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As an aspiring lawyer, getting involved in your university’s student law society looks great to prospective employers. Pictured: Farhan Shahid (left) with Warwick University law society’s award at the student law society awards.
As an aspiring lawyer, getting involved in your university’s student law society looks great to prospective employers. Pictured: Farhan Shahid (left) with Warwick University law society’s award at the student law society awards. Photograph: LawCareers.Net
As an aspiring lawyer, getting involved in your university’s student law society looks great to prospective employers. Pictured: Farhan Shahid (left) with Warwick University law society’s award at the student law society awards. Photograph: LawCareers.Net

Student law societies are much more than fancy balls and networking

This article is more than 8 years old

By getting involved in a student law society, you could end up receiving national recognition for your good work

Suits, How to Get Away with Murder, The Good Wife and other TV shows and films tend to provide a skewed view of the legal profession. Law students are well aware that a legal degree is no joke, and that, actually, cases aren’t resolved in a heartbeat while drinking scotch during the early hours of the evening.

Despite this, we all know GCSE or sixth-form students who pursued a legal degree with a view to becoming the next Harvey Specter or Annalise Keating.

This is where student law societies come in. They provide students with a more accurate depiction of the legal industry, through mentoring programmes where first-years can be paired with more senior members of the society, providing an environment in which to ask honest questions and develop.

Law societies give students a more accurate depiction of the legal industry than many TV shows. (Pictured: Harvey Specter and Mike Ross in Suits). Photograph: Allstar/FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Some student law societies even receive praise on a national scale for their work. Last night, LawCareers.Net hosted the second student law society awards to recognise the efforts of students who have taken their societies to the next level.

The winners (listed below) offer their members innovative careers events and pro bono and mooting activities, alongside all-important socialising opportunities.

It’s true that these societies often clog up Facebook newsfeeds with publicity for the countless events they hold each week. But between the never-ending networking events and fancy law balls, it’s clear that getting involved in these societies is now an important part of a law student’s journey.

Student law societies also help students to integrate into the university at an early stage. The bar crawls and international tours aren’t just opportunities to make decisions that you might regret the next morning. These events provide a chance to break the ice and start conversations with the people you see regularly but never managed to speak to.

However, law societies aren’t all fun and games. As the name would suggest, their motto is usually “play hard, work harder”. Throughout the year, members get the chance to develop soft skills to boost their employability. Whether through mooting, negotiation exercises or interview workshops, these societies make it their aim to help you through your journey in university.

“Joining a law society opens up a variety of different ways for students to engage in social activities and improve upon their advocacy skills,” says Amirah Choudhury, president of the Brunel law society. “It enables students to become confident in their speaking abilities, as well as providing networking opportunities to help further a career path in law.”

It’s not just law students who benefit from the services of law societies either. Regardless of your degree, there are always transferable skills that you can gain and apply to the legal profession. Even if you’re not sure a law career is for you, signing up to the law society at your university and attending a few events will only be beneficial.

Sarah Greenstreet, a non-law student member of the Warwick law society, says: “Law societies are one of the only academic societies that don’t really see you as a law student or a history student, or even a biomedical engineering student. They dedicate the same amount of effort to all their members regardless of degree and that’s what makes them incredibly supportive.

“It’s easy for a non-law student to enter the community, receive the same opportunities and feel like their future matters to the society as well.”

And don’t forget – getting involved in law society activities looks great on your CV. If you decide to take up a position on the executive committee of a law society, or even go for a more minor role, the recognition you can receive isn’t limited to your university but can also be national, as the LawCareers.Net awards show, which couldn’t look any better to potential employers.

Zakir Mohamed, master of the moot court of the Warwick law society, says: “Being involved with the activities of a student law society is incredibly rewarding. Not only is there the opportunity to learn from your peers, but it also gives you the chance to shine in front of prospective employers.

“With an increasingly competitive graduate jobs market, it’s involvement in these kinds of activities that distinguish the good applicants from the great.”

The moral of the story? Get involved with your university’s student law society.

Winners of the LawCareers.Net student law society awards 2016

Nominated societies were selected from the submissions of over 40 student law society committees, alongside over 1,600 votes from their members.

Best at student engagement: The LSESU law society

Best social media: Bracton law society, University of Exeter

Best law society president: Sam Unsworth, University of Bristol law club

Best social event: University of Dundee law society

Best pro bono activities: UEA law society

Best careers event: Grey society, Northumbria University

Best society for aspiring barristers: University of Bristol bar society

Best mooting activities: Edward Bramley law society, University of Sheffield

Best society for non-law students: King’s College London law society

Best law society overall: Warwick law society

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