So, as per request, I have made this blog to give advise to those who want to take law in university and this will just consist of what I did to get into my law degree and what I also should've done.
Why do you want to do law?
All my life I found myself being fascinated in crime and the legal system and up until recently, all I would watch was crime shows like NCIS, Criminal Minds, Homeland, etc. I also found myself very concerned with how the world worked especially in the case of human rights and from there, I knew I wanted to do law and my desire was to specialise in criminal law and become a barrister. This soon grew into a new desire to be a human rights lawyer and work for something like the United Nations.
However, I recently found out (recently as being the last few years) that the life of a barrister is not what it seems and my misguided idea of them was due to the sensationalisation of the legal system in US shows I watched such as Bull.
The US criminal system is NOTHING like the UK- did you know it is illegal to shout out "objection"??!!! Not to put anyone off but, in my opinion, the UK legal system is very boring and way more technical than what I could've ever thought. The life of a barrister is a very long journey and you will have to fund yourself for most of it. Moreover, it was shocking to see how the human rights sector is a very 'underpopulated' one and there are not many avenues to get into it, and it's sad because it is something I really care about.
Long story short after going on some corporate law placements I discovered that, for me, I would rather work in the corporate world, and I have gained an interest in competitive and environmental law. Everywhere I go, human rights stands as this little or non-existent force but a solicitor said to me at my last placement that the standard of living of a nation is down to things like taxes and corporate law is where tax regulations are at, for example. So it is not as if by doing corporate law I am abandoning my passion for human rights but just not doing it in the picturesque way we often imagine. All of this has taught me to, yes, have a desire, but also that I should not box myself in it because there are so many, many, many areas of law that I don't know and am yet to discover.
Like I was saying, TV makes law looks so fun, which is why I think it is such a populated subject, but there are also many not so many fun parts of it. Can you believe in my last placement I shadowed someone in the derivatives section??! I still don't really get it, and it was sooo boring. So you need to decide if you want to do law and will stick with law through thick and thin. There are many modules I'm not looking forward to but I will face it nonethless because law is where I want to be.
Choosing the right subject &univeristy
After deciding to do law in university, you should look at what subjects are needed to be taken to both get into (your desired) university and be able to even do a law degree. Luckily, unlike other degrees, universities don't really ask for a specific A level, but they ask for subjects that include a lot of essay-writing and needs skills like critical thinking. I took English Literature, Classics and History, which all fitted well with this requirement.
Moreover, some universities will require the LNAT law exam or will have their own entrance exam. I was lazy and did not want to do the LNAT and so chose universities that did not require it and though I was always going to pick Warwick, I kind of regret not doing the LNAT because not doing it limits you to a small pool of university choices, i.e, not the big London ones and Oxford.
In terms of revising for these exams, even if you think you are amazing, please look up past papers and advise on writing these papers. In my school library, they had a book on how to write the Cambridge Admissions exam and it helped a lot. Also, you do not need to have good law knowledge but it would be good to read about the basics and keep up to date with world affairs. When it comes to writing essays, especially, case studies are your best friend.- case studies being past court cases and knowing their outcome and also having an opinion it. When it came to writing the Cambridge exam, a lot of the things I referenced were legal cases I had read from a book that I did not think I would reference.
I advise anyone doing it to not cram revision in last minute but start revising in the summer , this way you can do a bit every week and not have to sacrifice your academics. Moreover, you will find yourself knowing and remembering more than if you were to do it a few weeks before. If you can get your teachers to mark it, even if they don't do law, your teachers wil know what is a good essay and what isn't.
When it comes to writing your essays/answers, simplicity is key. When it comes to writing this, the admission tutors ate more concerned with how you explore a question as opposed to what you actually know or how fanciful you can write.
So make sure to explicitly outline your points in your introduction so the reader knows what to expect and understands where you are going. Don't be afraid to also headline your paragraphs if you would like to make it all the more clearer. Your aim is to not 'word vomit' all you know but use it to form an argument based on your opinion.
"Though it may be argued xyz, I believe tha xyz. To argue my point further I will be exploring xyz in terms of factor 1, factor 2, factor 3"
^^This is literally how I start every introduction.
IN THAT LIGHT DO NOT LEAVE YOUR ANSWER AMBIGUOUS LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!
And end with a conclusion that summaries what you have said. And if you don;t have time, that's okay because your introduction would've covered some things, why is why it is important.
Also, finally, though you are arguing your view point, do not forget to argue the other side to show that you are analytical and idk add another fancy word, but you get the jist.
Work experience tips
1. Get your careers councillors to email barristers or chambers asking if you can shadow them
2. Join initiatives like Rare which will give you opportunities to take up work experience
3. Constantly check out your schools' career memos
4. Independently look up work experience at Latham and Watkins, Linklaters, Clifford Chance, etc
5. Independently email courts near you asking to shadow them
6. Independently visit courts like the Royal Courts of Justice and Old Bailey
7. Note what you did and maybe how it influenced your view on xyz
Personal statement(&interviews)
(My personal statement can be located at the bottom of the page, with examples of my tips)
Now onto making your personal statement and the interview process (if you have to do an interview).
When it comes to your personal statement, you should write about law generally but also a specific area that is interesting to you or you are passionate about. Talk about where this passion came from and what you did as a result.
For example, is there something you have noticed in your environment? Did you watch a documentary or shadow a lawyer? And what did you do from that? Did you buy a book to read more about it? Did you make an independent research project?
Through this, the university admission tutors will be able to see that you have the drive and academic independence/capability to study law.
Moreover, when it comes to both personal statements and interviews, make sure to keep up to date with current affairs either because you will be asked about this in an interview (I was kind of, kind of asked about Brexit) and it shows your drive to stay on top of things. If you cannot say something about something that happened in the past few weeks it suggests you are not bothered or truly passionate about law.
You will probably be at a point when you think wow this statement is amazing, well you are probably wrong. I thought the same thing until my mentors dismantled it and helped me changed it into something greater. We get so bogged down on putting 25% on what extracurricular activities we do but when it came to it, I wrote about 3 lines on it.
Also, when it came to talking about the work experience I did, I mentioned maybe 2 thigns in a brief sentence. Depending on where you are applying, I feel like the tutors care more about your academic capability, thought process and your individual/creative take on law. As you will see in my personal statement below, my statement was filled with a lot of academic things I did, which was made better by the fact that I did not study law as an A level student.
(If you do, do law for an A level try not to talk too much about it. You can use it as the base of your inspiration but branch off from it also)
- Like I said about the exams don't just blurt out everything you read and everything you did; pick out the best and most substantial things and expand on that
Finally, in terms of interviews, you will find that they will ask you on something that you might not really know and maybe give you a case study to read beforehand. Don't stress. What they want to see is if you can think outside the box and do it critically. Like I said, they want to know how you think, not what you know.
(Also for those who have an interview, don't make my mistake and not fully read the books that you mentioned in your PS. I spent hours trying to cram it in and luckily I wasn't comprehensively asked about it because boyyyy)
**I will do a blog on interview techniques**
The Degree
Finally, the actual degree. If you do not want to take a law conversion course and get a law degree straight out of university, then you need to take a law degree that covers the 7 fundamental modules, which are contract, criminal law, EU law, public law, tort, constitutional law, contract law, and equity and trusts. Consequently, in this light, you may not be able to take a Law degree with something else like sociology or psychology as they probably will not cover all of these.
Reading suggestions
1. Devil's Advocate by Ian Morley
2. Human Rights Blog
3. Crime by Nick Ross (also creator of Crime watch)
4. Newspapers
5. Cases studies which can be found on the internet, like on Wikipedia
6. Blogs on law, I read some from the Huffington Post
7. Just Law by Helena Kennedy
8. United Nations
9. Past papers for LNAT and admission exams
- The books I bought were very cheap from Ebay, don't stress yourself buying brand new ones
I really enjoyed setting up my 'law portfolio' , and still reference a lot of things I have learnt. I strongly recommend reading 'Crime' by Nick Ross, it was very insightful and I still reference things from it today.
Good luck on all your endeavours and remember to not make choices based on what others do or what seems fun but rather what would benefit you most. In that light, try to educate yourself on your decisions as much as you can so you won't be filled with regret. My school didn't really do anything for people who wanted to do law in terms of educating them and I realised a bit too late that information wouldn't come to me and that I had to run to opportunities and discover by myself what it is I was to do.
If you guys need anything more please feel free to ask. I'm a lawyer now oooooo.
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My Personal Statement:
I want to study Law because it lies at the heart of how a society functions. Helena Kennedy says it is the "bedrock of a nation; it tells us who we are, what we value, who has power and who hasn't", but I believe it goes beyond that. For example, it reflects the moral relativism of different communities. An example is the contention of human rights - a concept that was created loosely due to atrocities like World War II. Its incompatibility with ways of life has meant that in the East, the right to freedom of expression and equal rights has faced many challenges - rights we see being widely enforced in the West.
My interest in human rights began when I read an article detailing Royal Dutch Shell's complicity in human rights abuses carried out by the Nigerian military. A secret police unit was formed to quell opposition to their corruptive scandal, in which $1 billion ended up with a money launderer, exposing how powerful businesses can function outside of the law. Sadly, the power of multinational corporations allows them to coerce and corrupt governments. I attended an insight day at Latham and Watkins, and learnt that not all businesses are exploitive. The UN's guiding principles on business and human rights, introduced in 2011, has created a new framework for businesses with an ethos of "Protect, Respect and Remedy", but I believe that the State can 'manipulate' these guidelines. For example, one of the principles states that companies should be punished for violating human rights. However, its feeble wording allows the State to impose light punishments while still following the principles.
Upon researching Britain's voting ban for prisoners I was shocked to know so few could vote. I believe that denying prisoners this right is a contradiction of democracy. We get the right to vote for being citizens and our behaviour should not subject this.This prompted me to undertake a research project exploring the issue of human rights, and policing's effect on crime. To support this I read 'Just Law' by Helena Kennedy and 'Crime' by Nick Ross, who believe that the UK has a morbid perfectionism for battling crime and criticise Tony Blair's criminal reforms. For example, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 allowed a person to be re-trialled if new evidence came to light. I believe that while technological advancements, such as credit cards, help cut crime they have paved a way for ‘new crimes’, such as, digital fraud. Blair fails to realise that punishment is not the key to cutting crime but addressing social factors that compel people to commit crime. Creating heavier deterrents for a certain crime or putting more security measures in place will simply shift criminals elsewhere.
In reading 'Devil's Advocate' by Iain Morley, I became critical at how justice had become an art in which lawyers had the ability to manipulate evidence, through things like physical representation. However, after watching a TED-talk by Ronald Sullivan, my critical outlook changed; he says "law must be a reality for everyone so that innocent people do not go to prison" and so it is their duty to to do what it takes to ensure this. I began to understand this further when I shadowed a barrister at Essex Chambers and attended a GBH case at the Criminal Court. I also took part in a mock trial at the Royal Courts of Justice, re-enacting the 1930 Alfred Rouse murder case, acting as his solicitor.
As School Vice Captain, I have a duty to monitor the welfare of students, which has greatly cultivated my pre-emptive skills. I run a Christian Society and to promote an inclusive environment, I have to use my analytical skills to present talks that are thought-provoking and educational. Also, being a Female Genital Mutilation ambassador has allowed me to court my creativity and communication skills. I believe that my exhilaration for Law as a subject and strong work ethic, make me an exceptional candidate.