Choosing a Course

Whatever course you do, you'll end up doing the same core subjects you need to earn your professional exemptions, so you'll be studying criminal law, public law, law of the European Union, contracts and tort, land and property law, and equity and the law of trusts. The choice after that is yours to specialise among a range of options, which you need to check are available at your chosen institution, such as tax, international or family law.

Some courses have a tendency to put law into context (even a moral context), rather than just have you learning cases by rote, although even that kind of graft still goes cheek by jowl with the analytical skills you'll he developing.

In practice, most students have long decided what area they want to specialise in, as applications for sponsorship by law firms have to be made during the second and third years of undergraduate study'. Sponsorship for both the LPC and BVC is available.

So how do you choose between being a barrister or a solicitor? The skills of each profession are diflcrent, so research and think what you would enjoy most. The barrister is currently the front person in the law courts, while the solicitor is the person who deals with the client and prepares the evidence.

Another factor may be the cost. Few students are sponsored and both the LPC and BVC can cost upwards of £8,000. Once you've done your Bar finals you need a pupillage, but you can then practise. It takes longer to he a solicitor, and that extra time means more money.

More worrying is that the final choice may not be yours. The legal profession suffers from an image of discrimination, of being a bastion of white, middle-class men, an image many admit is not unfounded. Having said that, more women are now applying to, and getting places in, law schools. Finns want great GCSEs, A-levels and a 2:1 or above, traditional qualifications that mean some firms recruit from traditional backgrounds. The situation is improving, but there may be extra barriers ahead of you.

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