10 things law students can do to contribute to their legal career

26 November 2022

The legal field has often been described as an intense career that requires a person’s focus, dedication, and hard work. In the legal field, today you could be saving your client from prison time, and tomorrow you could be reviewing contracts that would enrich your clients. The measures you take as a law student will, in many ways, affect the success of your legal career. Therefore, one has to lay a perfect or near-perfect foundation for their legal career while they are still students because, as the old 1590 French proverb interprets, “as you lay your bed, so you will lie on it.”

Below are 10 things you can do as a law student to contribute to your legal career.

1) Embrace reading

This might come as a cliché; however, it cannot be overemphasized that an individual has to embrace reading once they choose the path of law. Reading is one skill that can never be taken away from a lawyer. You need to read as a student, and you also need to continue reading as a lawyer; you need to get acquainted with the laws, which involves reading. Your chosen area of specialization as a lawyer will always have reading attached to it; cultivating the habit of reading as a law student will pave the way to building a successful legal career. The prolific and wonderful author John Maxwell once said: “Readers are leaders.” Therefore, for you to be in the legal field, you have to embrace reading.

2) Develop writing skills

A lot of writing is involved in the legal career. Being a good writer gives you an edge over other lawyers; therefore, you can start at a very early stage to develop this skill. Writing skills go beyond grammar and spelling. Accuracy, clarity, persuasiveness, and several other elements play a part in ensuring your writing conveys the right message. Some of the things you can do to improve on this skill include embracing article and blog writing and writing legal comments and reviews every day.

3) Doing internships

As a student, it is also important to test the waters and understand the practical aspects of the career field you wish to venture into; this is where an internship comes in. Internships give an individual an insight into what their career choices may look like. Field experience in your major or study of interest is a great way to discover your career path. This helps prepare an individual to know what to expect in the future and also gives an individual the opportunity to work with people who are already successful in the field. We can simply say that an internship is a test drive for the chosen career. The practical aspect of your career, which you will witness during your internship, will give you a better understanding of the theoretical aspects that are embedded in books. Applying for internships as a law student allows you to explore the career path you have chosen for yourself as you get the opportunity to witness the courtroom, familiarize yourself with cases, refine your writing skills, and build advocacy skills.

4) Develop the ability to work under pressure

Truth be told, having a successful legal career entails working under a lot of pressure. You have to develop the ability to multi-task and push yourself when there is a lot of pressure. Regardless of how well planned or organized you are, changes and unexpected events, problems, or challenges can and do occur. The ability to respond effectively to pressure and stress is therefore extremely important in any line of work. The pressure doesn’t stop when you start your legal career. Instead, it increases. As a law student, the skill to work under pressure must be developed. Some of the ways you can develop your ability to work under pressure as a law student are by participating in extracurricular activities such as mooting, and debating competitions.

5) Doing volunteer work

For growth, one can decide to offer their legal skills as a law student and get experience and a boost of confidence in exchange. As a law student, the little experience you have in the legal field can come in handy for other people, and you can contribute positively to others and your environment through volunteering. Volunteering can provide a healthy boost to your confidence. It is important to understand that even lawyers who are already in the field take up volunteer work to give back to the community. The ability to do this while you are in the legal field is developed through volunteering as a student.

6) Improve communication skills

If you are an effective communicator, you lower the risk of misunderstandings, both within your practice and with your clients and your colleagues. Communication is a major part of law; therefore, building a successful legal career requires you to take positive steps in order to build your communication skills.

Here are a few tips that you can incorporate into your daily life to improve your communication skills: You have to pay more attention when someone speaks, as well as think before you speak, work on your body language while you speak, go straight to the point while you speak, write things down if you are addressing a group of people, etc.

7) Find a mentor

A lot of individuals have excelled in the area of law; therefore, while you build yourself as a student, you should have someone you look up to. The purpose of mentoring is to grow by tapping into the knowledge and experience of someone further along than yourself. The purpose of mentorship is to allow a student to figure it out faster than they would have ordinarily done it on their own. A student without a mentor is most likely to spend more time trying to understand the legal field than one who has an individual acting as their guide. A mentor aids in your growth and allows you to understand your career better. They put you on the right track and give well-needed advice from their past experiences, and a mentor guides you through the difficult path and makes the journey easier. The legal field is a vast area, with varieties of choices to make when you want to pursue your career. A mentor, however, narrows these paths down and helps you make the right decisions; they act as accountability partners and will be available to push you in difficult times. Having someone to look up to while you are still a student is a great start to building the perfect legal career.

8) Be passionate

Passion can be described as a strong desire for or interest in an activity or cause that people love to do. When the going gets tough, passion helps you derive pleasure and happiness from your career. The vigor attached to the legal field may often leave you with doubts. Finding your passion for law, on the other hand, will keep you going. Passion is the driving force every student needs to have a successful career. Being passionate about the legal field will keep discouraged students on their feet and push them when they hit rocky ground. When you discover this passion, it pushes you to study; it gives you a reason to put in more effort and stretch yourself beyond your imagined capabilities. Passion sets you apart from others and helps you achieve maximum productivity throughout your career in the legal field.

9) Be open-minded

Open-mindedness is the willingness to actively search for evidence against one’s preferred beliefs, plans, or goals and to weigh such evidence fairly when it is available. Every individual has a background story; your background story is what you are made up of. It is the combination of your upbringing, your beliefs, your culture, your likes and dislikes, and every other factor that influences your decision-making process. The legal field requires the objectivity of an individual to make decisions without being biased. Building a successful legal career requires that one develop an unbiased attitude towards different points of view, the law, and other individuals’ perceptions of things. This will help an individual look beyond their personal beliefs and embrace objective reasoning. In building a successful legal career as a law student, open-mindedness has to be inculcated in your everyday lifestyle. Being open-minded keeps you on neutral ground and gives you a better understanding of the law. The act of being non-judgmental or open-minded cannot start in a day; perfecting this skill will require that you practice and brace yourself with it while you are still a student.

10) Take adequate rest

As the saying goes, “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” As much as you need to go the extra mile with hard work, you also need to give your body and mind a break. Rest is important to help you assimilate better and become more productive. A lot of students do not consider rest as a matter of high priority, which leads to constant breakdowns, low productivity levels, fatigue, and the inability to pursue a successful career. While you put in all the effort as a student, you also need to understand the importance of giving your body adequate rest. It means you are human, and you need the break to achieve good results.

Conclusion

The most important stage of any career has to be the foundation stage. The foundation stage requires hard work, consistency, effort, not being swayed by pressure, and putting in the work. Building a successful legal career is so much more than sitting in a classroom, listening to lectures, and writing exams. It involves opening your mind to explore new things and being up to the task. Most of the attitudes that professionals exhibit as students will most likely be reflected in their professional lives or careers. A successful career is the goal of every student, so embracing the path to success starts with the decisions one makes as a student. Being practical with the above-mentioned tips of things you need to do to contribute to a successful career will go a long way to helping you attain a successful legal path.