FAO International Lawyers
Discussion
Well basically....
I'm doing a degree in international relations (simply) and a few 3rd years are considering a law conversion then going into international law.
That and i saw an advert for a lawyer who specialises in terrorism! I think that could be a rather interesting career.
Just wondered what you guys and girls got up to. Would you recommend your career to someone like me?
How do you see a law conversion? I know for a general solicitor it wouldn't be as good as a straight law degree, but then i'm doing a 3 year course which is very relevant to the field of law im looking at.
I'm pretty shattered so will add to this when i'm more awake.
Thanks for any input
Ps. Gimme a job mister
I'm doing a degree in international relations (simply) and a few 3rd years are considering a law conversion then going into international law.
That and i saw an advert for a lawyer who specialises in terrorism! I think that could be a rather interesting career.
Just wondered what you guys and girls got up to. Would you recommend your career to someone like me?
How do you see a law conversion? I know for a general solicitor it wouldn't be as good as a straight law degree, but then i'm doing a 3 year course which is very relevant to the field of law im looking at.
I'm pretty shattered so will add to this when i'm more awake.
Thanks for any input
Ps. Gimme a job mister
can honestly say that doing a conversion course doesn't put you at a disadvantage. I did the traditional law route, but I kinda "fell" into it. Not totally convinced that it is my vocation either. But I got accepted into IR at Birmingham, that was ages ago, if i did that i don`t think I would be a lawyer now.
Anyway, it appears that doing IR will set you up well for a law conversion, it is a tough 2 years, no doubt about that but it will set you up.
International Law, that can mean public international law and private international law. most city firms are commerical, banking or corporate orientated. Not many specialise in the law you mentioned. It is likely that you will have to slog it with a corporate firm until you are qualified and then you can move into the area you want. but by then, maybe you will want to qualify into enviromental law!
Speak to your careers advisor, attend some law fairs and speak to the bank, the CPE (law conversion course) isn`t cheap without a training contract.
ALso, you'll probably need a 2:1 undergrad and a decent sprinkling of A levels, usually minimum 26 points, alot of firms sift through hundreds of applications this way. If you are interested I'd say go for it! Good luck!
Anyway, it appears that doing IR will set you up well for a law conversion, it is a tough 2 years, no doubt about that but it will set you up.
International Law, that can mean public international law and private international law. most city firms are commerical, banking or corporate orientated. Not many specialise in the law you mentioned. It is likely that you will have to slog it with a corporate firm until you are qualified and then you can move into the area you want. but by then, maybe you will want to qualify into enviromental law!
Speak to your careers advisor, attend some law fairs and speak to the bank, the CPE (law conversion course) isn`t cheap without a training contract.
ALso, you'll probably need a 2:1 undergrad and a decent sprinkling of A levels, usually minimum 26 points, alot of firms sift through hundreds of applications this way. If you are interested I'd say go for it! Good luck!
I sent an email to Rico on this, but basically my response was along these lines:
Okay, that is a different thing to being an international lawyer. There's no real term for what you are talking about, but it is a mixture of public and private international law. Public international law is quite cool as it deals with things like border disputes, ownership of the Antarctic, and stuff like that. Private international law is more important for what I do, as it deals with contractual issues across jurisdictions. If dealing with international terrorism then Space Law (which I have also studied) is pretty useful too. It deals with who owns airspace, how far it extends, whether satellites can fly over unhindered, where are international waters, who owns the moon etc. Very interesting but I doubt you'd get much of it in the conversion course.
Er, if the law conversion course you are referring to is the CPE then it certainly does require a lot of work. I think the classes are 9 to 5 every day and you are expected to study in the evenings (and need to) but I'm not sure that its immensely difficult from an intellectual perspective. Remember you then have to do your LPC for another year after that before you can start as a low paid trainee (well, relatively low paid on 30k or so in the City) for two years before you actually become a lawyer.
Similar to tamago, I'm not exactly convinced its my vocation, but it keeps the bank manager relatively happy.
Okay, that is a different thing to being an international lawyer. There's no real term for what you are talking about, but it is a mixture of public and private international law. Public international law is quite cool as it deals with things like border disputes, ownership of the Antarctic, and stuff like that. Private international law is more important for what I do, as it deals with contractual issues across jurisdictions. If dealing with international terrorism then Space Law (which I have also studied) is pretty useful too. It deals with who owns airspace, how far it extends, whether satellites can fly over unhindered, where are international waters, who owns the moon etc. Very interesting but I doubt you'd get much of it in the conversion course.
Er, if the law conversion course you are referring to is the CPE then it certainly does require a lot of work. I think the classes are 9 to 5 every day and you are expected to study in the evenings (and need to) but I'm not sure that its immensely difficult from an intellectual perspective. Remember you then have to do your LPC for another year after that before you can start as a low paid trainee (well, relatively low paid on 30k or so in the City) for two years before you actually become a lawyer.
Similar to tamago, I'm not exactly convinced its my vocation, but it keeps the bank manager relatively happy.
Muncher said:
Tamago - How are you finding your job? What was it like finding a training contract?
I'm a first year Law student and will probably take a similar sort of path as you do.
Any information gratefully recieved.
finding a TC is a bit of an uphill struggle, would seriously recommend that you have a 2:1 (or are on course for one) and good A levels before you spend time applying to random firms. After that, you get interviewed, most firms use some kind of group test, teamwork and spacial ability etc. if you have language skills that will be useful. something to set you apart for the other candidates should be highlighted...
just be yourself. workwise, ups and downs, if a working week is good, i can normally go home like most people, around 6-7pm.
this week has been awful, last friday, a partner called me from italy and said he had instructions to document a loan for an international bank. he wanted it on his desk on Monday. So it was a midnight finish on Fri and Sat/Sun in the office. this week i have been finishing at around 10pm on average. since I am in transactional work (eg not litigation), i guess alot of people have suddenly woke up to the fact that nothing is going to happen from 24 Dec - 5 Jan so all our deadlines have moved to 19 Dec...
it is a hard life at time but here are the fun bits:
1- just came back from the Firm's xmas party. Was at Claridges Hotel this year, black tie affair which was nice.
2- you may get the chance to goto a foreign office (in my firm trainees are guaranteed an overseas "seat") for 4-6 months. I went to HK which was fab. nice serviced apartment 5 min walk to the office on 42 floor overlooking HK harbour, amazing expat life (pre-SARS!)
3- most medium - large city firms have good support departments so you can get on with what you are employed to do. photocopying is largely left to the copying dept and research is for the librarians (usually v helpful!)
i like the fact that my job is very international (i do alot of shipping finance work), i like love the people element of it (dealing with greek lawyers can be very interesting!)
all i can say is go for it, you won't know until you try it out. I am 2 years qualified and the learning curve is still quite steep. I am sometimes tempted to take a paycut just to have a regular 9-5 job. plenty of friends work for the civil service and the flexi hours sounds pretty good. anyway, like nevin, the pay is good but i guess i have fallen into the trap of spending pretty much what i earn, which is perfectly easy living in the city running tvr!
hope it all works out!
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