Last month, Professor Gary Slapper rounded on those who reckon law is boring to study, delivering a memorable tribute to a "spellbindingly vivid and varied subject" that "governs everything from the embryo to exhumation."
Of course, the road to becoming a lawyer can also be not-so-glamorous at times, especially at the vocational training stage of the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), Legal Practice Course (LPC) and Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), where students are required to absorb vast amounts of often fairly dry information in a short timescale.
As they do so, the spirits of even the most committed can begin to flag – with some giving up on their lawyer dreams altogether. Here`s how to make it through to the fun bit of actually practising as a solicitor or barrister.
Law school is neither a sprint nor a marathon
Instead, it`s "more like an 800 metre race", says trainee-to-be Laurence Mills, who studied history and politics at Oxford before heading to the College of Law`s Moorgate branch to do the GDL. Mills believes that the key to cracking arguably the most challenging of the postgraduate legal courses, the GDL, is, on one hand, "not exhausting yourself by working seven days a week", but on the other, "using time outside class to consolidate knowledge". He adds: "It`s not a particularly glamorous course, so get in, get the job done and get out."
When it comes to the LPC, Dr Philip Roberts, head of programme development at Kaplan Law School, recommends a similar strategy. "It is a very intensive course, and some of the ways of studying that students may have developed as undergraduates – for example, leaving things to the last minute and then working all night to finish an essay – can cause them problems," he says.
To succeed, Roberts advises students to "see this year as the first year of their professional lives".
Be strategic
With its advocacy component and associated inns of court dinners, the BPTC is widely regarded as sexier than the GDL and LPC courses. But the tricky drafting and opinion writing components that students must complete, alongside hefty procedural law modules, make it just as challenging.
Given the extra-curricular commitments, such as mooting, that prospective barristers are expected to fulfil in addition to their study, doing well on the BPTC requires a degree of strategising, suggests Jack Harris, a City Law School alumni who`ll commence pupillage next year at a leading Bristol barristers` chambers. He advises:
"Look at what you have to do. Look at why you have to do it. Are you going to be assessed on it? And how extensively? Find the quickest route to completing the work in a way which means you have learned what you need to learn. If you won`t be assessed on the evolution and history of rule, and don`t think it will help your understanding of the rule proper, yet find a large chunk of your reading is devoted to this topic: skip it."
Never lose sight of the end game
Most students go to law school with the express intention of gaining a training contract or pupillage. Yet a surprising number neglect to pay sufficient time to the task of applying for jobs, losing themselves instead in the quest to score top grades. In reality there`s not a lot of point getting full marks on the LPC or BPTC if you`ve got no job to go to at the end of it, as David Carter, recruitment partner at top City law firm Ashurst, hints:
"I would say that a portion of time should really be spent on the steps to be taken after law school — it is a vocational course after all. I would hope that this training contract hunt would not be at the expense of achieving top results, but if the endpoint is a training contract and a few marks less, then so be it. Please note that the best students manage to encompass excellence in all respects and that is who we look for."
Don`t be too cool for school
With swarms of friends made at university, students often begin their vocational legal study minded not to make a huge effort to socialise with their peers. It`s a mistake, says LPC graduate Cat Pond, who`s currently working as a paralegal at Constituency Management Group. "Make allies in your class," urges Pond. "Not only will you have someone to drink with but they may very well end up being a better teacher than the one actually hired by your college. Law students are surprisingly great at tutoring each other, and if you find yourself baffled by promissory estoppel in land law class then chances are your mate across the room may be an expert."
Blog with care
There`s a growing blogging scene among law students, be it via more traditional Wordpress sites, Tumblr blogs or simple Twitter accounts and community Facebook pages. Participation in these mediums is a great way for students to enrich their law school experiences – and forge useful contacts – by engaging with practising lawyers, although it`s unlikely to land them a job directly. As Stephanie Wookey, a pupil barrister at 2 Dr Johnson`s Chambers, puts it: "If you know more about Pussy Riot than particulars of claims, you won`t be in a position to commence any formal training at a law firm or barristers` chambers."
Most importantly, blogging future lawyers must remember that they`re expected to exercise good judgment about what they write. Embarking on an "I HATE LAW SCHOOL" rant on a public Facebook page, for example, is highly unadvisable. As is sending an ex-professional footballer a series of racist tweets.
Take time out to prevent yourself from spiralling into madness
The aforementioned social media moments of madness could perhaps have been avoided if the law students in question had been exposed to the "Mindfulness in Law" initiative recently launched by top US law school Berkeley. Implemented with a view to combating the intense stress of law school, the scheme focuses on "exploring the benefits of meditation to legal education and law practice". It`s an approach that Westminster Law School academic Professor John Flood would like to see adopted by law schools in the UK. "Law is one of the most stressful subjects to study. It`s disorientating, apparently irrational at times, doesn`t seem to be about justice, and disconnected from real life. These are some of the feelings that students have," he says.
In the meantime, Flood encourages UK law students to take pro-active steps of their own to keep themselves in good mental shape, recommending Eugen Herrigel`s Zen and the Art of Archery, and Robert Pirsig`s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as a way of "thinking about law, creating empathy and coping with the great stresses of studying law".
Alex Aldridge is the editor of Legal Cheek
Source:law@guardian
