Is anyone else feeling out of place? London and Diversity

Now I promised you a blog about my Linklaters event and about black and ethnic minorities and low and behold I get to kill these two birds with one GIANT stone!

Tuesday the 4th of December was meant to be an epic day for me. It was a landmark day for many reasons and here are a few: it was my first trip to London by myself (I know at 22 this shouldn't be such an achievement), it would be my first experience in a big London city firm and I was to take part in a live commercial awareness event. Now I use the term taking part but I will clarify this later on.

So, Tuesday the 4th. All the way to London I was panicking, what if they don't like me, what if I feel out of place, I hope there are other people there like me.... The list of agonising questions goes on.

When I arrived at the Linklaters offices on Silk Street I was MOST impressed. It was everything I imagined from a firm of its calibre. Clean, open spaces  nice receptionist, quick sign in process.... They even had water which was a step up from when they came to my university for an event considering I had to request water like I was requesting a fine wine in a restaurant. 

There was a lot of milling around and small talk, both of which I could have avoided but I did get to meet some very nice undergraduate girls who like me were nervous about the whole thing. The email that we all received to request our company on the night didn't really give a lot away about how the night was going to run. I'm not sure if this was a tactic done by Linklaters to enhance the feeling of anticipation or they just weren't sure either but I have to give it to them, anticipation won out on the night. 

I was disappointed to find out that the questions were pre- selected, this wasn't the impression I had from the email. I had prepared a few questions of my own to ask which went unanswered. I guess they wanted things to run smoothly but I would have liked a more on their toes kind of approach that I have come to expect from Linklaters. Or at least this is how they sell themselves to the graduate public like myself. 
I strongly believe the trip to Hong Kong was pre-selected as well. From those that I spoke to we got the impression that it was to be announced on the night. I don't know how they came to the conclusion of who was to be the winner or what criteria it was based on but it would have been nice to know to see if I even had a chance in the first place. My whole purpose for going was because I thought it would be announced on the night, I could have just stayed at home and watched it online to save myself the hassle.  From the girl's impression that won she did not look very surprised. So I left with my questions unanswered and my dreams of Hong Kong shattered.  

Now, on to the subject of minorities in law. I'll make it brief within this post because I would like to address this issue fully at a later. Put simply I was the ONLY black, Muslim woman in the room. 
Now let me address this criteria separately but in brief. I was not the only black person in the room, there was only one other black girl and she looked as awkward as me about that fact.
I was not the only Muslim in the room. There was one other Muslim girl but she was not wearing hijab (a term used to refer to the head scarf covering). I didn't find out she was Muslim until the event was finished and she approached me and asked how I felt about being the only visibly Muslim woman in the room.
And from what I have already written it can be deduced that I was not the only woman in the room. But even there I felt slightly uncomfortable. It seemed like more of a fashion and beauty parade than a legal event with the way people were dressed. To be honest I felt rather under dressed. 
Now, I'm not saying that they needed to fill the room to the brim with black, Muslim females but jheeze, just one other would have been nice.

In relation to this point I would also like to address the people of the panel on the night. There were 4 panelists. 3 white middle aged males and one middle aged female. Now, pertinent to commercial awareness is the ability to put yourself in the client's shoes. In this scenario, I would consider us, the audience, to be the client. And here's where I started to seriously doubt Linklaters. Who were the people that I was supposed to relate to on that panel? Is it enough that I identify with them on a professional level? Is this even possible at the current stage of my career? I don't think so. I was left lacking interest and faith in the firm when I realised this was it. After selling themselves to me personally as a firm that prides themselves on diversity within the firm I failed to see the diversity in that panel. Yes there was one woman but she seemed soo removed from my beginnings and my self how could I identify with her as lovely as she was?
All in all I can't completely fail the experience. I got to see the firm for what it is and this has helped me to figure out where I would fit into such a place. But at the same time I was forced into getting a real grip on myself with this law as a business. Times have not changed so much that it doesn't matter about the colour of your skin, your sex or your background. Things ARE changing slowly, but notions things still linger around like a bad smell. 

Don't let my experience put you off applying to Linklaters or any other firm, just be strong in your convictions and know that one day you will get there. you will be the first of your kind and others will look to you and think "WOW, if they can do it i can do it to!"

Take care,

Christal

So you need legal work experience... To get experience? I'm confused too!

Ok, so this post is about something that JUST this moment occurred to me! The title of this post is: So you need legal work experience... To get experience? I'm confused too!

And in essence I would be inclined to tell you that the answer is yes... And let me explain.

I have been applying for vacation schemes recently (closing dates on most are the 31 of January if you didn't know) and the questions have been pretty much what I expected. Why do you want to be a commercial lawyer? Where do you see yourself in the firm? Describe a position of responsibility you have held in school or college? Blah, blah, blah.....

And then you get to the work experience part of the online application. And if you're like me you start to panic. Yes I have undertaken legal work experience, I've worked in my local CAB, did a week in the Birmingham Crown Courts and a solicitors around the corner from there but then it hit me. I need legal work experience to gain legal work experience?

Surely, that can't be true. But it is! After having one application rejected on that basis it got me thinking. Between the ages of 16-21 you are expected to suck up every legally inspired position you can find, while studying and if your families anything like mine dealing with a WHOLE load of stress. Then you get to uni, and if you went to the University of Derby you will know that legal work experience was restricted to the type of module you undertake i.e. the Skills module in 3rd year. This may have changed now but this was the case at the time. So where is this experience meant to come from other than the CAB which I am now thinking may not even be enough.

Then you go for a post graduate degree to invest in your future and develop your skills, and you find out all the pro bono work is aimed at undergraduates and you are no longer an undergraduate so this is no help to you at all. So you go back to the CAB, where you started, to gain MORE work experience.

Now, I'm not saying law was ever going to be easy. And for me it's not a bed of roses, I'm a black, Muslim woman (blog post coming in the future on this topic) hitting at least 3 of the under recruited sectors in the working world but come on! Someone give me a break!!

In realising all of this I thought I'd give my top 4 points on how to prepare yourself for this particular section of the online application forms, especially if you're just thinking about a career in law and you're either still in secondary school, just about to start your degree or you're a post graduate like me. 

1. A lot of firms are now participating in schemes that encourage secondary school pupils to pursue a career in law. Grab this opportunity with BOTH hands! Nothing even on this scale was available to me when I was in secondary school and I think this is a GREAT initiative. 
2. Contact your local CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau). It may not be glamorous to start with but it's good hands on experience and cannot be passed up because you don't want to roll up your sleeves and get down to the nitty gritty.
3. Write and phone as many law firms as you can, asking for a week, or even a day of shadowing someone for experience. It may feel like you're cold calling like a sales person but this is your career, it requires work to reach the top.
4. Start your own pro bono work. Now this may sound daunting but it is something I am looking into myself because of the SERIOUS lack of post graduate opportunities there are at my university. Any changes that could be made to the system unfortunately will be made too late to benefit me in any way. If you see a niche or something that needs doing, do it. As the phrase goes if you want something done properly you have to do it yourself.

On the topic of transferable skills, I would say don't underestimate these either but you will need to sell them HARD like you work on a market stall. In my opinion, firms say they want transferable skills but I'd imagine they're take legal work over these any time. Join societies and clubs but don't let them cloud the end goal. playing for the local 5-a-side sounds good but where does the law come in?

Well, I hope this helps. Feel free to leave comments and tell me your experiences with legal and non- legal work experiences. 
I'm going to a commercial awareness panel at Linklaters LLP this evening (post on this coming soon). Commercial awareness is always a tricky one to pin point and hopefully I'll be able to help you with that as well.

Take Care,
Christal :D

Hello and Welcome to my blog "The Good, the Bad and The Legal!"

My name is Christal Williams I am a future lawyer (or that's what those of use who are scrabbling for vacation schemes and training contracts would like to think!).

Keeping this to the 'legal format' I have attained a 2:1 qualifying law degree in Law (International Law) and my A level results are A B C (below what most firms are looking for but I will persevere).

As many of the law students out there I am currently applying for schemes and training contracts in law firms, mostly because as most of the legal student population  I cannot afford to pay upfront for an LPC. This is nothing new to those of us who are banging away at our keys trying to remember why we wanted to do law and what positions of responsibility we have held during school or college!!

Like most I have dreams of being a City lawyer. And by City lawyer I mean having the luxury to grab a subsidised tea (or coffee) at the in house restaurant while checking my emails on my iPhone or Blackberry in the lift to my office which I share with another solicitor before checking the in tray on my desk for new assignments. Did I capture the dream well?

The most helpful thing you can do to help your chances, in my opinion, to gain one of these elusive training contracts or even a vacation scheme (more elusive than a unicorn spouting pineapple fizzy soda from the front and money from the back) is to book an appointment with the careers adviser in your respective universities. I did this and it did WONDERS not just for my application but for my self esteem.

My hopes and aspirations for this blog is to bring the concept of 'commercial awareness' to life (something that was MUCH needed when I was at undergrad) and to share my experiences and news stories that interest me to you. 

You are not alone in this, law is no picnic in the park but we've all got to get there at some point in time. 

Persevere with the vacation scheme and training contract applications, they're all worth it in the end.

Christal :D

P.S. I'm hoping to make these blog posts a regular thing so people feel free to comment on what you'd like me to cover or any important issues you think are affecting law students today.