Making it…in Law

We were honoured to welcome four guests from our parent community to speak at a recent Law webinar hosted by the Futures Department.  Monica Bhandari, a St Helen’s alumna, current Governor and Professor of Law at UCL; Rupa Lakha, Partner & Solicitor at Charles Russell Speechlys; Karim Ezzat, a District Judge & Recorder; and Neel Malviya, Managing Director and General Council at Moelis & Co. They spoke with enthusiasm and passion about their careers and shared valuable insights with 60 students from Years 10 to 13.

The girls were excited to hear about the broad range of opportunities in Law. Karim spoke about how his passion for fairness in society sparked his interest in criminal law. Neel talked about his experience in saving a major bank from imminent collapse during the 2008 financial crisis. Rupa provided great insight into what makes a prospective employee stand-out and how employers are making strives to make the workplace better for women. Monica spoke about the changes in development in the further education sector, which will make it easier to do a conversion degree.

 

So what does it take to get in to law?

  • You will need to be a confident decision-maker with excellent communication, research and analytical skills. You will also need to have the ability to synthesise and evaluate information efficiently to form an opinion and argue your case with authority;
  • Collectively, our guests emphasised the importance of excellent results at A Level, strongly advising students to study subjects they are passionate about – ones that will enable them to speak about with conviction;
  • Another important element is to get meaningful experience of Law, either through work experience or court visits, to narrow down areas of interest, whether that’s working in a commercial, criminal or human rights setting. Work experience should not just be a tick box exercise, but an opportunity to explore interests;
  • Work experience will also help when writing personal statements which will allow students to stand out from the competition;
  • Academic success is important. To study Law at university and to work in the city, a minimum of a 2:1 degree is required. The actual degree is of less importance as a conversion course can be taken;
  • A Law degree opens many doors to a wide variety of careers, not necessarily just in Law.

Other key takeaways…

  • To take time before deciding which area of Law to specialise in, to fully explore the areas that motivate and interest the most;
  • Extend learning and understanding through MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), TED talks and court visits;
  • It is hard work – it’s so important that students love what they do and be highly motivated.