Why Did You Go To Law School Interview Answer?
Marvin Harvey
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Sample Answer #4 – I want to study law because it is an ideal career for my personal goals. I value financial stability and job security in my career, and the law provides these, as well as being a fascinating field that offers endless complex problems to solve and demands a wide variety of skills.
What inspired you to take up law?
Why law? – Despite these changes in the legal services market, many respondents saw themselves having long-term careers in the law. Their top motivations for becoming lawyers being:
Sense of personal achievement Meaningful and satisfying work Good opportunities for career development
Respondents expressed being excited by a career that offers them challenge and variety, and the ability to develop and progress. For many, this means pursuing a career in London. The draw of the capital seems to be more about the reputations of the firms there than higher salaries.
- Although many are keen on the idea of making a difference, their expectations are more limited on whether their jobs will afford them this opportunity.
- They see technology having a structural impact on the profession and changing the nature of job roles.
- What excites me most is that, once qualified, I will have the ability to make such a change in people’s lives.
Those whom cannot help themselves or even those who want a guiding hand through what is potentially a monumentally difficult time in their lives, I will be able to help”. “I worry about not being able to find an area of law to practice that I can be most passionate about”.
Aside from the more immediate challenges of finding a job in a competitive environment, respondents are concerned about a working life characterised with heavy workloads and a poor work-life balance. Their biggest worries are about the working environment. “The representation of women at Partner levels in law is bad”.
“Long working hours, no time for private life / family / children, high rents / living costs in London”.
What makes you stand out for law school?
There’s really no way around it— your LSAT score, GPA, and the rigor of your undergraduate course work are basically the most important things law schools are looking for. Also keep in mind that your LSAT score and GPA can make a huge difference in the scholarships and grants you’ll be eligible for.
Why did you become a law student?
Your career options are not limited to only the legal industry! – For e.g. If you dream to be a criminal lawyer, then complete your law program, qualify the Bar examination and start practicing under a senior and experienced criminal lawyer. You could as well practice in specialised areas like Cyber Law, Income Tax or civil cases, as the case may be.
- If you want to be a judge, appear in the Judicial Services exam after graduating in Law.
- Many corporates come up with Law Officer positions, and select through interviews, and you could eventually become Legal Advisors and Corporate Counsels.
- Many Banks also hire Legal Probationary Officers, and select basis written tests/interviews.
You could aim for JAG (Judge Advocate General) services in Indian Armed forces, or work for a legal firm after your graduation. If you want to be in Academics and in the research field, then you could do LLM and PhD and become Professor in Law. However, if you just want to leverage your legal knowledge to excel in any other area, then you could aim for multitude of other areas like Civil Services, Administration, Finance Manager/ Management Accountant in Corporate firms, Banking & Insurance, HRM/Labour Officer, Law reporter with media houses, Social work/NGOs, Politics, or Entrepreneurship, etc.
Experientially, I have seen such people doing very well in such allied fields, than those without legal qualifications. As a lawyer, you will always be working in a dynamic environment and boredom will never set in. The work that you do will be personally satisfying and intellectually stimulating, besides being financially rewarding.
You need not just work for others or any company, but could set up your own practice. In Law, over the years, you develop marketable skills. That way, you never have to bother about job security, unlike most other careers. The fact that the job involves upholding justice in society and standing up for what is right makes the society respect a lawyer.However, in order to avail all the stated benefits, one has to work hard, be patient, perseverant during the initial stages of one’s career, expose oneself to most of the areas or sub-domains of the field, take mentorship of experienced professionals in that area and learn as much as he/she can without bothering too much on the compensation part.
What is the main factor to get into law school?
You need to pass the LSAT to gain admission into any LSAC-approved law school. The LSAT is a standardized assessment test that is held four times a year. It assesses your reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning. You must also submit a write-up on a given topic.
Why did you choose to be a lawyer?
6. Helping others is extremely rewarding – Whether you are a legal consultant for a multinational corporation, a paralegal assisting women and minority groups, or a clerk researching tax laws for a start-up, the primary goal of the legal profession is to help others resolve their legal problems.
Upholding the law, assisting in solving cases, and making a difference will be a rewarding career path regardless of your legal specialty. A legal career can be intellectually stimulating, personally fulfilling, and financially rewarding. If you want to pursue legal studies and venture into various but are worried about the finances required to go through all of those years of study, wag kang mag-alala! Bukas has partnered with leading in the country, offering tuition installment plans for aspiring legal professionals like you.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to make your dreams happen with Bukas! Learn more about how we make education affordable for thousands of Filipino students like you. Download the on Google Play today! Kung gusto mo maging updated with our latest content and updates, you can connect with us on or reach us anytime via email! : Considering a law career? Here are 6 good arguments why you should
What is a good weakness to say in a law interview?
What’s your greatest weakness? – “A common answer to the ‘what is your greatest weakness’ question is to give an answer that’s not a weakness at all. The reason applicants give answers like this is simple: they’re afraid to reveal a real weakness, and somehow think they can snow interviewers with a fake answer.
Guess what? Interviewers aren’t fooled. “So what’s a better answer to this feared question than the hackneyed and disingenuous ‘I’m a workaholic’ response? “Don’t be afraid to discuss a genuine weakness that you have overcome or that you’re working to overcome. You could talk about how difficult it was to adjust to law school at first, especially the volume of reading and other work.
You could talk about how you learned about the necessity of time management, how you learned to prioritize your obligations and commitments, and how you put into place measures to ensure you completed all your work on time and at the highest standards.” Shauna C.
How can I make myself stand out for law school?
Highlight your accomplishments – Applicants often believe they need to have legal experience prior to applying to law school. While nice to have, it is not necessary. For non-traditional applicants, professional experience is a given and is sometimes more important than grades from decades past.
- For traditional students, show that you do more than just study and get good grades.
- With exception, most people applying to law school right out of college have good or decent grades.
- Stand out with a strong resume: secure internships, get a part-time job, volunteer and get involved in activities on campus.
Law schools want to enroll students who will bring vibrancy to campus life. They aren’t looking for college activity box checkers, but real engagement and leadership. Some students worry that they won’t look impressive because they have work and family obligations and cannot participate in internships and campus activities.
- That is understandable.
- Take the opportunity to draft an addendum to your application and talk about your family commitments.
- At Stetson, we have reviewed statements from people caring for sick members of their families and those who work full-time, go to school full-time and take care of loved ones at home.
Talk about impressive. The point is to show the committee who you are beyond your role as a student. No matter your accomplishments— personal or professional —take the time to highlight them in your materials. Law schools want to craft a diverse class and that means looking at more than the LSAT and GPA.
- The recommendations.
- Some schools require academic and professional references.
- Others leave it up to the applicant to choose.
- Pay attention to the instructions and look for references who know you well.
- Big names don’t always yield quality letters of recommendation.
- Sometimes they are written by a staff member or don’t show a personal knowledge of the student.
Seek out someone who knows you and your abilities. Avoid using relatives at all costs! If you don’t have a professional recommender and you are an active member of a religious organization or perhaps you volunteer frequently, seek out a pastor or supervisor.
How do you know if law school is right for you?
What are your academics strengths and interests? – First, you should take a hard look at your academic strengths and desires. As a lawyer, you’ll be doing a lot of research, writing, and reading. If these aren’t your strengths now, that’s okay, but you want to make sure these are academic areas you’re willing to strengthen and pursue.
- If you don’t like to write, you hate research, and reading isn’t fun, law school is going to be really difficult for you.
- In law school, you fully invest yourself in legal questions until you come up with a suitable answer.
- Whether you’re a litigation attorney, a corporate attorney, or trying to advocate and find a loophole for a client, you’ll read a lot of case law.
You’ll need to understand and research what the precedents are and what the legal jurisprudence is on a topic and come to your own conclusion, being able to back it up with other cases you’re researching. Research is so important that one of the first classes you’ll take in your first year is legal research and writing.
Many law schools also have advanced legal research and advanced legal writing available in your second and third years if you feel like you need more practice. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be interested in public speaking to be a lawyer. On television, we see a lot of trial lawyers and courtroom dramas.
This can lead to the misconception that a bulk of what a lawyer does is make impassioned speeches. But even trial lawyers and debaters need to conduct heavy research and have strong reading and writing skills. There are also so many different types of lawyers, many of whom spend their time writing motions or briefs or drafting documents or contracts rather than engaging in public speaking and arguing cases out loud.
How do you stand out when applying for law school?
Highlight your accomplishments – Applicants often believe they need to have legal experience prior to applying to law school. While nice to have, it is not necessary. For non-traditional applicants, professional experience is a given and is sometimes more important than grades from decades past.
- For traditional students, show that you do more than just study and get good grades.
- With exception, most people applying to law school right out of college have good or decent grades.
- Stand out with a strong resume: secure internships, get a part-time job, volunteer and get involved in activities on campus.
Law schools want to enroll students who will bring vibrancy to campus life. They aren’t looking for college activity box checkers, but real engagement and leadership. Some students worry that they won’t look impressive because they have work and family obligations and cannot participate in internships and campus activities.
That is understandable. Take the opportunity to draft an addendum to your application and talk about your family commitments. At Stetson, we have reviewed statements from people caring for sick members of their families and those who work full-time, go to school full-time and take care of loved ones at home.
Talk about impressive. The point is to show the committee who you are beyond your role as a student. No matter your accomplishments— personal or professional —take the time to highlight them in your materials. Law schools want to craft a diverse class and that means looking at more than the LSAT and GPA.
The recommendations. Some schools require academic and professional references. Others leave it up to the applicant to choose. Pay attention to the instructions and look for references who know you well. Big names don’t always yield quality letters of recommendation. Sometimes they are written by a staff member or don’t show a personal knowledge of the student.
Seek out someone who knows you and your abilities. Avoid using relatives at all costs! If you don’t have a professional recommender and you are an active member of a religious organization or perhaps you volunteer frequently, seek out a pastor or supervisor.
How can a law applicant stand out?
Be authentic – Firms expect training contract applicants to belong to university societies, or demonstrate sporting achievements. These are laudable activities, but they’re too commonplace to help you stand out from the crowd. So what can you do to grab a recruiter’s attention? Caroline Edwards and Claire Jutsum of Travers Smith say: “It’s important to show your personality in order to differentiate yourself from everyone else.
- This can be demonstrated in various ways, and that’s something you need to work out for yourself.
- Remember to be true to yourself and try to avoid being too funny or clever.” Claudine Vega, a recruiter at Linklaters, notes: “A large number of the strongest candidates draw upon their international experience from travelling, working abroad or undertaking additional projects during their time at university.” Lindsey Thompson, who recruits at Herbert Smith Freehills, advises: “Applications that often stand out are those in which a candidate has taken the initiative to do something different, such as starting a new group or society, setting up their own business or initiating a charity project.” Imagine reading the phrase “I always wanted to be a lawyer” over and over again.
Pity the recruiters who actually have to do that regularly. When it comes to your training application form, ditch the old platitudes for honest and authentic answers. Mel Brooking, Graduate Recruitment Manager at Nabarro, says: “The applications that stand out for us are interesting, easy-to-read and authentic.” Alan Demirkaya, Graduate Recruitment and Trainee Manager at Berwin Leighton Paisner, adds: “It’s crucial that you answer in a very natural, structured manner.
- Personalise your answers and be sure to avoid the generic or simply listing your skills.
- Personalised and thoughtful answers are always more engaging.” Similarly, for Caty Scott of Gowling WLG, honesty and authenticity are indispensable: “We want to get to know candidates as individuals, so we look for personality through authentic, genuine answers.
All work experience is good work experience. Anything that examples your commitment to a career in law is great, but don’t worry if you are unable to provide lots of examples of work within law firms. Just make sure that you can reference some of the skills transferable to the role of a trainee solicitor, such as effective communication, commercial awareness or creative problem-solving.” Katie Meer, Graduate Recruitment Adviser at Shearman & Sterling, sees more than 2000 training contract applications a year.
- Her tips? “Show you’ve done your research and be personal about why you want to do law.
- Explain why you decided to study law.
- What made you decide to do this course for three or four years? It really stands out when people are personal about this and can give an interesting story about why they want to be a lawyer.” What qualifies as an interesting, personal story? Meer gives examples including a personal involvement in commercial or clinical negligence cases, or in the sale of a local or family business.
Anything, in fact, that connects you and your passions to the law. What was it that got you started?