Help on becoming a Lawyer/Solicitor?

Hello, I am 14 and still at school in England. I've started looking towards my future and looking at different careers. I am very interested in becoming a Lawyer or Solicitor. It looks ideal to me, as I love English and it is one of my top subjects. However, I am not sure about the root I need to take. I.e, What are the main Subjects I need to study? And; where do I take this? Also, What sort of grades are usually required? Please give me a basic idea of what average grades a Lawyer/Solicitor would usually get at school and taking A-Levels. I do get quite high grades at school, but I just need a little bit more guidance into what I am considering. If there are any Lawyers or Solicitors out there, I would especially appreciate your words of experiance. And would you recommend this career?
Thank you.

Leanne196

There are a couple of routes to becoming a solicitor.

You can do a law degree and then the Legal Practise Course (LPC). The LPC is a 1 year course which you will need to have private funding for - when I did mine 6 years ago it cost Â£4500. After the LPC you need to do a 2 year training contract with a firm of solicitors. After the 2 years most people become junior solicitors and then progress. Most people do not open their own firms until they are middle aged simply because you need a client list and it is extremely expensive to do so - the insurance costs alone are huge!

It is extremely hard to get a training contract. Most of the large law firms recruit at least 3 years in advance and require you to have good a level grades and a 1st class or high second class degree from a good university. Try to get as much work experience in local law firms as you can. there are normally at least 20 applicants for 1 training contract so be prepared to have to work for a pittance in many firms waiting for one! Training contracts are poorly paid - barely minimum wage so start saving now!

Another route open to you is to work in a solicitors firm straight from school. If you are lucky the firm may eventually pay for you to do the ILEX course and become a legal executive. After working as a legal executive for some time you can do the LPC and qualify without doing the training contract.

If you don't do a Law degree then after your university course you have to do the CPE before doing the LPC. This will add a further year onto your studying.

My advice is to make sure you do "traditional" A levels such as English, Maths, Science etc and not creative things like drama or art as most solicitors firms when recruiting are stuck in the dark ages! A level grades are more important than GCSE grades to recruiters and the firm I work for required at least two A grades at a-level to apply to work for them. Also make sure you have lost of extra curricular activities as this always looks good on your CV to single you out.

Sindy

I have just completed a law degree. My A levels results were ABB with an AS in GS. At degree level I got a 2:1 and my GDL I am predicted to pass lol!
It is hard going, but you have plenty of time yet. Just aim to get good A levels and then decide further.

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