Corporate law or litigation? IPR or technology law? Law firm or in-house? Arbitration or insolvency? If you are a law student, there are high chances that you have asked yourself at least one of these questions. As there are so many areas of law, it is completely understandable to feel confused about where you want to build your career. You may love your criminal law classes but have no interest in practising the same.
Please note that you should focus on exploring several areas to understand what you enjoy, what you are good at and what kind of work you can see yourself doing.
Image created by Saloni Sahu, Partnership Manager, Lawctopus Law School
Some practical tips for your to start figuring out your area of interest by your graduation are:
1. Go beyond your law school syllabus
Consider your syllabus as a starting point, not a list of the only areas of law available to you. There are several practice areas that you may not fully understand until you start working or reading about them. There are several areas of law that may sound interesting like Competition Law, Insolvency, Data Privacy, Banking and Finance, M&A, Energy Law, Sports Law and Media Law but do you actually know what lawyers working in these areas do? In order to understand that, you need to start exploring.
Select one legal domain every week and spend around an hour understanding that topic. Read a simple beginner-friendly article, attend a webinar, or look at the recent judgments. You do not need to become an expert. Your goal is simply to find areas that make you think that you want to know more about this.
2. Consider internships as experiments
Internships are not just about adding a bullet entry in your CV. The main aim of an internship is to provide yourself a chance to test different career options.
If you have only interned with litigation teams, then consider interning in corporate law. If you have only worked at law firms, explore an in-house legal team. If you have always chosen corporate work, try an IPR or disputes team. The underlying meaning is experiment.
Also, while interning, you need to pay attention to the actual work. Note things like “Did you enjoy researching case law?” or “Did you like drafting pleadings?” or “Did reviewing contracts interest you?”
Keep a small notes tab open on your phone or have a notepad with you on your phone after every internship. Note down three things you enjoyed and three things you did not. After a few internships, you may start seeing a pattern. This method can tell you more about your interests.
Image 1: 5 Ways to Discover Your Area of Interest
3. Don’t just read. Write about law.
One of the easiest ways to test your interest in an area is to try explaining it yourself. Select a topic that interests you and write around 500 words on that topic. Choose topics like:
- What does a merger actually involve from a legal perspective?
- What happens when a company becomes insolvent?
- Can an employer enforce a non-compete clause?
- How does trademark infringement work?
While researching about the topic, you will quickly find out whether you enjoy the subject. If you find yourself going down multiple Google searches, reading another judgment even after you have enough information or thinking of new questions while writing, that is a good enough signal. There is an added benefit which is that your exploration can become part of your professional portfolio.
Get those articles published on LinkedIn, student platforms or legal publications. Over time, you may have a collection of work that demonstrates your interest in a particular area.
4. Enroll in small courses or attend webinars
You are not always required to do a 3-4 month internship to explore and understand an area. A short course, webinar or workshop can give you an introduction to a field before you invest more time in it. If you feel the corporate area of law appeals to you, you can explore this course. If you’re more inclined towards litigation, you can explore this course here. Also, if you are curious about M&A, learn what lawyers actually do during a transaction through a course. If you are interested in contract drafting, try drafting a simple agreement. If you are curious about IPR, try conducting a basic trademark search.
Also, please note that simply enrolling in a course just for the sake of a certificate is not worth it. Use these opportunities to gain an understanding of your interest area.
5. Talk to people who are in the industry
Instagram and LinkedIn can make every area of law look exciting. However, a simple reel on “Day in the Life of a Corporate Lawyer” cannot tell you what spending 12 hours reviewing a contract feels like. Try talking directly to lawyers. Use your college alumni network, LinkedIn or even your internship connections. Or maybe you can simply read their interviews. You do not need to ask someone to become your mentor immediately. Start with a simple conversation. You can ask questions like “what does your typical day look like?” or “what kind of work do junior lawyers handle?”
Try speaking to people at different stages of their careers. A first-year associate may have a very different experience from a lawyer who has been practising for 10 years. The more perspectives you hear, the clearer your picture becomes.
Perhaps the biggest mistake students make is thinking they have to choose one area and stick with it forever. Please don’t think this way. Note that your first internship does not decide your career or even your first job does not decide your career.
Lawyers move between practice areas, law firms, in-house roles, academia, policy, legal operations, compliance and several other career paths. Your career can evolve as you gain more experience.
So, how do you start? If you are completely confused about your career right now, do not pressure yourself to answer, “What do I want to do for the rest of my life?” Start with a simple question “What do I want to explore next?”
You do not need to have your entire career figured out at once. Start by exploring one area, gaining some experience, and understanding what interests you. Your next internship, article, conversation or small project could be the thing that makes your career direction a little clearer.
About the Author
Simran Sabharwal is a Gold Medallist in Business Laws from RGNUL, Punjab, and a former Associate at Khaitan & Co. She is currently a Learning and Editorial Manager (Corporate Vertical) at Lawctopus Law School, where she teaches corporate law and practical commercial drafting.