for the appropriate postgraduate course.

There are several issues to consider:

 Does advocacy appeal to you? Barristers spend much of their time in court representing a client so you must be confident and self assured. Communication skills are important for both professions but success at the Bar will depend on thinking on your feet and quick changes of tack when an unexpected challenge appears. The number of disputes going to trial is actually decreasing so many barristers’ advocacy skills are paper based now.

 Do you enjoy teamwork? Solicitors work in teams most of the time, much more than barristers do. Barristers usually work alone or with one or two seniors on big cases, although teamwork is necessary to fit successfully into a set of chambers and to work with solicitors or witnesses during case preparation.

 Will you find travelling a problem? Most barristers travel around their circuit, or even off-circuit, to do cases in different courts while solicitors are more office based or in local courts.

 What are your attitudes to risk and to financial insecurity? Barristers (except for the small proportion working within the employed Bar) are self employed, working out of chambers with administrative staff support. You will only get paid for the work you do, will have no paid holidays and your income might be very unpredictable. You have to organise your own accounts, professional insurance, pension provision and be willing to face an unpredictable future. If you have a holiday planned and are offered a well paid case do you cancel the trip? You need to develop and maintain your own client base and this will depend on your personal track record. Only one in four BPTC students eventually becomes a practising self employed barrister. However, financial support for the Bar is improving as pupillages are now funded, some very generously. The Inns also offer a variety of generous scholarships.

 Solicitors are salaried and will likely follow a standard career path with regular pay awards. Those who become partners essentially own part of the firm and its profits. Most big firms fund the LPC for graduates who gain a . Competition for training contracts and for a place after qualifying, however, is also tougher now as the recession bites.

 Do you thrive on an unpredictable routine? Life as a barrister or a solicitor will involve long hours and irregular workloads but life at the Bar is particularly unpredictable, especially for the newly qualified. You might travel to a far flung court at a few hours notice having burned the midnight oil trying to prepare a case only to find you will not be paid as the case has been taken out of the list for some technical reason. Solicitors firms, however, are increasingly encouraging a work/life balance so weekend work, unlike at the Bar, should be unusual. However, as barristers are self employed they can, in theory, work the hours that suit them and take time off (unpaid!) when they wish.

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Law careers for Law students

Solicitors

You must spend time on strategic research to find which firms do the sort of work that interests you and the type of firm you want to work for. There are opportunities for training contracts in high street, , niche/specialist, international, big city, major national, regional and US firms, as well as in-house legal departments, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and Government. Some factors to consider are geographical area, size, culture and ethos, type of work and the training element. Gain an insight into different options by attending presentations and fairs. Get work experience: some law firms offer opportunities during the Christmas or Easter vacation in addition to summer. Look at company websites and other sites such as www.lawcareers.net . Consult student directories such as ‘TARGETjobs’ or ‘Chambers and Partners’, available at the Careers Centre. Not all training contract providers will fund the LPC so this is another consideration when choosing who to apply to. Identify the sort of organisation you want to work for and then target those that fit the bill.

Magic Circle There are five firms making up this group – Allen & Overy, , Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and . These are huge firms, employing thousands of staff, with couple of hundred partners and around 200 trainees. They advise the world’s leading companies and banks on their most challenging deals and transactions. Their offices are sleek and impressive with wonderful staff facilities and remuneration packages, but they are known for high stress, long hours and little client contact for trainees. They have their pick of the brightest and best students. Slaughter and May is smaller than the others in terms of staff and number of offices but its profitability, or PEP (profit per partner) is higher.

Large Global or Silver Circle These firms include CMS Cameron McKenna, and Lovells. The work is still corporate/commercial with big deals and important clients, but the pay, hours and stress levels may be slightly lower than at the Magic Circle firms. The sheer size of these big firms is apparent when you consider that the top 10 firms recruit around one sixth of all trainees in the country. With offices throughout the world’s major financial centres there are opportunities to work abroad but much work is with top UK clients.

Major National This is another group of commercial firms with multiple UK offices, handling high quality:they include , Wragge and Co and . These firms are the highest payers outside London and offer a good spread of work. Some firms move you around as part of the training.

Leading Regional In each UK city a handful of firms take up the majority of local commercial work. There is a large range of these firms to choose from, but location is an important consideration for you as some firms are only based in one region. Clients are mostly UK public and private companies or local authorities but services are also offered to private individuals. They can offer a good balance of structured training and hands on experience. Work/life balance tends to be respected. Firms include Pannone (Manchester), Hay and Kilner (Newcastle) and Walker Morris (Leeds). Showing your commitment to the local region is important as the regional firms don’t want to train you for you then to leave for London.

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Law careers for Law students

Niche These are smaller firms, often in London, offering high quality work in a specialised but limited field. If this appeals to you the firms include Farrer & Co (media and family), Lewis Silkin (advertising and employment), Tario Lyons (technology) and NK Legal (personal injury). Although small in size they have clout through their expertise and they can have some prestigious clients. Training in a niche firm may narrow your options if you decide not to qualify into this area of practice.

High Street These firms usually cover criminal, probate, family, employment, personal injury, conveyancing and do some legal aid work. It is usual for trainees to get early hands-on responsibility and client contact. The clients are local businesses or private individuals and some lawyers say it is the most satisfying branch of the profession to work in. The culture of long hours will be unlikely to apply but the remuneration package will be lower than at larger firms. The work often appeals to self starters as you could be the only trainee and able to arrange your own work load. These firms rarely recruit two years in advance but on an ad hoc basis and are unlikely to fund the LPC. Leeds firms include Grahame Stowe Bateson, Morley Mitchell and Godloves.

US Firms The last few years have seen an influx of US firms to London. They present themselves as international firms rather than US firms with a London office. They include Shearman and Sterling and White and Case and have only recently offered training contracts in London. The training and salary are good but the pressure can be high. They are involved in high value commercial work, particularly securitisation and restructuring, but only typically have 10 to 30 trainees a year. Starting salaries are high and competition is fierce.

In-House Many of the larger company legal departments offer training contracts. The training will be specific and strong commercial awareness is important to understand the key issues of the particular business. The Commerce and Industry Group is an organisation for in-house lawyers and is supported by the Law Society: it can help you to source vacancies. Firms have to be authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to take trainees and presently are as diverse as Littlewoods Ltd, EDF Energy, Co-operative Financial Services and United Utilities. Having trained in-house it is possible to then move to a firm of solicitors. In-house work is satisfying as all aspects of the business are linked to law in some way – human resources, leases, supply of goods and mergers for example. Also, your work colleagues will not all be lawyers!

Government Legal Service The GLS website has up to date information about vacancies but they generally offer about 20-30 training contracts annually. Candidates apply to GLS initially but are then able to choose which three government departments they favour from a list of ten including DEFRA, Revenue & Customs, Transport and Education. The vast majority of opportunities are in London and the work involves a variety of tasks concerned with both private and public work – litigation, government contracts and advising ministers. The GLS has nearly 2000 lawyers and trainees working in 30 or so government organisations and agencies. There are about 50 trainee solicitors and barristers at any one time. The GLS particularly values skills of analysis, judgement, teamwork, motivation and communication. An interest in public service is vital.

Local Government Many local authority legal departments offer training contracts but there is no central recruitment system so you will need to be vigilant about checking local press, the Solicitors in Local Government website and individual local government legal departments’ websites for vacancies. The range of work includes planning, housing, property, litigation, education and health and safety and the client will always be the local authority. It is possible, after qualifying, to move into industry or private practice. The experience and variety of work are wide and some lawyers find the fact they are working in the public sector for the local community very appealing. Cutbacks during the recession will likely effect recruitment opportunities.

Crown Prosecution Service The CPS is Britain’s largest employer of lawyers. Its staff advise the police about criminal evidence and then review and prosecute criminal cases on behalf of the Crown following police investigations. CPS lawyers have some rights of audience in court and there are opportunities for in-house advocacy training. They are authorised by the Law Society to offer up to 70 training contracts. Trainee solicitors undertake one or more secondments to private practice, local authorities, magistrate's courts or the GLS.

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Law careers for Law students

Law Centres There are 56 Law Centres, each set up as a company and registered charity. Free legal advice is given to the public and is funded from local government grants and the Legal Services Commission. The majority of the work is in social welfare law, employment, mental health, housing, discrimination and public law. Many Law Centre lawyers come from working in legal aid firms while others have qualified by working at a Law Centre while studying part time for LPC. The Legal Services Commission has provided grants to fund training contracts in various Law Centres around the country. The Law Centres Federation website and local media advertise vacancies but each Law Centre is in charge of its own recruitment.

Magistrates’ Court Legal Adviser HM Courts and Tribunals Service is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Legal advisers help magistrates and court managers with legal decisions. There are some opportunities for training contracts through Magistrates’ Court legal adviser employment: vacancies are on the HM Courts and Tribunals Service site. Recruitment is on an ad hoc basis as each court has its own staff. However, interested applicants can apply to a central address and their letter and CV will be held on file for 12 months and an application pack will be despatched if a geographically convenient vacancy arises in that time.

Barristers

Some of the providers of solicitors’ training contracts also offer pupillages and possible BPTC funding for would-be barristers. These include the Government Legal Service, some in-house organisations, Crown Prosecution Service, Local Government and Magistrates’ Courts. Look at the above information for more details.

Applications for the BPTC must made by early January prior to entry.The courses are undergoing extensive changes and a new online aptitude test, the BSB Aptitude Test, is scheduled to become compulsory for applicants starting the course in September 2013. Costs of courses vary and it is important to research the course providers.

The year long full time BPTC, or two years part time, is followed by the year long pupillage divided into a ‘first six’ and ‘second six’. Pupillages are funded by the tenants in a set of chambers and some of the London sets have very generous packages including funding for the BPTC. During the ‘second six’ a pupil is allowed to do their own paid work. At the end of the pupillage year you will hope to be taken on as a tenant in chambers but, like all aspects of training for a life at the Bar, there are far more applicants than opportunities. There is the option of doing a ‘third six’ in a different set of chambers.

Most would-be barristers hope to work in a set of chambers at the independent bar and you should apply for a pupillage before starting the BPTC. All sets of chambers who recruit must now advertise on the Pupillage Portal. Students can apply to 12 chambers through this scheme as well as make one 'clearing application': the deadline is the end of April. Some sets choose not to use the Portal machinery so you will need to check their application process through their websites: you can apply to as many of these as you wish. Applications for pupillage are about 18 months ahead so law students can apply in the spring of their final year for a place in the autumn of the next year following on from the BPTC course. Competition for pupillages is severe: it is important to try and attend the National Pupillages Fair at Lincoln’s Inn in March. Work experience and an understanding of the career choices and challenges at the Bar are vital.

You should have joined an Inn of Court no later than the end of May of the year the BPTC is to commence. There are four Inns – Grey’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn, The and The . Each has individual strengths and characters, but your choice will probably be made by examining the training support they offer and particularly the generosity of their scholarships and their criteria for funding. Check details of their closing dates for funding applications.

If you fail to gain a tenancy, but have been called to the Bar and completed a year’s pupillage you are still eligible to work as a barrister at the employed bar – in-house, the armed forces, CPS or local government for example. bar.

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Law careers for Law students

Bar Practice Areas

You need to decide the area of work that interests you and then look at the chambers that specialise in this. Your next decision is whether to apply to London or on circuit. There are six circuits and chambers outside London generally have a broader range of work than the more specialised sets in the capital. Some London chambers have satellite sets on circuit. The circuits run training and social events so barristers outside London do not miss out on being away from the Inns. Other things you need to consider are the number of pupillages and tenancies offered, the proportion of pupillages converted to tenancies, the value of the financial award, the size of the set and whether PP is used.

Barristers practise in every area of law and you need to select your chambers according to the fields you hope to work in. Some chambers are specialist, with expertise in a niche area like sports or shipping law but many more are generalist. There are nearly twenty practice areas including:

Chancery/commercial Working in these sets is intellectually very challenging and commercial awareness is vital. Generally commercial sets specialise in contract law and chancery sets do more trust work. Company law is included. Pupils and tenants in these chambers are not in court very often as most work is drafting opinions and attending meetings (conferences).

Common law These chambers work in a wide variety of areas of law with emphasis on contract and tort. Most are arranged so that there are a number of specialist groups within chambers offering a wide range of work. These could include employment, personal injury, discrimination and professional negligence. The work is inevitably unpredictable, with late night preparation sessions and court appearances several days a week. The junior members could be involved with small claims, property disputes and contractual claims.

Criminal law Criminal barristers must be strong , quick thinkers and able to communicate well with all clients and other lawyers. Junior barristers will hope to be in court nearly every day and sometimes have to juggle cases in more than one courtroom at a time. There can be constant travelling, waiting around and unpredictable workloads. Criminal law has become a political football and is constantly tweaked. The future of the criminal bar is uncertain because of changes in fees, legal aid and working patterns.

Family law All issues arising out of family disputes such as divorce and childcare come under this field. Young lawyers will be regularly in court but there is an emphasis on mediation. Hearings are usually close to the parties, so family barristers might travel a lot. This is another area of legal practice which has political input so the work patterns change regularly.

Public law The nature of this work is less unpredictable than in some areas. It is about challenging decisions of public bodies in areas such as housing, planning or asylum but it spans the full range of administrative, public and constitutional law.

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Law careers for Law students

Other Legal Careers for Law Graduates

Patent Attorney Patent attorneys or agents obtain and enforce intellectual property rights on behalf of individual inventors or organisations. You should have an understanding of scientific and technological processes and principles and be able to express complex technical ideas clearly and concisely. A postgraduate LLM in Intellectual Property Law will be of benefit in acquiring training as a and will grant some exemption from the CIPA exams.

Chartered Institute of Patents Attorneys www.cipa.org.uk Simon Belcher: Patent Attorney Profession www.pearltrees.com/leedsunicareers/sources- information/id12239837/item132580133 Careers Centre Blog: Getting Into… a Career as a Patent Attorney https://leedsunicareers.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/getting-into-a-career-as-a-patent-attorney/ European Patent Office www.epo.org UK Intellectual Property Office www.ipo.gov.uk Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys www.itma.org.uk

Legal Executive Your law degree from Leeds will give you some exemptions from the academic part of the ILEX exams but to achieve Fellowship status you will still need five years of legal employment. Most legal executives specialise in a certain area of law such as wills or property. You could be employed by large firms of solicitors, local authorities or in-house. Legal executives are increasingly recognised as valuable cost-effective lawyers by employers but, unlike solicitors, they do not have independent practice rights. The ILEX qualification route can, however, allow you to become a solicitor without completing a training contract.

Chartered Institute of Legal Executives www.cilex.org.uk/ LawCareers.Net: Chartered Institute of Legal Executives www.lawcareers.net/MoreLaw/CILEx

Licensed Conveyancer A conveyancer is specialist property lawyer who deals with all the legal matters, paperwork and queries involved in a property transaction. Your law degree will give exemption from all of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) foundation level exams and some practical training. The availability of trainee positions depends on the buoyancy of the housing market which is poor at the moment. Some qualified conveyancers work within a firm of solicitors or property companies but most are in private practice. Others work for local authorities or banks.

Council for Licensed Conveyancers www.clc-uk.org Conveyancing Jobs www.conveyancingjobs.com/

Barristers’ Clerk This role combines commercial acumen, legal knowledge, marketing skills and management ability. The barristers’ clerk is responsible for all the administration, finance and business in a set of chambers. He gets work in, distributes it to individual barristers, sends out fee notes and collects the payments. A senior clerk will be responsible for several other members of staff and the premises too. The general ratio is one clerk for each five barristers in a set. It can be a high pressure role but interesting due to the diverse responsibilities. There is a significant increase in the number of graduates entering the profession. Initial entry is likely to be as a junior clerk, where you will build up the skills and knowledge required to progress to deputy senior or senior clerk. It may be necessary to move to different chambers for promotion as the profession is made up of relatively small numbers.

Institute of Barristers’ Clerks www.ibc.org.uk Law and Legal: Barristers’ Clerk www.lawandlegal.co.uk/careers/barristers-clerk/

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Law careers for Law students

Mediator There is no single recognised qualification for mediation/conflict resolution but the College of Mediators sets training and practice standards which are provided by several trainers including CEDR and the ADR Group. Mediation is often a speedy and cost effective way of settling disputes and you may work in different settings such as family, civil/commercial or workplace mediation. The courses can be expensive: a list of approved courses is on the College of Mediators website. Once trained and registered a mediator can be freelance or work within a firm.

College of Mediators www.collegeofmediators.co.uk Justice www.civilmediation.justice.gov.uk/ Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) www.cedr.com/ ADR Group www.adrgroup.co.uk

Notary Public Notaries prepare and witness documents for use overseas. These might be for the sale of property, immigration and emigration or a variety of business purposes. Most notaries in the UK are already qualified as solicitors. A Postgraduate Diploma in Notarial Practice offered by the Institute of Continuing Education in Cambridge is the standard academic qualification required..

The Notaries Society www.thenotariessociety.org.uk

Legal Publisher/Writer There are opportunities, as a law graduate, to work as a legal writer. Legal publishing is a growing industry with opportunities in magazines, student publications and internet sites. Most national media outlets also have legal correspondents to handle court reporting and write features with a legal interest. A postgraduate journalism course could help you to secure a job although there will be many opportunities to write as a freelancer.

Would you like help with your applications?

We have lots of resources in our Information Room and on our website http://careerweb.leeds.ac.uk to help you impress employers or get onto a course. Don’t forget that our advisory staff will also be happy to check over your application form or CV. It is best to bring along details of the job with your application so that we can check you have targeted it effectively.

June 2010 Lynne Wolstenholme November 2011 revised Janet Hindle February 2018 updated

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