A Languages degree can lead to a career in Law


The opportunity to see at first-hand what a multinational law firm does, and what its main commitments are, was a brilliant insight into the everyday world of Norton Rose Fulbright. A firm that commits not only to its clients and partners, but also to the most junior of lawyers within the firm. There was a clear message from every level of staff that I spoke to personally: this is a firm that looks after its own, and also has a high level of corporate responsibility. Not something you see every day from a company with over £2bn in revenues. There is, as ever, a ‘but’. This is not a drawback of Norton Rose Fulbright specifically, but the law profession in general. The hours worked by the associate lawyers are often extremely long. However, in mitigation, Norton Rose Fulbright is “not as bad as other law firms” in this department.

During the day at Norton Rose Fulbright employees at every level of the company spoke to us: a partner, two associates, and 4 trainees. It was interesting to see how Norton Rose Fulbright deviated from the stereotypical image of a top law firm. It was clear that the people within the organisation were extremely important to the firm, and as such were treated with respect, but also expected to work extremely hard. It was also interesting to see the demographic of people that were at the open day alongside myself: of the many people I encountered only two were studying law, which shows how it isn’t necessary to study law in order to have a career in law. The partner that spoke to us actually studied languages as a degree.  

Overall, I found the experience extremely beneficial, and I would like to thank Sheffield University SLC and also Norton Rose Fulbright for being so welcoming, and also very informative. I urge anybody who has even a slight interest in the law, or even just a corporate working environment, to enter the employer award for next year, as the experience is invaluable.

Henry (1st year French and Business student)
Careers Service

Careers Service

No comments:

Powered by Blogger.