STEM -> Law Conversion

[iwantovisitnyc]

Hi,

How common is this? And with the whole thing about getting a training contract, how do law firms view the physical sciences and STEM?

I get the impression STEM is highly desirable for intellectual property law.

I had a couple of friends at uni who did science degrees and then went down that route.

I don’t know how common this is in the UK. However in America, where Law is a 3 year PG course and all UGs must take course units involving essay writing, Maths is one of the most desirable UG degree programmes for pre-law.

Other STEM degree programmes are also highly desirable. The difference is that all Law applicants will be submitting a record of their writing skills in the form of full university transcripts for those essay based course units. All applicants also take the LSAT, the American version of the LNAT.

I feel certain that British Law tutors appreciate the qualities represented by a good STEM degree as much as American ones. British applicants will need good writing skills, and may need a way to showcase their writing skills beyond the limited opportunity provided by the application. It should not be beyond the wit of a student of the necessary calibre to find a way to do this.

Lots of specialist law around intellectual property where STEM degrees are almost a prerequisite. A maths graduate friend worked in insurance law, whilst I have experience of working with lawyers on complicated multi-year finance deals (in my case PFI) which involved an ability to think conceptually.

STEM first degree to lawyer isn’t common but is very desirable and would make a candidate stand out in a good way.
https://www.stemfuturelawyers.co.uk/
In terms of securing funding for conversion/qualification you have much better chance if you’re been to Oxbridge/RG and have a first or high 2.1.
Look for vacation schemes or mini pupillages at firms specialising in relevant areas eg Intellectual property, clinical negligence.

@iwantovisitnyc

If DC want GDL paid for, they need a job before they start it with a solicitor who will pay for it. I suspect this is larger firms and dc needs to find out who they are. As many deal with acquisitions and mergers, stem would be fine. The main thing is getting the vac scheme or mini pupilage with work that's suitable so that requires investigation. Legal Cheek is a place to start. Or Chambers student.

Barristers cannot always specialise so quickly and it's the Inns of Court who give Scholarships for GDL and then Barristers training course. Therefore each avenue needs exploration.

Two of my children with a BSc did a law conversion and are solicitors (as did 2 who have a BA). I did an LLB. A STEM degree is fine but there are relevant issues

1. Sponsored training contracts are hard to get and firms recruit years ahead so you would ideally need to start during year 1 of the STEM degree to do law things eg universisty law society, ideally some law related work - one of my children helped a charity start up with non disclosure agreements and a bit of IP work.
2. Apply for vacation schemes (they are 1 or 2 weeks in length and pay about £450 a week and many firms recruit trainee from them). It is also a full time job in addition to university to get on board with all this stuff during your stem or other degree. Look at law firm web sites and be prepared to apply to quite a few with well structured tailored applications. If you get on a vac scheme you might well have a guaranteed training contract interview at the end of it. You can do this whilst doing your STEM degree - look at law firm websites to see how many years they recruit ahead where they also pay your law conversion year and SQE year fees.
3. Apply for training contracts whilst at university too - again check websites for deadline dates
4. It can be very competitive. I applied to 139 firms and had 25 interviews before getting my offer during the last year of my degree. Some people work as a paralegal for a few years first before doing the law courses, but even paralegal jobs are not simple to get if you don't have a law degree.
5. You only get one student loan for post grad so if like most people a law firm won't be paying your fees you probably want a law conversion with SQE and masters course - fees about £14k of which £12k comes from the student loan as that covers up to SQE1 exam and hopefully by then you will have a sponsored TC to pay some of the fees or at least the SQE2 course and exam fees.
6. I worked in an IP firm (now work for myself) and they did like people with science degrees - they even recruit biotech PhDs moving to law for higher pay !! as they understood the science