Why Law Students Need Practical Work Experience Too

Gaining some law work experience is vital for anyone wanting to improve their chances of getting a training contract. The main reason for this is that practising an area of law can be very different to studying an area of law so the more practical work experience a student can get the better.

It may be that students have more than one favourite subject when they are studying, for example they may like criminal law and commercial law. However, when they begin to research firms to apply to for a training contract they find that  firms seem to practise one or the other and not both.

They may therefore choose to apply to both types of firm. This may be risky, however, if they have not gained some practical work experience of the different types of law.

When they have success in gaining a training contract the risk is they will find out that they do not like practising the particular type of law in the same way they enjoyed studying it.

This illustrates how important it is for law students to undertake some real world legal work experience with a range of law firms.

The person in the above mentioned example would have been better advised to spend time on law placements at different law firms specialising in criminal law and commercial law separately. By getting some work experience they would have reduced the risk of making a mistake by having much more information to base their decisions on where to apply to for their training contract.

Legal work experience exists in various forms from formal summer vacation schemes to more informal work shadowing or voluntary work.

It is important to look into the various work experience possibilities not only in the area you live to study but also where you might be living during the university or law school holidays if different.

After doing the research you then need to form a written plan about who you are going to approach for work experience and when. Not only will this ensure you get practical experience in the areas of law you are interested in, it will also give you a broad experience to help with your decisions making later on.