The legal profession is full of myths and rumours on what is actually involved in a law career.

All About Law is a website which aims to answer those questions!  Whether you are looking for a career in law or just want to find out more, visit All About Law.

The site contains advice and information on the law industry as well as blogs from in-house lawyers and students on law placements.  You can also search for the latest law placements and internships on RateMyPlacement so what are you waiting for!

Any comments to add?  Make sure you add one below or check out our forum and start chatting with fellow students

Thanks,

The RateMyPlacement Team

Find out what our Guest Bloggers are getting up to. Throughout the year we will be following the progress of our Guest Bloggers as they find a placement or keep us updated as to what they are doing on their placement. Click here to read all entries from our bloggers or click here to meet them.

And so I’m in Newark Airport in New York as I write this, as I’m en route from Quebec City in Canada back to London, after spending a good 10 days in Canada with friends and also visiting McGill University in Montreal. My reason for being at McGill is that I’m applying to do a masters in taxation law there for the next academic year. I had always been somewhat sceptical of masters programmes in general, hence my looking further afield and I must say that the masters programme at McGill does seem to float my boat, as they say.

The subjects are taught with both Civil and Common Law systems in mind (as the province of Quebec is a bit of both), where there is a strong comparative approach which is something I’ve become fond of and find extremely useful, having studied the German language and German law. I find that studying a language or legal system other than your own enhances your understanding of your own language or legal system, whilst broadening your horizons (yes, English law is great but would you believe it, there’s a whole world out there).

It is with this in mind that I chose McGill and this trip has highlighted my desire to study there, as the staff and students alike seem to be exceptionally welcoming and hugely helpful and the atmosphere seems to be one where fun is necessary but so is hard work, which is an ethos I’ve become to love and cherish at Cardiff Law School. Anyway, enough about that…what has happened since we last spoke? In other words, how did our Law Trip to Edinburgh go and what other things have been happening on the Cardiff Law scene I hear you ask. Well, here goes…

When we spoke last I’d just finished my work experience with John Gardiner QC back at the beginning of November (apologies for the lack of contact since then). Since then we’ve had, as aforementioned, our highly successful trip to Edinburgh, which absolutely everyone loved. Our hostel was in a fantastic location and allowed us to reach the castle and the Royal Mile in a smooth 10 mins. We had some epic nights out albeit we had a close call with a petrol bomb, as the nightclub we were queuing outside of was petrol-bombed by a motorbike rider, causing me to sober up immediately (not that I drink of course ;P) and get a plan into action with the rest of our trusty Exec and make the night a definite one to remember!

We managed to wrangle free bottles of vodka and mixers in a neighbouring club, ensuring a cracking evening despite the little hiccough. It could’ve been worse, I know, but luckily noone was hurt. That excitement aside, we’ve also had talks from Lord Bingham (a true legendary figure) and Michael Mansfield QC (slightly contentious), which were both very well received, and we’ve had our Law Society Christmas Soirée, which was attended by several hundred of our Law Students, as well as others, which made for a brilliant night!

As you can tell, we’ve been very busy socially, but the fact we’ve also been highly busy academically goes without saying. We’ve had essays coming out of our ears, presentations to do before term ended and now all of the tutorial prep, revision, etc for the coming semester. Oh how I feel sorry for myself sometimes! Ha!

I shall leave it there and check in with you all with the gossip of the next semester as soon as possible, as it’ll be a more exciting affair I’m sure. We are at Cardiff Law School after all…

‘Nick Wolfe…out!’ (A smooth quote from Californication, for the viewers among you – prizes for those who can correctly recall the episode).

Find out what our Guest Bloggers are getting up to. Throughout the year we will be following the progress of our Guest Bloggers as they find a placement or keep us updated as to what they are doing on their placement. Click here to read all entries from our bloggers or click here to meet them.

Crikey, we’ve just finished week 5! Time is flying, which is not something one wants to happen when one is in final year. This means therefore that we’re already half-way through the first semester of our ultimate year of our undergraduate lives. They do say time flies when you’re having fun, so that must be what’s happening, as we, at Cardiff, are certainly having a lot of fun. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve had another Law Society social, which was a big success, with people dressing up for the Rubik’s Cube theme. I went pretty much all out and was sporting lime-green trousers, a bright yellow top, a light blue v-neck and orange and red socks. I did look a mess if I’m honest, but did fit right in to the theme of the night.

We’ve also had many socials that we’ve attended with various law firms and academics, as it seems to have been a rather busy fortnight in the Law School. CMS Cameron McKenna, Allen & Overy, Eversheds, Professor Simon Hix, Sir Trevor Phillips and various other academics have organised events with the Law School, which has of course entailed a reception before or after their respective presentations (meaning good nibbles and good wine).

Lecture-wise, we’ve, as you’ve probably already predicted, had some brilliant lectures with the legendary Professor Luxton (who you may remember from my last entry). He has begun teaching us about secret trusts now, which (yes, you’ve guessed it) meant him whispering ‘secret trusts’ into the microphone. He’s also got into the habit of saying words which even he finds impressive, causing him to pause, repeat the word in question and say “Gosh! That’s a wonderful word; must remember that one!” which naturally makes us all laugh.It’s lecturers like this, I feel, that truly inspire people, as they bring a subject to life, which if taught any differently, could become very dry and, let’s face it, not all that interesting. We’ve also got a new lecturer for EU Law, Professor Stijn Smismans, who has the Jean Monnet Chair at Cardiff University, meaning he is one of the most renowned EU Law professors in the country. He has begun to inspire his students and often draws on interesting anecdotes of his own in order to bring the subject to life. He has also started introducing pictures of his young nephews who are ‘guiding’ us through the difficulties of decision making in the EU. Strange some of you may think, but it does indeed help us to remember certain aspects of EU law and how competences are distributed amongst the EU and its Member States.

As I’m sure you’ve gathered already, it’s been a bumper few weeks at Cardiff Law School with a lot going on. I am, as I write, preparing myself for another cracking week next week which shan’t be in Cardiff but in the Capital of the UK, London. I’ve managed to secure a work experience placement (not a mini pupillage as the man in question doesn’t do mini pupillages) with the legendary and hugely renowned tax barrister, John Gardiner QC. I am thrilled to have been offered such a placement and shall, of course, let you know how it goes…

Find out what our Guest Bloggers are getting up to. Throughout the year we will be following the progress of our Guest Bloggers as they find a placement or keep us updated as to what they are doing on their placement. Click here to read all entries from our bloggers or click here to meet them.

So we’re now in week 2 of what has already been a very busy start of my final year. This has come as a complete shock to the system after what can only be called a ‘relaxing’ year abroad in the sunnier climes of Passau in Germany.

Being the President of the Law Society this year has of course added to this busy nature of the start of term, but it has been well-and-truly worth it as I’ve already had the chance to meet many of the second years, who I had not met before, and the new members of the Law School, the freshers.

In the past fortnight, we’ve had a highly successful turnout at our freshers’ bbq in Bute Park (attended by over 120 students), our second-hand booksale, our first social (held last night) which was attended by around 200 lawyers who were all dressed up in crazy school-related costumes. It was an epic night, nights which are of course necessary in the stressful life of your average law student.

I have taken two core law modules this year (Trusts and EU), along with German language and the fairly interesting, albeit slightly too historical, module about the German constitution and institutions – I see some of you yawning, but I assure you it’s actually not too bad. Trusts and EU are both turning out to be fantastic subjects, which have so far been taught by highly motivational and hugely charismatic (not to mention funny) lecturers – Prof. Luxton and Dr. Hunt respectively. Prof. Luxton’s jumping behind the lectern during an explanation about a resulting trust (i.e. boomerang trust), pretending to be dodging the aforesaid boomerang was very well received and did command a uproar of laughter from the audience and the man himself being branded a ‘legend’ by many students, after a mere week of teaching.

It’s turning out to be a cracking year and I’m very excited to see what’s in store for us in terms of the academic and, of course, social aspects of our life at law school. I will of course be keeping you up-to-date with the pressures of law school, with the added excitement of being President of the University’s biggest society, not forgetting Prof. Luxton’s ‘stunts’ during lectures. The Law Careers fair is soon to follow also!

Watch this space!