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.
