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Getting experienced - Catch 22

I agree it's a depressing commentary on the state of the legal profession, but I'm slightly heartened that it was the blogger's own connections (though his friends) rather than his parents' that got him the foot in the door. When I was struggling to build my own legal CV, I went to speak to the careers advisor at BPP whose main piece of advice was to use my contacts. She was stunned to learn that I didn't have any. I am not originally from the UK and while my middle-class parents have plenty of lawyer friends in my home country, that was of no use to me here. I actually went away from the careers advisor on the verge of tears because she had basically told me that without personal contacts I had no chance at a legal career. Since then, I have made my own connections through joining the professional organisations in my areas of legal interest. They exist in every field of law and often have talks where there is an element of networking at the end (often with free drinks!) so you can meet experienced practitioners. Many have free/reduced price membership for students.

6-Aug-2012

10:21 am