Introduction

Hey, I thought I had better post my first blog to introduce myself. I am a 20 year old, second year law student and the University of Birmingham. I decided I wanted to be a lawyer in the first year of sixth form because I thought I would enjoy it! It turns out I was right.

I have just started my second year in which I will be studying:

Jurisprudence – so far I have had 3 lectures which have been quite interesting. Especially because the last one consisted of our American lecturer talking about the difference between cricket and baseball before finishing half an hour early.
Trusts and Equity - not sure about this yet. It seems very complicated and I fell asleep in the Friday afternoon lecture last week which might not be a good sign. Having enjoyed land law last year I’m hoping I will feel the same about this!
EU Law - seems OKAY so far.
Criminal Law – very interesting. Especially as it was the first lecture I have spoken in since I got to university.
Medical Law (this is my optional module) – I am really looking forward to studying this, although the prospect of writing a 10,000 word essay is daunting. Particularly because the most I have ever written is around 3,500.

At the beginning of my first year deciding what I actually wanted to do as a career seemed a long way off. It definitely doesn’t feel that way any more, particularly now we are starting to look at training contracts. I am starting to consider my options. Originally I wanted to be a Criminal Law Barrister, but work experience in this area and general enquiries has led me to believe there isn’t much future in this area of law. Also, I am not sure that being a barrister is what I really want. I like the idea of working in a team as part of a large firm which is more in tune with being a solicitor. Subject wise I have decided that I really enjoyed Land Law in my first year. This may be a rare thing as far as I can tell. Having been told that there was a 40% failure rate on this course I didn’t hold out much hope for actually passing, let alone enjoying it. But I think it may have inspired me to enter into property law or some sort of related area. Other than that I have a keen interest in medical law and am currently considering commercial law, not just because everyone tells me that the pay is excellent, but also because I have just attended a talk by one of the big London firms and actually found it quite interesting.

So far, the course has been challenging and has involved a LOT of reading. But I love it. I just might make a lawyer yet.