Tips on considering the area of law to qualify into

Thinking about the area of law that you would like to qualify into can be tricky. Some trainees know exactly what area of law they want to qualify in before they even start their training contract and others have absolutely no idea. Some trainees start their training contracts thinking they know exactly what they want to do but then experience a different area of law and decide to qualify there instead. Ultimately, deciding what department to qualify into can be a difficult and daunting decision. Here are three top tips for those who aren’t sure what to do:

What subjects interested you when studying the LLB/PGDL/LPC/SQE?

Consider what subjects you enjoyed when you were studying. This is generally a good starting point because it gives an initial indication of what you might have an interest in and want to try first.

It is, however, worth noting that studying an area of law can be quite different to practising it. For example, some trainees may try an area of law that they enjoyed whilst studying and be surprised and concerned when they aren’t immediately wowed by it when working in that area. Likewise, some may have hated studying an area of law at university but find that things are very different when they come to practise in that area.

This means it is very important to keep an open mind about trainee seat choices because it can be easy to close your mind to areas you didn’t like at degree level. You might end up thanking yourself if you try an area you disliked at university and end up loving it in practice.

Think about the type of law you like/dislike?

Rather than focusing initially on one specific area of law think about the types of law you like. For example, do you prefer contentious law over transactional law?

Contentious law generally involves a dispute between two or more parties, and it is usually fast paced with deadlines and generally adversarial. Examples of contentious areas of law would include Dispute Resolution, Family law and Employment law. Transactional (or non-contentious) law does not usually involve a dispute as all parties have come to the table with a deal (e.g a business sale), and it requires technical considerations on how best to carry out a transaction and can be diverse. Examples of transactional (i.e. non contentious) areas of law would include Company Commercial, Commercial Property or Residential Conveyancing.

Similarly, it may be worth considering the clients that you might (or might not) like to work with. Do you want to work with individual clients or with business clients for example? Departments such as Private Client tend to work mainly with individuals whereas departments like Company Commercial deal mainly with business clients. There are also departments such as Employment and Dispute Resolution which offer a mix of both corporate and individual clients.

If you can begin to distinguish between the types of law and clients and which you prefer, it can give you an indication of what seats you might like to try.

Don’t worry

It’s easy to worry about where you want to end up but remember that one of the purposes of the training contract is to give you the opportunity to experience different areas of law to help you decide what you like and where your skills are best suited. Try to draw out different skills and experiences from each department, as ultimately these skills are transferable and make you better prepared for qualification.