Careers and skills
If you want to go on to a career in law, all six of our LLB courses provide exemption from the academic stage of training
for the legal profession, which means you can proceed straight to the Bar Professional Training Course or a Legal Practice Course.
“We are extremely proud of our strong relationship with the School of Law and the Careers Centre at Essex, which has been
developed through regular well-attended presentations and associated initiatives. This has resulted in the recruitment of a
number of high quality graduates from the University and we hope to maintain these links in the years to come.” Andy Gould,
Senior Trainee Resources Officer, Nabarro LLP
What our graduates do
Put your skills straight into practice
Our graduates are working for multi-national city firms, large national and regional firms and local high street solicitors.
They have also joined in-house legal teams in the private and public sector. Others have gone on to train for the Bar.
Graduates who do not want to pursue a career in the law are able to take the key skills they learn at Essex into many different
sectors including business and commerce, accountancy, insurance, banking, central and local government, teaching, social work
or the police force.
Helping you with your career
We work closely with our Careers Centre to support you to develop the skills you need and find the right career path for you.
Our careers link is Alan Moran, a qualified solicitor and expert on property law. He has a huge amount of experience in both the
academic and legal world. Recent publications by Alan include Core Statutes on Property Law, co-authored by Peter Luther and
published by Palgrave and Commercial Property Law published by Law Matters Publishing.
“We have recruited a number of trainees over the past couple of years who are an asset to the firm. We look forward to continuing
our annual talk, on life as a trainee, every January.” Danielle Harker, Human Resources Assistant, Ince & Co
Postgraduate support
To complement the research training you will receive in our School of Law, our
Graduate School
also offers a full range of development opportunities and courses to both support your research and enable you to develop the
transferable skills valued highly by employers.
You will also have opportunities to get involved in various practical legal activities including the work of our Essex Business
and Human Rights Project, the Essex Transitional Justice Network and the Human Rights Clinic within our Human Rights Centre.
Law Careers Fair
The Law Careers Fair is a must for anyone considering a legal career. Our event includes an afternoon of presentations covering
topics such as applying for a training contract, a day in the life of a trainee, professional legal education and the Barristers
profession.
Local and national firms taking part in the fair included:
- Ashurst
- Freshfields
- BT Legal
- Travers Smith
- Birkett Long
Our annual Law Careers Fair gives you the opportunity to meet real employers informally, find out about recruitment
opportunities, research how to make applications, gain vacation placements and win training contracts. You also get the
chance to speak to people working in the sector, build networks and establish links with companies. This experience will
improve the effectiveness of your applications for vacation placements, training and jobs.
“The high quality courses offered by the School of Law provide graduates with opportunities to develop a wide range of skills,
all of which are transferable into a legal career. We recognise that there are many bright and motivated students at the School
and, each year, offer two places on our work experience week scheme to eager students.” Sarah Nickle, Graduate Recruitment
Officer, Allen & Overy LLP
Law careers events
Our students get opportunities to take part in careers and employability focused events throughout the year.
Recent events include:
- presentation by commercial law firm Nabarros on preparing for a law fair;
- Talk by Essex LLB and PALLAS LLM alumni John Holmes on ‘Preparing for Interview’.
Build your legal skills
Our students enjoy a whole range of activities organised by our School of Law and our Law Society at Essex. Taking part in
these activities will be rewarding and interesting, as well as help you to develop key skills which will be useful in any future career.
Activities you can get involved with developing
your skills include:
- Essex Street Law;
- Children's Legal Centre volunteer;
- Student Mentoring;
- Negotiation competition;
- Mooting;
- Arbitration;
- Writing for the Law Society’s newsletter Inter Alia;
- Essex Law Clinic.
Our research
Our internationally-renowned academics are working on a whole range of research projects covering key legal
issues including human rights, Europe, access to justice and UN peacekeeping.
Find a course
Use our course finder to find the right course for you. Our courses allow you to
demonstrate your academic potential in a research-intensive environment, while
developing the knowledge and skills required for a successful graduate career.