Alumni Career Talk on Law

Pursuing Law at University

On Thursday February 3, 2022, Alexandra Street (Class of 2016) kindly shared her experiences studying Law at university and her career journey in becoming a legal practitioner. Alexandra graduated from Durham University in 2019 with an undergraduate degree in Law and University of Oxford in 2021 with a master degree in Law and Finance. She is currently studying for the Legal Practice Course at BPP University, London. She has completed formal internships at Norton Rose Fulbright, Jones Day, CMS and Ropes & Gray and due to start her training contract at Ropes & Gray (London office). 

Solicitors vs. Barristers

During the law career talk with Alex, we mainly discussed what solicitors and barristers are. It was a very casual yet educational meeting as we were all able to learn new things but in a comforting way. Although Alex takes the solicitor path, she was able to give us a very informational presentation for both sides. I learned about the benefits for the two and what differentiates them from each other. We also learned what skills you would need to acquire in order to successfully become either of the two mentioned above.

The Diploma Programme Path to Studying Law

Through the questions asked throughout the presentation, we went into specifics about what extracurriculars and DP courses Alex took to adequately prepare her for law school, this was very helpful on my end as I was able to reflect on the current courses and extracurriculars I was planning on taking and adjusting them in time for my DP years. Moreover, she also mentioned the workload and assured us we understood that although it may be the case for her, it really depends on the firm you work for and how prepared you are going in. I found this meeting very helpful as she was also able to guide me and the other two girls in the video call by essentially informing us of different law fields that would either connect with current interests or how to narrow our choices down to what we really are passionate in.

Overall, I found the career talk to be very informational, honest, and beneficial.

Reflections from Alex

"It may be useful for seniors who may be reading this post to know that any type of work experience is valuable even if it’s not related to the specific job. I’ve had informal work experiences in Tokyo and while some of them were not legal related, it helped me to develop skills like being a team member, taking initiatives, learning to be an active listener etc. In terms of legal internships, some informal ones I have done in Tokyo have helped me to see how lawyers have to respond to different business demands and cultural dynamics.

When I was a senior I didn’t have any lawyer alumni I could speak to, so it would be nice to see more interest in the legal sector!"