In this article you will find information you need as a law student to become a successful lawyer.
Making a transition from study life to professional corporate world is not easy. No matter how good you are as a student, working full time for real companies in a professional environment is a different ball game all together.
Another important thing you must understand at early stage of your law career is that it is vital for you to decide which area of law you wish to specialise.
To understand this, let’s look at the profile of an experienced lawyer in Australia who has specialised in a particular field. Navid from Amity Lawyers is an experienced immigration lawyer and migration agent and helps migrants, students and others with visa related issues. He suggests that other than a good education, training is very important especially in immigration matters. Also, staying up to date with the latest in rules and laws is important for a lawyer.
Kate who is a lawyer in Brisbane specialise in family law. Her law firm also specialise in spousal maintenance. She has been employed in law firms specialising in family law services since 2008. She graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Law with honours in 2009 and was admitted to the profession as a Solicitor in June 2011.
Once you get enough experience in your specialised field, then there is always an option to start your own business. However, it is very crucial to get plethora of experience before you jump into your own venture.
Experience is worth millions of dollars. After finishing your studies, the first challenge many new law graduates see if they do not have enough experience to apply for jobs in law firms. Pretty much all of them look for experienced lawyers. So how do you get experience?
Well, for initial days many graduates join smaller law firms or work under individual lawyers. Volunteer roles, trainee or similar positions are easier to get. Once you get enough experience, then you can always apply for bigger law firms.
Professional associations offer a range of opportunities for internal career advancement. You can seek out novel responsibilities and move into more senior positions, both at the state and federal level, or try out something new – policy drafting, say, instead of accreditation oversight. Finally, working for a professional association is an excellent way to develop a network of contacts. This puts you in a strong position if you ultimately decided to build your career elsewhere.
Employer examples: • Law Society of NSW • Law Council of Australia • Legal Professions Admission Board.
This is a general blog to offer some tips to law students, or law graduates who are planning to make a career in Law. For professional advice, consult your career consultant.
Ben Smith
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