Careers in Law Workshop
Allerton Grange School was pleased to welcome Lucy Rogers (Head of Human Resources), and solicitors Anjali Sharma, Rebecca Ganach, Adan Smith and Dina Wenmouth from the Leeds office, who ran an inspirational workshop for a group of students interested in pursuing a career in law.
The team talked about their careers paths and how they came to be in their current roles at DAC Beachcroft LLB. They also explained that there are a range of roles and routes into working at a law firm including paralegals, apprenticeships, administration, IT, software development, accounts, compliance, HR, catering, as well as lawyers and solicitors. The team emphasised that work experience can be very helpful, combined with a lot of hard work to achieve the dream of being a solicitor.
Lucy described her route to becoming the Head of Human Resources, through working her way from an administrative job at an NHS Trust in London, via the BBC to her current role.
Anjali and Rebecca took the more traditional route of studying a law degree at university, followed by a Legal Practice course, and work experience in Anjali’s case, followed by a training contract to qualify as a solicitor.
Adam explained that he had completed a law degree and Legal Practice course but due to the recession found it difficult to find a training contract. Instead, he began working as a paralegal instead and took the CILEx (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) route to qualify first as a Legal Executive and then as a solicitor.
Students were challenged to think about what they thought made a good lawyer and what skills are needed. Then in small groups they took part in an interactive workshop where they could try out asking and answering interview questions and speaking more formally. They also had the opportunity to speak to the DAC Beachcroft team and ask their own questions.
DAC Beachcroft LLP is a medium sized, international company with 2300 employees across the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, with lawyers advising many types of businesses and organisations, including Insurance, Health and Real Estate.
