n a former life I was a trainee solicitor at one of the biggest commercial law firms in Scotland. Below are eleven commandments which it would have been useful to follow from day one.
And see also our lists of The Best Law Schools and Top 10 UK Law Schools here that aspiring law students may find of interest.
They are listed as posted on Twitter:-
#1 : Use the best authority possible for your work
#2 : Submit work to partners as if it is going out in your name as partner
#3 : Go to many social events but don’t date anyone from the same law firm
#4 : Work hard but not to 4am if not getting kept on
#5 : If asked to do a bun run, just do it
#6 : Use spreadsheets (or other project management tools) to track finance and more menial work
#7 : Keep updated with relevant news via email subscriptions, twitter and google alerts
#8 : Establish and develop a solid personal brand using Linkedin and Twitter
#9 : Note that most of what is learnt on the llb bears little relation to practice
#10 : Try to get as much client contact as possible
#11 : Declare mistakes early and learn from them, but never make the same mistake twice
These were originally retweeted and commented on by various great twitter contacts in my legal network, all of whom are well worth following:- @Greggio_f, @legaleaglemhm, @MagicCircleMinx, @Metlawyer, @alistair_sloan, @AshleyConnick, @highlandlawyer, @fiona_simpson, @HampshireLawyer, @vicmoffatt, @debbos, @Ju_Summerhayes, @Vidocq_CC and @lods1211.
I will repost their tweets below. If you’d like to add to the list, please either post your comment below or on twitter. It is hoped that these tips and comments coming from the UK’s legal network on twitter will assist any future trainee lawyers or even summer placement students wondering how they can get their traineeship off to a flying start.
