Lawyers of mumsnet- help with DD's A level choices

[Mumof3lovelies]

Hi everyone!!
My eldest DD is due to pick her A level choices soon- she's in year 11. Where does all the time go? Anyway, she's very keen to be a lawyer and I think she'd make a great one, but I'm not very experienced in this career path. She's not sure what to pick and I'm curious as to what will help her the most (and what universities will want!!) I know there's Google and trust me, she's done a lot of googling, but I thought I should take it from the best, so what A levels did you pick if you wanted to be a lawyer?? Thanks in advance mumsnet!! Any tips or advice for this career also welcome!! xx

I never go into a hearing unless I’m confident of the outcome. It helps a lot. You can’t always control litigation like that of course but most of the time you can if you’re a decent lawyer. If I think my client will lose I’ll advise them to settle.

That sounds promising, OP. It really is all about having the intellectual courage to take absolutely nothing as read and adopt rigour in constructing your own argument. Most barristers don’t use rhetorical flourish (it is rather frowned upon). Most court performances are somewhat dry and businesslike - court time is precious.

Also I know its a bit early but what's the university course like?? Can imagine it's quite dreary.

My daughter is considering the same and she’s picked English language, History and Politics.

Lovely to have so much knowledge and experience here!! This is why I can always trust mumsnet.

A law degree is desperately dull, and unnecessary. Better to do a traditional academic subject that (if she’s aiming for the Bar) she can hope for a 1st in, then a law conversion course. But she should join law societies and start legal networking while studying.

I’d recommend she does English and then whatever else she likes. History is a good option for research skills. A law degree is not dreary - at least I didn’t think so but obviously I wanted to study it. I wouldn’t even say it’s that hard it’s just A LOT of reading and a lot of cases to remember.

That's reassuring, she's been wanting to be a lawyer since she was young so hopefully the dedications there, and she does love reading.

I agree with this. You don't need any specific subjects for a legal career. I did 2 languages and a science at A level. Get some work experience if possible.

Thanks again for all the advice, regarding experience, should she reach out to law firms for this and will they be happy to take her on? We don't really know any lawyers.

Realistically is she likely to get a bunch of A stars and As?

I have two sons who are both lawyers. One has been qualified for a year.
My eldest studied A levels in English, history and German. He then did a politics degree and the GDL.
My youngest studied maths, English and history A levels. He did a law degree.
When doing the rounds of the universities many admissions tutors said that maths is an excellent A level for lawyers as it encourages the right kind of thinking.
When they came to be interviewed for training contracts all the firms put an emphasis on voluntary work, experience with people etc outside of study. Most of them liked the GDL route to law for that reason

Yes, finding some work experience could be tricky. She could reach out directly to small local firms or see if her school/college might assist with contacting firms.

As for the day to day life of a barrister, would it be mostly in court or looking at documents and things like that?

I would just add that maths / numeracy is a useful skill to have as a lawyer. It is needed in just about all areas of law.

Day to day life of a barrister varies massively depending on what their area is. I've a friend in criminal law who is in court most days (certainly not well paid) and another who has a health issue that meant he had to step back from most advocacy and spends his time doing corporate work.

Thanks!!

Day to day life does depend entirely on your area of law. Civil/commercial Bar - perhaps average 30-40% of your time in court (or arbitration) although this varies depending on what stage of your career you are at. Every hour in court requires minimum 5-6 hours preparation with the documents, often much more.

I did the International Baccalaureate. My highers were English, History and Chemistry.

If she can’t get experience in a law firm (very difficult, particularly at her age), she is free to go and sit in court and watch trials. DS1 has been with me a lot but anyone can go.

Be warned though, it may well put her off completely.

I did Latin, Greek and English Lit. I've got other lawyer friends who did all sciences, many have done history, I regularly instruct an amazing barrister who did Maths, Music and Physics. It doesn't really matter what subjects, but make them "academic" ones rather than vocational.

Law isn't dreary as an academic course at all, unless you're dreary yourself. It's incredibly interesting and draws together an enormous number of disciplines. It's only those who are quite limited in outlook or ability who say it's dreary.

OP what are her favorite subjects at GCSE?

I read Law and went onto a Magic Circle firm years ago. Three of my DC are lawyers: DD1 did her Training Contract at a Magic Circle firm then after being taken on as an associate decided to go sideways to a top human rights firm. DD3 is a barrister in a London set (civil) and DS2 trained at a Magic Circle firm and is now an associate there.

Happy to answer questions but dismayed at the bad advice which is peppering this thread.

Traditional A levels with some essay subjects - English, History, MFL, Politics.