An interview with Amelia Wrigley by Andy Roszkowski

Amelia studied English at St John’s College and graduated in 2018. After completing a vacation
scheme at Slaughter and May, Amelia was offered a training contract from the firm.

What first sparked your interest in a potential career in law?

Over Christmas of second year, I applied to a wide range of summer internships: in consulting, marketing, TV production …and law. To be honest, I didn’t know a great deal about City law when I applied for summer work experience at Slaughter and May. I still had my motivations for applying, in particular, I liked the academic nature of law compared to other City jobs, and I was keen to secure a graduate position with a high level of support and training. Nonetheless, it was only really during my work experience at Slaughter’s that my interest was confirmed.

How would you advise a non-law student who wishes to ascertain whether a career in law may be right for them?

I would advise non-law students who think they might be interested in a career in law to get some direct experience! A training contract entails two years of further study and another two years of training in the firm, so it’s no small commitment (though once you qualify, there is no obligation to stay at the firm, or even in the law). Obviously, there are other ways to ascertain if this is the career for you – follow cases in the news, listen to lectures on specific legal issues etc. – but any direct experience you can get will be infinitely more revealing than secondary research. During my three weeks at Slaughter’s, I found that the unique mix of independent, academic research and dynamic client-facing work was greatly appealing to me. I also got on very well with everyone I met at the firm, and enjoyed the culture of the place – factors that were only apparent to me through actually spending time there. You don’t, of course, have to secure a vacation scheme to get some direct experience. Larger firms often run workshops and other talks that you can attend, and these will give you an insight into the world of City law, and specifically life at that firm.

How does the route into a career in law differ for a non-law graduate compared with a law graduate?

The only real difference is that non-law students have to take the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), which is a year-long course after their first degree. This is the stage I’m currently at, and I’m finding the fast-paced, compact format to be both interesting and rewarding. In a single week I’ll study everything from non-fatal offences against the person in Criminal Law, to free movement of persons in EU Law, to the domestic scandals of secret trusts in Equity and Trusts. For me, it’s also been a great chance to enjoy living in London for the first time without the time constraints of a full-time job. Once you’ve completed the GDL, you join your law student peers on the Legal Practice Course
(LPC), either for one year or for seven months if you’re joining one of the Consortium firms.

Do you feel that there are advantages to having a non-legal background when applying for vacation schemes?

Absolutely. When discussing this question with a partner at Slaughter’s, he said that trainees from non-law backgrounds (who comprise about 50% of the firm’s intake) were invaluable for their alternative ways of thinking and approaching legal problems, for their ability to clearly explain complex law to a client, and for the fresh perspective they bring to the trainee
cohort as a whole. There’s a reason why Slaughters’ slogan is “great minds think differently”.

As a non-law student, what did you find was the most challenging aspect of your application process for vacation schemes? How did you deal with this?

I only applied for two vacation schemes, one at Slaughter and May and one at Linklaters. Linklaters had a more conventional application process, which was a little challenging as a non-law student, as it asked questions to test my legal-commercial awareness and my (albeit basic) understanding of the structure and processes of the English legal system. Slaughters, by contrast, only required a cover
letter and a CV, with no specific engagement with legal issues. Furthermore, in the interview I had for my vac scheme (and ultimately the interview for my training contract), legal subjects only featured as a minor note. The substance of my interview was on my general experience, skills and capabilities, aptitude for legal thought, debate about current affairs and my academic study (for example, a discussion of my dissertation on the poet John Ashbery). As such, my non-law background was not a problem at all for this particular application.

When interviewed for vacation schemes, what transferable skills do you think the employers were looking for?

I think the skills I’ve acquired in the course of my English degree are highly transferable to law – in particular reading, distilling and organising vast amounts of materials, thinking critically about arguments, identifying linguistic nuances and being precise in drafting and writing advice to clients. I was also JCR President of my college, and I believe that the skills of leadership, time-management and communication with a large number of stakeholders were held to be relevant and transferable by my interviewers. Overall, I think it’s about demonstrating a balance between two core skill sets: on the one hand a precise, critical mode of academic thinking with a high level of attention to detail, and on the other hand, an ability to effectively communicate this complex, introverted thinking to a client, and the capacity to be flexible and creative in the way you think about problems. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but the first skill set can often be demonstrated simply through the work you’ve done for your degree, and the second, by an involvement in an organisational/leadership role of any variety.