From protecting rights to cold hard cash
Legal Cheek readers have been sharing their true motivations for pursuing careers as lawyers, with factors such as job status, the ability to help people, and the opportunity to earn lots of money featuring highly.
In a flash survey conducted among our 100k Instagram followers, we asked the question: “Law students: why do you really want to be a lawyer?”.
Many of the 70 plus responses flagged the ability to assist others as a major career motivator. “I genuinely want to help people,” one student wrote. Similarly, another follower told us they “want to be able to help people navigate a system that wasn’t necessarily built with them in mind”.
“I want to help asylum seekers and refugees like myself feel protected and have someone who can speak their language while helping them access the law,” added a third student.
For others, perhaps not surprisingly, cold hard cash was a significant pull.”Money and helping people,” said one aspiring lawyer. “But mostly money.” Several others simply responded, “Money!”
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows that student pursuing careers in the City can earn a salary of £50,000 or more as a trainee, with pay typically jumping to six-figures upon qualification. However, salaries in publicly funded areas of law are much (much!) lower. The Law Society currently recommends a minimum salary of £26,068 for trainees in London and £23,122 outside London.
Money aside, other responses included students expressing a desire to follow their parents’ career paths and pursue a profession they perceive as “prestigious”. Additionally, some students mentioned the pride that comes with being able to refer to yourself as a “lawyer”.
Some offered what we hope were more jokey responses. “I don’t [want to be a lawyer],” one career confused student told us. “I’m bad at maths xx,” another quipped. A further student added: “So that I’m the only one in the room that knows what ‘actus reus and mens rea’ are lol.”
What are you motivations for pursuing a career in law? Let us know in the comments 👇