Law Students

[sudu]

What kinda of things are good to do for prospective law students to get a place at university and/or do well on the course? eg. reading, work experience etc

Thanks!

[january_bug]

Just show an interest in the subject and obviously try to get very good grades! If you haven't already chosen your A Levels, I'd suggest picking at least one or two essay based subjects.

Pick VERY carefully, and go to the best university that you can. Obviously still choose a location that also suits you, but don't be fooled, your choice of university could turn out to be CRUCIAL! :-s

In terms of career progress, get as much legal work experience as you can, although this is not crucial for gaining a place at uni.

Good luck. :-)

[sudu]

Thanks for your help! I am considering doing History, English, Chemistry and French for AS level are these good choices?

[mjsukleic]

my son is in year 2 and he gets � 150 a week

[Miss Zippy]

I'd echo january_bug's advice re university, as, once you're out in the big bad world of work (or at least trying to get work), you soon realise that all universties are not equal! When I started my LLB 13 years ago (eeek!) i was lucky enough to go to a Uni that was top five in the country for law (at the time anyway) and it has paid off. When it comes to getting a training contract/pupillage, lots of relevant work experience will help, so during your hols try and get some work in a solicitor's office (or barristers' chambers if that's your preferred route) or help out in your local CAB (the latter may be unpaid mind you). Re your AS level choices, they look like a well balanced selection to me.

[january_bug]

Miss Zippy - I started mine 4 years ago - but also at a top 5 - were you at Manc, or have the ratings changed?!

Do whatever you think will get you the most A's. If you want to go into IP (intellectual property) law and deal with patents and things, then chemistry is very useful. Otherwise, it's not the best you could do, unless you really love it, in which case - GO FOR IT! :-) A foreign language is always helpful (I did German) - so French is a good choice too. History is a good choice as it helps your research and essay writing skills - same with English. Two other subjects I would say to consider are economics and politics. If you end up going into commercial law, having some understanding of economics is very helpful indeed, and politics will help your debating (and advocacy) skills.

I'm guessing you're only 17 or so now, but you seem to have learned your first important lesson.... planning ahead is VITAL!!!

Decisions you make now will have consequences for a long time. So always take time to think things over and talk to your parents and teachers to get someone else's opinions.

Law is VERY hard, but VERY interesting, and it's a VERY useful and well respected degree to have. I would say that it's a very good choice to make.... :-)

[sudu]

This is all excellent advice- cheers! The problem is that I can only take 4 AS levels so it will be a hard choice! I did actually think about politics and economics and its not off my list yet. I am having careers inetrviews soon so should get more info then!

[january_bug]

If you REALLY love Chemisty, you could do that as the 4th one, then drop it when you go into Yr13. And take French, History and Economics as your "main" 3. Anyway - lots of luck to you. If you want more advice further down the line, there are quite a few ABers who've done this, all of whom are always happy to help! :-)

[Aschenbach]

Law is a fairly self-contained subject. Your choices for AS levels won't matter too much. For example, there was no point in me trying to convince employers that my Art A level gave me any legal skills only that the good grade showed application.

I tried reading some law before my course started but it only made sense within the framework of the law curriculum. I agree that work experience is more beneficial.

[sudu]

I had an interview today and the woman suggested a law degree with french/chemistry/english/history if i wanted a bit more variety. although politics and economics would help i think i would probably do better in subjects i have already done so i think i will be doing history, english, french and chemistry with chemistry as my AS subject.Going into patent law sounds quite interesting.

[january_bug]

IP law - around the top right, there's a read box called" links to teaching materials". It'll seem scary now, but this is the sort of stuff patent law is about. I've never studied it, but it seems like you have an interest, so thought you might like to see thatt :-)

[sudu]

when i go to the link it asks for a username and password so i'm assuming the teaching materials are only avaliable to students. thanks anyway though! i will have a look on the net to see if i can find anymore info on law. which university would you all recommend? whats the top 5 at the moment?

[january_bug]

Ok - but don't tell anyone I told you :-p

username = manlaw

password = lawyers

That information is available to anyone and everyone and we've never been told not to pass it on!

For the Top 5 go to The Times website. I think it's Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Manchester and somewhere else.

I did my LLB at the Victoria University of Manchester (now simply University of Manchester!!!) and I had an amazing time! However, they mark VERY harshly and as a consequence your first year grades may appear lower than they would if you turned in the same performance at a different university. This makes it harder to get a job at the end, although many Manchester students do have fantastic jobs.

I had a brilliant time at Manchester, but then most people will say the same about where they went. If you think you know what you want to do, then find a university that specialises in that. Note that you'll have to study everything else as well anyway (in order to get a Qualifying law degree, that would allow you to become a lawyer). The Manchester law website has a section called Qualifying law degree - look at that bit.

When picking your uni - which you should do when you're 17 or so, don't worry about it yet as you'll change a lot between now and then! :-) - I personally knew I wanted to be more than 1 hour away from home, and in a big city. That left me pretty much with London, or "the North". I then picked the best for law, and applied there. You might want luscious open fields (so look at Exeter perhaps) or you might secretly be an eskimo (look at Durham!). Either way, don't worry about it all too much now. Get information, but don't feel you have to make decisions quite yet!

[sudu]

thanks for the username/password. this might just be me being excessively stupid but where do you find anything about patent law? I assume you go into undergraduate courses then LLB and BA etc i'm not sure where after that.

[january_bug]

The link I gave you should take you straight to it.

Patent law is a small bit of IP - intellectual property.

I'm not sure how much of this you already know, so please don't think I'm meaning to patronise you. Now, I haven't studied IP myself, but as far as I know it basically includes:

• Copyright - for words


• Patent - for design (including drugs, and perhaps now (I think there's a debate on this) genetics)


• Trademarks

And some other stuff - but I really don't know. Anyway - for a more introductory level, look for general stuff on IP. Bear in mind that at Manchester, by the time you choose to study IP, you'd already have completed contract and property law.

Anyway - have a mooch around the site and I hope you feel inspired! As I said, much of this was REALLY scary to me when I started aged 18, so if it looks hard, don't worry - you'll get your head round it in the end. :-)

Although I dare you to understand land law and EU law - both are still totally above my head, and I have the degree already! LOL :-)

[nadolig]

you need a good science degree to be a patent attorney. you're highly unlikely to get a training contract without one. see www.cipa.org.uk