Law Apprentice

Lawcareers.net Basic Training Event, and alot of women!

2008-03-22T10:53:00.006Z

I recently attended the basic training event hosted by Lawcareers.net, it is a really good website for anyone who needs advice or a guiding hand when first adopting the path of becoming a lawyer. The event itself was a simple lecture based presentation by Lawcareers website representatives. Alot of law firms were also present, such as Denton Wilde Sapte, Mayer Brown and Sidley Austin, there were some others but they were the ones that stood out the most.

The presentation was held in the BPP College of Law just off Red Lion Street, right near Holborn underground station. There was a presentation by one of their representatives, and that was a fantastic speech, he was a barrister and his voice and body language commanded the respect of the room, it was quite fascinating to watch, he provided me with some good tidbits of information in deciding a law school to complete my LPC.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience, I had read or heard most of the information that was being provided before, and I couldn't help feel a little out of place compared to the multitude of young students.

Especially the large amount of females that attended the event, I had also noticed this on my Law degree course there was a dramatic inbalance of the female to male ratio. Don't misunderstand me, I wasn't intimidated nor concerned, I guess I was just a little overwhelmed as my belief was that law was traditionally a male dominated profession (I am assuming it still is) but here I was surrounded by hungry female lawyers.

I found it quite liberating as it emphasised to me a potential shift in the balance of male/females in the legal industry, not to mention the fact I would potentially have less males to compete with for training contracts

However I seemed to have digressed from the actual event, but it was something I felt needed to be blogged just to see if anyone else noticed a large amount of females on their courses.

Anyway, the presentations were quite informal, the most striking presentation was by the Sidley Austin trainee solicitors. It was a witty, funny and satisfying presentation which left an impression in my mind, especially the brief comment about having to stay in work till midnight to finish a deal. That seemed to draw a few gasps from the audience but it never really phased me, I didn't apply to be a lawyer expecting 4pm early finishes and crawling into work at 9:30am, my eyes were wide open actually expecting 14hr days, maybe I am just a weird one.

Well thats enough for today, I am going to go open some easter eggs and stuff my face with chocolate till I pass out, provide another update soon

I live once more! I am missing a title graphic....

2008-03-20T10:39:00.004Z

Been a long time since I decided to actually make a blog post on here been busy studying for my Law Degree which I began in September 2007, and I am nearing the finishing line for the 1st year in May 2008.

Currently studying hard (well hard is subjective) for my Constitutional and Contract Law exams/coursework and some other modules as well. The Constitutional Law exam defies belief at how much information you are suppose to digest and then regurgitate, its the main reason I am starting a couple of months early on the revision.

But I will try and keep the blog up to date again as a few people e-mailed me regarding the blog asking if I would be carrying on with it, so I decided to cave in and give it some more updates.

I am alot wiser to the actual workings of a law degree now and have attended a few law fairs, which have been interesting to say the least and I will be attempting to translate these experiences for the benefit of everyone who happens to stumble onto my blog

Thanks for reading, and I hope to be sorting the title graphic out at some point in the future

Slow blogging, tons of work

2007-05-17T10:22:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but currently working my ASS off and studying law.

At some point when the work cools down I will get right back to blogging again.

Nearly Legal Blog

2007-05-11T07:14:00.000+01:00

Whilst perusing over the ever growing number of blogs currently on the internet, the NearlyLegal blog was brought to my attention. I am sure it's a long standing blog, but I found the site very informative on current matters of law, accompanied by a witty opinionated response to some topics.

I especially liked NearlyLegal's response to the law firm starting an office in the Second Life virtual word, quotes such as "..do they want their trainees turning up as Daleks, purple baboons and winged dominatrixes?" had me laughing out loud whilst at work.

I would highly recommend adding it to your favourites, it certainly lightens my day and keeps me informed at the same time.

Lawcareers.net, mature student stories

2007-05-09T11:05:00.000+01:00

Lawcareers.net has just published a super article from two mature students who changed careers into law. Its a real bonus to me, to actually see that people who transferred to law older than me and managed to secure training contracts in fantastic law firms. The link to the article is located here

Here is a highlight of it:

"Kathryn's Top 10 Tips on Getting a Training Contract

Target the right firms
Aim high, but be realistic - and remember that one of the main things regional practices look for in candidates is stability, which gives those who emphasise their connection to the area an advantage. Remember also that some firms are willing to take on prospective trainees as paralegals first, which can be a good option for career changers.

Go to the right university and law school
Prestige and fees play their parts - Gavin, for instance, headed straight for BPP's City LPC - but you should also look at learning options. "I didn't realise at the time how difficult distance learning is," says Kathryn, and yet it was one way of fitting the GDL around family life. Note also that less well-known regional colleges can be a good choice for those keen on firms local to the provider.

Do well at law school
"Aim for a distinction," advises Kathryn, "be happy with a commendation - especially if you have kids or a job or both - and re-evaluate things if you get a straight pass. It sounds harsh, but it's reality." Try also to participate in any extra-curricular activities on offer. "Law firms worry that mature applicants are old dogs who can't learn new tricks. Show them that you are willing to take on new challenges, learn new things and muck in with the youngsters."

Get yourself recognised
You need to get your name on that preferred inbox list, but there are ways and means. "It's kind of intimidating just to call someone up and say I'd like to have a chat with you. But when you're at an event like LawCareers.Net's Basic Training, they're standing there waiting to talk to you, so that's the ideal opportunity for a mature student to get in there and get their face recognised."

Know the application deadlines
Make sure you apply before the deadline date! But if you do miss a deadline for a firm you're really keen on, keep checking their website - sometimes circumstances do change.

Follow application directions
"Don't think that because you are older and your credentials and experience are non-standard that the rules don't apply to you," warns Kathryn. "Make your qualifications fit. They will bin your CV without looking at it if you don't."

Send out practice applications
Inevitably, you learn by doing, and your first applications may not be as good as your final ones. Therefore, start by applying to a few firms lower down your list and leave your favourites till last.

Do not blow the interview
Be prepared to answer the two questions almost all career changers face: why the change and how will you feel being supervised by people younger than yourself? As goes for any interviewee, it is important to convey as much energy, enthusiasm and openness as possible.

Mind your manners
Don't underestimate the power of a follow-up email or thank you card after an interview, letting the recruiter know you're grateful for the opportunity. "Taking this extra step shows enthusiasm and good client care skills, which are vital for ambitious law firms in the 21st century," Kathryn comments. On the other hand, bugging recruiters for a decision is unlikely to go down well.

Always be prepared
"You never know who you'll meet at your son's sixth birthday party or while sitting on a train," says Kathryn. "Always look presentable and follow up every lead. A girl on my LPC met a guy on a train who was a partner at a firm and this contact eventually led to an interview. It does happen.""

Barrister2b blog

2007-05-09T08:27:00.000+01:00

http://barrister2b.blogspot.com/ is a blog that was recently brought to my attention. The individual writing the blog is much like myself, moving from a IT background into law. He is a little further along in the whole process but his blogs make for a good read, and it is nice to know I am not the only IT convert.

As his blog title suggests he is attempting to secure a pupillage, its quite a nice alternative to my blog, where it is more likely that I will be attempting to qualify as a solicitor and not a barrister.

So head over there and have a read, I enjoyed it so felt it deserved note.

Revising at the moment for some extra qualifications I want to achieve before I begin my degree in September, hence the reason that there are not so many blogs at the moment. Normal blogging will re-commence after I finish the exam in a months time

Intellectual Property Law

2007-05-03T10:01:00.000+01:00

Unlike most first year students who have just finished their A-Levels and are trying to go out and party as much as they can (allegedly), I have the luxury of experience and time to make a decision on what area of law I would like to specialise in.

I would be very naive to make a final decision on an area of law now, but it's nice to at least have something I can focus my attention on, as well as doing alot of reading up on modules due in my first year.

On top of this I was looking for something that would enable me to make some use of the IT knowledge I have accumulated over the years. I don't really want a subject that would embellish me in IT again but just something that would touch on it. I thought it might be beneficial from a CV point of view as well.

I have also made a mental note to try and put in some happier blogs, I briefly looked over some of my previous blogs and they seem to have tones of melancholy about them. Its beginning to make me look like a closet depressive, when I am actually a very happy guy.

I found some interesting links to information about IP and IP law and listed them below incase anyone else is interested

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/whatis.htm - Base IP explanations
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ipr/IntellectualProperty.htm -Overview of IP
http://www.ip-institute.org.uk/ - IP Institute
Law Society Property Law

I know there is many more but this is just a snippet, if you know of any really good links, leave a comment pointing to it, thanks

Girlfriends Birthday

2007-05-01T11:20:00.000+01:00

I think the title indicates the event occuring over the next couple of days. And before you ask, no the picture on the left is not a picture of my girlfriend, if it was I think I would have to end the relationship.

She will be 23 and coming into her final year at university, she is currently studying Theatre Design (I'm sure I have stated that before). She does have a 'dappy' attribute to her character and that attribute shone through today. I thought it might be an enjoyable blog to document.

I got to work at my usual time of 7am, doing the usual business/IT reports for the company directors/managers and everything was great, well as great as work can be. I spent the following two hours doing my daily work load, fixing PC's, configuring telephone networks etc etc. This was until I received a phone call from my girlfriend at 9am. She spent the previous evening at my flat and being a student didn't need to crawl into university until 10am. She was being particularly nice to me, and as any good man knows alarm bells start to ring in your head that a request for something abnormal or extreme is about to be presented to you. Except this request was something a little more comical.

Just to set the scene, my flat does not make use of a Yale lock, which is basically designed to lock behind you as soon as you close your front door. My front door uses a Chub lock. This basically means that I need to unlock it when I want to go out, close the door behind me and lock it behind me. (Most people will probably know the difference between the locks but I thought it best to explain). Anyway, my girlfriend being 'dappy' as she is, gave me a kiss goodbye this morning watched as I unlocked the door and locked it behind me and proceeded to relax the rest of the morning blissfully unaware that HER FRONT DOOR KEYS were sitting on her desk at University.

9am conversation on my mobile went something like this:

Me: "Hey honey, so what do I owe the pleasure?"
GF: "Oh my god I am locked IN, I AM LOCKED IN, I have a presentation and I am LOCKED IN, did I say I was LOCKED IN??????"
Me: "Woah woah, calm down, slowly, breath, now whats the problem?"
GF: "I left my keys at University and I AM LOCKED IN, I can't jump 2 floors out of the window, I was going to try but decided I could break a limb.....I need you to drive back and let me out of this prison!!!"

So being the gentlemen, I spent an hour driving to the flat, and an hour heading back into work. I had to lose my lunch hour to rescue my girlfriend from the dreaded clutches of the evil flat, and an extra hour at the end of the day. Am I too nice? Or just plain crazy? I guess its her birthday and I didn't really have anyother choice, well that's what I tell myself.

New Lawyer2b website

2007-04-30T19:39:00.000+01:00

Just found out from my daily thelawyer.com newsletter that they have opened a new website for law students

You can find the website here I have skimmed over some of the site, and I was really impressed with the content I managed to read, I would definitely recommend a visit.

Normal blogging will resume soon.

Classic Deposition (Warning: Some explicit language)

2007-04-27T13:42:00.000+01:00

When the Cat's away the mice will play - 2007 Management Conference

2007-04-27T08:06:00.000+01:00

Each year at the company I work for there is an event called The Management Conference. The name gives away what it is, but to elaborate it's a day when all the managers and directors of the company meet up at a external location to discuss, analyse and attempt to improve the manner in which the company is managed.

This is what they would love you to believe, realistically its more like a giant wine tasting contest, except you swallow the wine and skip the sniffing, gargling and spitting part. Of course all those who are not managers remain at work, keeping the business running. Which brings me to my key point, do we need so many managers?

The company I work in seems to have this incessant need to appoint a manager for every aspect of work, I am sure we have a manager for 'Lavatory Activities'. It's so apparent today how many managers there are in the business because the office is nearly empty. Is there really a need for so many managers?

I don't think there is, in fact I find it so irritating that a company feels the need to glorify so many people with the 'manager' title. When I previously worked for an American company they seemed to have appointed nearly everyone who was a step down from president level to vice-president. So there was a vice-president of Accounts, HR, IT, Advertising, Marketing etc etc. These VP's, as they were so dutifully called, just seem to meander around the office appearing to do nothing. I am sure they were very busy and produced critical reports, but was there really a need to appoint so many.

Maybe I am being a little naive, but the departmental structure has to be drawn into question, when you have to make contact with four 'Managers' to actually get a purchase order raised and completed for a new laptop.

It is my belief that processes in any company should be as simplified as possible with as few interactions with different people. For example if you wanted to order a laptop, a 2-tier contact process should occur and the item is purchased. You need to confer on a report, then speak directly to the person who will be making use of that report, producing a 1-tier contact process. I feel anything above 3-tiers of contact results in changes, problems and ideas becoming diluted, it develops into a chinese whispers scenario.

I am sure most companies are managed efficiently, just the current one I am in seems to have lost the plot somewhere.

So today I am going to do nothing, at midday head to the company bar and chill with some beer and discuss the potential problems of the recent House of Lords ruling on unmarried couples and the division of their assets with people who have no idea what I am talking about. If a server crashes I will advise people they first have to speak to the IT Helpdesk Manager, who will then confer with the IT Network Manager, who in turn will need to speak to the IT Systems Manager, who will discuss this with the IT Operations Manager, a change control will then need to be raised for a tiny windows update which takes 1min to install. Finally I will state they will have to wait as all the managers are at The Management Conference 2007, bring on my law degree please....

First UK law firm opens 'virtual' office in Second Life

2007-04-26T10:31:00.000+01:00

No doubt most people have seen the headlines regarding the first uk law firm (Field Fisher Waterhouse) opening a 'virtual office' in Second Life. I read the article about it at Times Online and thought it might be interesting to try and give it a go, and see if I could find the 'virtual office' of Field Fisher Waterhouse.

So I installed Second Life on my computer, signed up, it was all quite simple and easy to perform. I created my avatar and named him 'Law Apprentice Oh', for some reason you have to give your avatar a family name, I chose 'Oh'. I am guessing it's for when you create more than one avatar it can then group them under one surname.

I logged into the game and was immediately struck by how slow it was, it took a good 5mins for my avatar and others around me to finish loading. I have quite a powerful PC considering I work in IT, it is a requisite of the job, so I couldn't believe it was something on my end. I then proceeded to follow through the tutorial, well some of the tutorial, I found it incredibly boring and time consuming and after eventually managing to pick up some bizarre medieval armour, I just shut it down.

So my journey to the 'virtual office' ended prematurely, in fairness to Second Life I didn't really give it a chance, so I might zoom back in there again at some point to continue the journey. The flying aspect of it I found to be great fun, the depth of the world appears incredible, but regarding the general movement and speed, I was not really impressed.

So if you managed to get it downloaded and installed have a look around for Law Apprentice avatar, I doubt I will be in there much but you never know, you can visit the Second Life website here

House = Money?

2007-04-25T09:59:00.000+01:00

Just had an interesting conversation on the phone with my girlfriend. She rung me to advise me that when she secures a job with a Design company (She is currently studying Theatre Design) she was thinking of saving frantically and then purchasing a house in the north of England. The idea behind this is to then rent the house out to students or professionals to make some extra money on the side. I think its a great idea, but it does seem a little too easy. I tried to usurp her position by presenting her with council tax, water rates and the many costs from building problems, but her lovable optimism shone through and she would not be disheartened. I shouldn't worry so much really, shes really intelligent, knows what she wants and is really good to me, I know she will make it work out.

So it seems the long term plan is to invest in a house in the north, then when I finish the law degree, and hopefully get a training contract we can invest in our own house. Sounds like a good plan. However it involves playing the waiting game. Following the many headlines about housing prices, I personally anticipate in the next 5yrs the prices will drop. Its surely inevitable as housing prices have risen 204% compared to wage increases of only 94% over (Source: www.bbc.co.uk). So we will wait in anticipation of this drop. I don't think they will drop dramatically like in 1979, but they will have to come down slightly.

The probability of this is encouraged by the housing graph on the http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/ website, notice how it rises and falls religiously each set amount of years. Maybe this period will be different but there is no harm in hoping

So today I am a good mood, amongst the other things in my life I have to look forward too, I can add this one to my list. Ironically it will probably turn out to be a nightmare in the end.

Law Apprentice Blog improvements

2007-04-24T14:06:00.000+01:00

You have probably noticed some changes to the layout and graphics on the blog. I am currently trying to make the blog a bit more appealing aesthetically, in the hope it will become more memorable. I also feel more compelled to work on if it is something I like the look of.

In the near future I will probably try and make the blogs a bit more animated and down to earth, and add in personal blogs about everyday life along with the seemingly serious blogs I have posted lately.

I am a very happy guy, with a beautiful girlfriend and a wonderful opportunity to succeed in law, but my blogs read like someone who is about to kill himself, so I think it might be an idea to diversify the blog slightly. I hope it may give people and myself a more rounded and entertaining view of me and my life, as at the moment it reads too serious.

Anyway thats all I have to say about that, if you have any comments about how it looks now let me know, all criticism is welcome. Thanks for still reading.

Intellectual Property Law

2007-04-24T13:43:00.000+01:00

Unlike most first year students who have just finished their A-Levels and are trying to go out and party as much as they can (allegedly), I have the luxury of experience and time to make a decision on what area of law I would like to specialise in.

I would be very naive to make a final decision on an area of law now, but its nice to at least have something I can focus my attention on, as well as doing alot of reading up on modules due in my first year.

On top of this I was looking for something that would enable me to make some use of the IT knowledge I have accumulated over the years. I don't really want a subject that would embellish me in IT again but just something that would touch on it. I thought it might be beneficial from a CV point of view as well.

I have also made a mental note to try and put in some happier blogs, I briefly looked over some of my previous blogs and they seem to have tones of melancholy about them. Its beginning to make me look like a closet depressive, when I am actually a very happy guy.

I found some interesting links to information about IP and IP law and listed them below incase anyone else is interested

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/whatis.htm - Base IP explanations
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ipr/IntellectualProperty.htm -Overview of IP
http://www.ip-institute.org.uk/ - IP Institute
Law Society Property Law

I know there is many more but this is just a snippet, if you know of any really good links, leave a comment pointing to it, thanks

Them and us

2007-04-23T12:31:00.000+01:00

Since I attained my place on a law degree at UCL, I have found that people treat me differently. Differently is a rather vague description, so to elaborate I would say they treat me with more respect. Everytime someone asks me what I do for a living, I let them know I work in IT, and they make some remark about 'lots' of money, I usually retort with a comment about the serious lack of money.

Following a discussion about the IT industries supply and demand matrix I let them know I have given up on IT, having obtained placement on a law degree in October, and their eyes light up. Its a warm feeling when people act this way, but I try my best to make sure I keep my feet firmly on the ground, as not to get caught up in the excitement of it all. I haven't even begun the journey yet and I find it's all too easy to become complacent.

I remind myself that Changing careers is not only changing physical aspects of my life, for example leaving my job or going back into education, its a change in thinking, a change in etiquette, a change in how I actually live. Its hard to admit but I do find my life has turned into a THEM AND US scenario.

Growing up I was from a family with a doctor for a father and nurse for a mother. We didn't consider ourselves middle class, in fact we didn't consider ourselves any class we just were happy existing day by day. I grew up in a neighbourhood that was very loose with its language, people would say phrases such as "Hello MATE","ain't" and "Alright geez" and many more. This was never a problem for me growing up or working in IT, I wasn't as crass as other people but I did find that I slipped into that tone when I was in the company of people who spoke like that. It was peer pressure, I wanted to fit in. (I do want to emphasise at this point that I was not some kind of Del Boy or Rodney Trotter, my accent was softer but it was evident nevertheless.)

Since deciding on a career in law, I have dedicated my days to improving my accent,attempted to stop calling people, who I don't know, "mate" and improving my overall diction and pronunciation. It's alot harder than I thought it would be. My girlfriend helps alot as she is the most well spoken person I know, I would compare her to Elizabeth Hurley's voice, so I find it easy to speak more elegantly around her.

However my friends and some family are still a problem.

Thus the 'Them and Us' connundrum has developed. What worries me is that by improving my diction I will alienate long term friends and family. Alternatively if I don't improve my pronunciation and diction I may as well give up the journey of being a lawyer right now. I can't imagine greeting a client with "Hello mate" or "No this contract ain't anygood". Its not that I would openly use this phrases but the odd slip could prove fatal.

I have committed myself to this path, regardless of the reaction of friends and family. These sacrifices are inevitable if I want to be a successful lawyer, and so I expect the odd comment about my change in language to emerge at some point.

I guess I wanted to write this blog because amongst the 95% (a number picked from thin air) of well spoken 'wannabe' lawyers there is the crassly spoken individual who strives for a life in law. I didn't really want them to feel like it was only them who worried about these things. I also thought it might be an interesting topic to blog about especially considering the law in the UK is striving to present a diverse selection of lawyers, more representative of the societies they exist for.

A dichotomy between thought and action

2007-04-21T23:12:00.000+01:00

So much to do, so little time. This seems to be my life at the moment there are many things I want to do before and during my law degree. I am split between actions and thoughts, either constantly thinking about what I need to achieve, or I spend all day trying to achieve something that I never even thought about.

The current list that I briefly compiled (in no particular order) consists of:

-Improving my writing skills, along with spelling/grammar
-Practising letter drafting, formal business writing
-Academic essay writing, revision techniques
-Improving my critical thinking
-Reading the FT, Times Law and general law papers/websites as much as possible
-Research potential law firms
-Improve my spoken english, pronunciation and curb some unsavoury accents

The problem at the moment is that I leap between each item, reading half a book or completing half an exercise. I really need to just sit down and complete one item and then move onto the next and then repeat until I am happy I have improved somewhat in each area.

In fact just writing this blog has allowed me to collate my thoughts in a more ordered fashion, so...er...thanks to me.

Law Firm Interviews and strange questions

2007-04-19T10:57:00.000+01:00

I have recently been reading Accidental Law Student and couldn't help notice in one of his blogs a strange question asked to him by some HR people in a law firm.

It got me thinking, wouldn't it be interesting to hunt down some obscure interview questions and answer them. I would claim it is in preparation for interviews in the far future, but it just seems like good fun for now. Interviews are too far away to consider any work now to be beneficial to them.

Anyhow I managed to find some and have posted them below along with some my responses (Not serious responses might i add)

If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?

Superman without a doubt, he has all the cool super abilities wrapped up into one

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
A young Charles Bronson, the man was brilliant in "Once upon a time in the west" with his harmonica

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

Mind reading and super speed

If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

Changes

If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs - such as food and water - were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?

PC and a yacht to sail back home in when i felt like it

If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time?
Travel South America, China and Russia

If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?
Spend every minute doing things that made me happy

If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be, and why?
Hitler, just to find out what was running through his mind during the holocaust and why

If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?

Wolf, because of their bond with their family/friends and their ability to be so gentle yet so aggressive when its required of them

If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?

A salad covered in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, healthy and sharp at the same time

If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you do with the money?

Invest in property throughout England, buy a nice car,nice house and live off the interest, might even invest in a small law firm of my own

If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you have?

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar

How do I rate as an interviewer?
You are not a particularly good interviewer

If you were a car, what kind would you be?
Petrol, 4WD...hmm maybe not probably a 1.1 now

Who do you admire the most and why?
I don't really admire anyone, I feel I want to make my own way in life, and admiring someone suggests that I attempting to perform what they did, which is not what I want

In the news story about your life, what would the headline say?
IT Harddrive cleaned, installing Legal software

I rushed most of the answers but thought it would be interesting to give it a go, maybe give it a go yourself

Got the corporate soul?

2007-04-18T07:56:00.000+01:00

Deciding a area of law you want to specialise in, is..well...hard. I thought as I have sometime till I begin my law degree I would go researching the different areas of law.

I don't know if it affects anyone else, but I find the call of high bonuses and wages a real calling in certain areas of law. People seem to repeat that they are moving into corporate law, it seems to be the area that most people feel the need to move into. I expect its because of the money, but I have a friend of a friend who works for Nabarro Nathanson (now called Nabarros) and she works in corporate law and finds that she spends some evenings sleeping in her office due to the work load. But this is usually only during large deals.

The idea of this, puts me a little more off corporate law but I think when I see the pay packet that would soften the pain. I am all for working long hours and I am a bit of an insomniac, living on 5hrs sleep most days.I then looked a little at IP law (Intellectual Property) and entertainment law. My girlfriend immediately warned me off entertainment law, claiming that anything to do with the entertainment world, is shallow and false. So that put that idea on the back burner, don't want to annoy her! So I am currently dipping my toes into the world of intellectual property, corporate and having a look at family law....you can see I am really not sure what to go for.

I am hoping that when I begin my degree I will have a more rounded idea of what different areas of law work would involve. What would be nice is a website describing in detail the typical day in the life of different lawyers in different areas of law, that way you can get an informed look at what you might be getting yourself into. Guess thats what work experience placements are for though.

Maybe I am getting ahead of myself too much....I should try walking before running.

(Upon reading this over again, I realise how terribly written it is, but it was 7:50am and I was at work half asleep, so show pity)

Law and ex-girlfriends not a good combination

2007-04-16T10:35:00.000+01:00

I am taking a blog out of the usual work, life, studies, money etc etc one, as I had a bit of a nasty surprise this weekend.

I signed up on facebook, due to the fact one of my old travelling buddies badgered me alot to go on there. So being weak willed I signed up, to my surprise alot of old Uni friends and school friends were on there and started sending me these friend requests. All was going well, I don't really like the idea of putting my face and details up to potentially millions of people but I rolled with it for a while.

The other day I was hovering over the deactivate account button, when I received another e-mail through for another friend request.

To my shock and horror it was a friend request from an ex-girlfriend I had known in the final year of my University life. It was a good relationship, but those kind of relationships where you feel like the other person is sniggering behind your back all the time. I swear she cheated on me at some point as well, but in all honesty it was all one sided, I was totally into her, and she was kinda into me. I was weak, stupid and naive and got used alot. Anyway, my current girlfriend finds this girl a threat, I totally understand that because I was a bit hung up on her even after I left university, and she put up with alot of my crap at the beginning of our relationship. My current girlfriend is MILES ahead of my ex, shes amazing and understanding and well..you get my point

Now your probably thinking "Hey thats great Law Apprentice but WHAT THE HELL has this to do with Law" Well irony of ironies she studied law at university and don't you just believe it she now works at a top law firm in London. CURSE YOU!!! CURSE YOUUUUUUU!!! (Whoever YOU is???!)

As you can imagine I noted the name of that law firm down and will now do WHATEVER it takes to avoid it like the plague. Your probably wondering why I am so adamant to stay away, I find it worrying that a girl who dumped me years ago would go out of her way to find me on facebook, its kind of fatal attraction like, especially when I told her to leave me alone. The main reason however is that it makes my current girlfriend unhappy, and that is more than enough reason for me to 'nip it in the bud'

If anymore drama comes of it I am sure I will blog it out here, back on track tomorrow hopefully

Part time law work...can you help Law Apprentice?

2007-04-12T08:20:00.000+01:00

So as you might have read from yesterday's blog I am making many sacrifices to push my mature student rag of a body through University. My main plan is to try and secure some kind of part time work within the Legal arena, to give me that headstart when applying for training contracts and work. The main problem is that there just doesn't seem to be any permanent part-time work in that area. Or is there?

I have looked quite alot, but being honest to myself not as extensively as I could have. So I am kind of putting the question out to any readers.

Do you know of any permanent part time legal work in the London/Kent area? It doesn't have to be amazing work, it could just involve photocopying or running errands, anything really, just something that gives me some extra cash but at the same time allows me the exposure to the workings of a legal environment. To be honest I am even considering full time work, but I am not sure how you enter a law firm or legal magazine without any experience. Maybe I should try and get an IT job in a law firm and then push my knowledge through that?

I realise this is putting myself out there, throwing myself on the mercy of the blogging world, but I thought why not? Some of my readers are probably more experienced and more knowledgeable of the Law world than I am, and tapping into that information channel would be a great idea.

The key reason for getting this part time work, is that I can foresee an interview with a major law firm in the future querying me for any Law experience I have, and why they think they should hire a mature student with extensive IT experience into a law firm....I want to nip that potential recruitment cyanide before its swallowed along with my potential employment prospects

My next port of call is querying my local courts or local law firms for any work that involves cleaning toilet bowls or scraping chewing gum off partners shoes.

So if you can help leave a comment, if not then I appreciate that you read the blog.

I will carry on this work, money, studies, life blog tomorrow

Money - Life - Study? HELP!!!

2007-04-11T18:46:00.000+01:00

I am currently sitting in my girlfriends parents house, writing this blog, yes she got home but not after having a 4hr delay to her flight.....

Oh the joy of modern transport. Anyway back onto the topic today, trying to balance money, life and studies when you are a mature student without mum and dad to help.

The reality of being a late 20's graduate student who is going back into study is that the British Government won't give you JACK! They won't lift a finger to help you which I am ok with. You might think thats strange, but they helped me through my first degree and that was nice enough but helping me through a second one is pushing their generosity a little too far. The irony of this situation is that I didn't really need old man Governments help when I did my first degree because University fees were not in place. Yeah thats right you paid NOTHING at all for a degree only your living costs and books etc....it was great!

Anyway back to reality, I now need to find a way of paying for my current degree, I kind of have a plan in place which involves saving about £250 of my current wage per/month for 18 months (I have saved up most of this at the moment). This should generate me about £4500, my degree is going to cost me about £1850 for 3yrs due to my educational status, I don't think I need you to do the maths that I am short by a considerable amount. (About £1000 for the numerically challenged out there). In my own irresponsible way I am sure that money will materialise from somewhere, I will worry about it at the end of my first year.

To survive the three years I am lucky enough to be able to live with my girlfriend.....and...er...my girlfriend's parents. YES YES you read right I am going to be living with her family, but if you want something bad enough you have to make sacrifices. It sounds surprising but in all honesty its not all bad, I get on with them great and they are very nice people. They have a VERY strong political streak in them, I would say they are bordering on communists but they consider themselves strong socialists. This leads to heated debates over dinner about society in general, I find it a good stimulus for my potential debates/discussions with clients and colleagues. I believe the last heated debate we had over the dinner table was about Grammar schools in England and how they are required to be abolished and so should all exams....yes...it went on.

So as you can see I am making huge sacrifices to push this legal career forward but I think its all worth it, this current blog I am going to split into two parts, possibly three as I have alot more to add.

So tomorrow I will be adding my aims for securing a part-time job somewhere within the legal industry to give me some well earned experience, and how else I will juggle the lack of money I will have upon beginning University in October '07

So tune in tomorrow...(I can't really think of a cliff hanger to make sure you read tomorrow, hell I am no Neighbours or Eastenders script writer)

Holy Crapola!!!

2007-04-10T14:22:00.000+01:00

(From my weekly Times Online Law newsletter)

Miners' lawyer made £45,000 a day

A solicitor whose firm specialises in compensation claims for sick miners made a personal profit of £16.8 million in one year

Two words...Holy CRAPOLA!!

Writing, speaking and grammar, lap it up

2007-04-10T10:28:00.000+01:00

Whether I like it or not I have to admit to myself that I am a little rusty on the writing, speaking and grammar skills needed to truly be a top rate lawyer. When I was in my 6th form at school I took Politics, English (Lang & Lit) and History, a super collection of subjects for essay writing.

However, it was nearly 10yrs ago when I took part in these subjects, so to claim I am a little rusty would be a bit modest. So I decided it would be a good idea to start brushing up on my essay writing skills again.

Whilst looking through the jungles of the internet searching for any guidance I found some particularly interesting sites which could help improve your writing skills, I have listed them below

The Royal Literary Fund - Essay Guide

Web Grammar Free Tips

Legal Dictionary

Another Legal Dictionary

Business Proposal writing

Cool Grammar tidbits you never really knew

In the last link I especially like the description about the difference between 'practice' and practise' I would recommend checking it out, I think I recall a barrister stating that it was a necessity to know the difference between them.

If you know anyother good writing and grammar sites or even ones to improve your speech, just add them in the comments, I haven't really gone looking for speech ones yet but I am sure I will find some. Speaking properly is obviously a key aspect of working with clients, but the curtain cloaking the speech patterns of lawyers intrigues me, maybe someone out there has some inside knowledge about it?

On a side note the bank holiday weekend was a messy and expensive one, I swear I am going to stop drinking unnecessarily to try and save some cash, and my girlfriend arrives back from the USA tomorrow morning so GOOD MOOD!!!!! WOO! I am sure she will start appearing in this blog from time to time now.

Bank Holiday..rest

2007-04-07T12:52:00.000+01:00

Well its a bank holiday in England at the mo, so I am going to take it easy from blogging for a couple of days

But I will return very soon, so stay tuned and all that jazz

Critical Thinking

2007-04-05T08:53:00.000+01:00

Following on from my post yesterday, I decided to take a more detailed look at the Lovells website, I have been there before but only perused briefly over it. Its got some great information on their for potential graduate recruits, but one part of the site really intrigued me, their Critical Thinking Test.

You can find the example test they provide HERE, it basically revolves around different skills that will be required of you daily whilst working as a solicitor. The test breaks this down into different sections they are:
-Inference
-Recognition of Assumptions
-Deduction
-Interpretation
-Evaluation of Arguments

On my first legitimate go I achieved 65%, not great but not bad either considering I performed it whilst on lunch at work and people were interrupting me constantly. However it got me to thinking IT has done me a great justice in that I am required to use the above skills everyday in IT, but with different material. I feel that maybe I need to read up more on this Critical Thinking approach, just to prepare myself for any potential tests far in the future and to get a headstart on further developing the skills I may be needing when I become a Solicitor/Barrister.

I would recommend anyone go try out the test, its good fun and just requires some logical thought, but I would suggest doing it alone and in a quiet room, never helps to be interrupted and told a Server has crashed or a director of the companies Laptop won't connect to the internet, when you trying to deduce whether heart disease in the north is caused more by the basic lower income (do the test your understand that point).

I did some more research on the actual test being used by Lovells and its called Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, I have decided to try and invest in a book or two on the subject of critical thinking and see where that takes me for now

Race, Sex, Class........Age? An e-mail from a law firm! JOY!!

2007-04-04T08:58:00.000+01:00

One of my main worries, being a more mature 20yr old, is the possibility that my age will prove to be a hinderance to my applications to law firms. At the moment the law world in the UK is under going a transformation when it looks towards minorities and potential female solicitors. Their rights and opportunities are being plastered all over the press and internet, but amongst all this fracas I can't really see anyone talking about age.

I have read of people joining the Bar at age 40+, but not solicitors joining law firms at that age, which is understandable...but doesn't apply to me because its a long time before I am that age. By the time I finish my law degree I will be in the infancy of my 30's.

When I go to law firm sites, they always seem to cater only for university grads, I use the term 'only' very loosely as I am sure their are plenty of law firms which take a more general view to employment on their websites and recruitment pamphlets.

I do worry though that when I walk into a law firm as an early 30yr old man, I will coming up against fresh, 'younger' straight A's A-Level students, with perfect 1st in their Law degree. My A-Levels are far from straight A's but I aim to get a 1st on my law degree. I suppose I would just like some law firms to state that they value work/life experience as much as a perfect academic record when they interview older employees. That way I wouldn't worry as much about my previous not so perfect academic career.

So thats exactly what I did, I e-mailed some major law firms to see what their approach to mature students were, to see if a not so perfect academic record would cause problems.

Here is what SIMMONS & SIMMONS had to say:

"Dear Law Apprentice,

Thank you for your recent email. With regards to your query, I can confirm that every application is assessed on its individual merits and not academics. We would welcome an application from you for a position with us.

Regards

Graduate Recruitment Administrator

Simmons & Simmons"

I obviously edited out my own name and the name of the Graduate Recruitment Admin, don't want him to be spammed with questions from people, but what great news to read. Of course this is just text, if it occurs in practice is still questionable, but its a start.

I got another one from Lovells, even better:

"Dear Law Apprentice

Thank you for your email.

We consider all parts of an application and would certainly not rule you out based purely on your A-level grades. We look closely at results for all subjects at degree level and would expect successful candidates to be achieving a 2.1 or above in each subject. The quality of candidates' answers is also looked at closely (including spelling and grammar).

As you have been working in a different industry already, please do use examples of the skills you have acquired and developed within the body of your application form. You will also need to inform us of the reasons why you have decided to pursue a legal career in the City and your interest in commercial/business issues. Our selection criteria for all vacancies at Lovells can be found on our website under the FAQ section, so please do visit it for further information: www.lovells.com/graduates.

I do hope this has answered your queries, but please do not hesitate to contact me should you have further questions.

Thank you for your interest in Lovells.

Yours sincerely

HR Officer"

What a thoroughly lovely recruitment department at Lovells, not only did they give me a positive response they gave me some hints at what to research and what may be asked of me.

Anyhow this post is getting long enough, just thought it might help some people out there

Interesting writing...

2007-04-03T15:34:00.000+01:00

Found some interesting writing on the Times Online today:

First one is about the theory of talent and not cash being the main drive in becoming a barrister
Money Money MONNNNNEY!!

Second one is about City Lawyers attempting to care about the society/communities they live in...
City Lawyers CARE DAMMIT!!

Just a quick blog and found them very interesting reads so thought it best to sharrrrrre

Dealing with the current career....when so close to a new career....

2007-04-03T07:44:00.000+01:00

Being stuck in a career you don't want to be in, because your going to be moving into a new and exciting career is difficult. Actually difficult is too soft a word, but I can't seem to articulate a word to explain the frustration and annoyance of daily existence. Its quite a unique feeling as well, knowing that all the study you have done and all the wealth of experience you have in that given area will be eradicated when you begin your new career. It is a liberating feeling.

Returning to the topic at hand, I am not beginning my Law degree until the beginning of October, and until that time I have to remain in my current job in IT. The problem is day to day its hard to even keep myself motivated, a perfect example is that I am currently sitting at my desk writting this blog, (yes you guessed it) whilst at work. Don't misconstrue my attitude to work, before I decided to move into Law I was a diligent, hard working employee, ok I am biased but I believed I was, even now I work hard, but I know I can push so much more out of this cranium of mine. So I find it HIGHLY frustrating in the world of IT when people call up with stupid questions I will present to you one true to life scenario, it actually occurred earlier this morning.

"Hi, IT"
"Yeah hi, my computer thing won't turn on..."
"Ok we need to try and ascertain the problem through a process of elimination..."
(person cuts in)
"Can't you just fix it..!"
"Er..I need to work out the problem first then I can fix it"
"Well I just want it fixed I don't have time to mess around"
"Well if you would just...let..me..."
"Forget it, I will use a colleagues machine, you have been no help at all!!"

This was a conversation I had with a senior manager in the company at 7:25am this morning, I will put it down to the person getting out of the wrong side of the bed, but my god did it piss me off. The conversation has been HEAVILY edited, it went on alot longer, where I had to explain what a power cable was, and even what a plug looked like. It doesn't really help when I am desperately trying to remain productive.

There are many MANY more like it, another reason to put on my imaginary list of reasons to leave IT

Moving careers...

2007-04-02T13:38:00.000+01:00

I was mulling over my previous blog, and thought it read like a sweaty sock, deciding it was too boring to just leave as a blog post for the day I have decided to write another

What is it like changing careers? I was trying to solidify my experience thus far of deciding to give up a promising career in Information Technology to move too law. My girlfriend sometimes turns round to me and says:

"Oooo your going to make soooo much money, and we can buy my parents a car, I can become a house wife and the holidays..etc"

Before you think it shes never really seemed the money type, so I think her excitement is shadowed by my need to keep my feet firmly on the ground. Plus the fact I haven't even started the LLB yet, lets get some perspective here, I haven't even dipped my little pinky toe in the ocean of qualifying as a solicitor/barrister

Moving into Law I try to keep the negative aspects at the forefront of my mind. Its important for me to do this, because I don't really want to get carried away with the thought of sealing huge deals and travelling abroad to meet clients, whilst raking in huge 15% bonuses. I prefer to keep the realistic issues in perspective, such as working 60-70hr weeks, or the immense pressures involved in trying to keep a client happy whilst billing as many hours as possible. I think I do this because I am worried that after all the work and all the extra debt I will end up spending my first month in Law, thinking

"Holy cow, batman! This is BORING"

Lets be honest here LAW IS TOUGH for all the positives there are similar weighed negatives, and thats fine, bring it on I say, you want 70hr weeks out of me, you got it, you want me to get that multi-billion pound deal signed with Barclays, whilst in the middle of my girlfriend giving birth to my first child!!! YOU GOT IT!! BRING IT ON LAW cause whatever you got, I can take it.

For now I will just keep reading books, blogs and trying to do as much research as I can about firms, types of law and who does the best donuts

Besides if I fail, I could always come back to IT......but I am not going to fail

Books, books and more books

2007-04-02T10:21:00.000+01:00

Books the solid diet of any 'wannabe' lawyer. I am currently tucking into Learning Legal Rules: A Student's Guide to Legal Method and Reasoning (5th Edition) by James A. Holland, Julian Webb. I won't divulge whether its a great book or not, as I am still reading through it, but I am enjoying it and it helps when analysing cases and statutes, though there is alot of subject matter I have already covered like Court structures. If you haven't really looked into Law at all, it might be a nice first step.

I don't claim to be a genius at law books, but throughout the blog I will try and pick out the books I happen to be reading at that time, maybe give an idea to people who might be looking for books for any given subjects

Information Techowha?

2007-04-01T15:31:00.000+01:00

I was sitting reading my first post of this blog this morning, and thinking, well its wonderful that I have made a first post, but why the hell law?

I suppose explaining this to my readers is just as important as explaining it to myself. I thought it might also benefit some people who are considering Law, but can't really pin point a reason to 'jack in' their current career and get into lots of debt to participate in Law.

I did the common path into a degree, meandered through my GCSE's and was rushed into deciding A-Lvls before I really knew what I wanted to do in my life, I was on a computing degree, just soldiering forward knowing I had to succeed and achieve. I don't really think I had a moment to truly step back and research what I wanted to do. I know some people in life, have everything set out and know exactly they want, but when I was younger I didn't really have that luxury. Beginning a career in IT seemed the most logical step, as I was great at fixing computers etc I won't bore you with the computing jargon. However computing was my hobby and I think somewhere in life I confused the enjoyment of a hobby with the perception I would enjoy it as a job.

Obviously I was wrong, and after 5yrs of working IT, I felt it was time to move into another area. So that brings us to the question, why law? I suppose everyone has their own personal reasons for choosing a profession, in true Hollywood style I would have you believe its for one poignant reason, but for me that truly wasn't the case. The various reasons included a better salary, a more (perceived?) respectable profession to advertise to my girlfriends family, a greater intellectual challenge and sense of achievement.

IT just doesn't provide those things to me anymore, and to be honest I just find it boring now, if I have to code another webpage or fix another PC hard drive I am going to go crazy and start a mass genocide on motherboards and monitors. Don't get me wrong I not claiming that IT is generally bad, but for me its reached the end of the line.

I am sure I will find things in Law that bore me or infuriate me, I would be extremely naive not to expect that, but I think it will provide me with the challenge I have craved in my life, whilst at the same time allowing me to enter a world that will benefit me in more aspects of my life. The main difference however is that I have had time to research what is expected of me in Law, I have read extensive books about Law, about specific aspects of law such as contract, tort etc. I have had the time to talk to people in the industry and to really take an indepth look at what is needed to become a solicitor/barrister. Unlike IT, I have had time to reflect on what the industry will be like, and thus make an informed decision about whether I want to go into or not.

(I am sure somewhere in my thoughts there is a proposal to improve the manner in which young people get better access to career information and are given more time to make a decision about their A-Levels and Degree programs, but I will leave that for another blog)

First post nerves...

2007-03-31T09:19:00.000+01:00

Hmmm, entering the world of blogging, is a unique experience for me, I am sure it is for other people as well. I mean I have never really kept a diary or felt the need to document my life, the majority of it I have kept in this large dome of a head. For some reason however I feel the need to document my journey from an IT Graduate, (working within the IT industry for upto 5-6yrs now) to becoming a Solicitor or Barrister.

I feel like a complete child within the blogging world having read such amazing blogs as the ones I have linked on this very page. So I decided that I would do this blog for myself first and foremost. So that I can look back in the many years from now and laugh at the many escapades I participated in.

So who am I? Well I am hardly going to give you an extensive description of myself, I have learnt well that anonymity is a good staple diet of any blogger. Well at least if they want to make any, shall I say, controversial comments regarding establishments or individuals. Lets just say I am a 28yr old male, about to begin a degree in Law at UCL, England in October, and I am aiming to document my journey before the beginning of the degree, right through the degree, and hopefully out the otherside.

IMPOSSIBLE, I hear your minds cry, yeah your probably right, but I guess its nice to have some motivation in the beginning, I am expecting that motivation to wane and dry up as the days go on

I have a wonderful girlfriend who is currently studying Theatre Design at a University, won't go into specifics, but thought I would mention her as no doubt she will be popping up in my blogs ALOT, I will call her Sam or Samantha. Oh and she is in America at the moment doing some Theatre work for a company out there

I guess thats about it for now, there is so much to write about at the moment already but I would rather save it for a post each day, no point drying up all my blogging resources immediately

This is my first post, I feel like a virgin again