Career clinic: What is best for transferable skills?

The question you need to ask yourself is "transferable to what?" If you want a good all round business qualification, an MBA might have been a better choice than the LPC!Having said that, corporate/commercial will stand you in good stead for in-house roles or for life in the legal teams of accounting firms. Some of the more commercial work does end up in IP/IT/Comms teams and if you think in-house in a media company might suit you then you could try there. Finance would be useful if you fancy life at a bank, though bear in mind that it can be quite commoditised. If you think you might like to move to a goverment or regulatory role then look at competition or FS. I have to say though, unless I was desperate for people, I don't think I'd want to take someone on to a team that didn't really want to be there, as opposed to simply near an acceptable exit.

Ex-MC lawyer -01 Oct 2007 | 15:23

Whatever you do don't do litigation. It is extremely difficult to extract yourself from and more corporate/commercial practices or industries are not interested. If I had my time again I would go into IT/IP.

Bored Litigator -02 Oct 2007 | 17:12

There's no question that qualifying into general commercial will give you a broader base of transferable skills than any other area of practice - transferrable both to more specialised areas of law later on if you fancy it, or transferrable away from the law into the business world. It's not for everyone, but couple it with a decent personality and an exposure to some good quality work and you'll find that you're skills will always be in very high demand. Good luck!!

In-house Counsel, Bluechip PLC -03 Oct 2007 | 17:15

It seems any objective comment about exactly how to switch to a business role is impossible. Since: Many say it is hard or even impossible, but a few people will be able to give you anecdotal evidence to the contrary. I knew of someone, for example, that started at an MC firm in a corporate function, then went to a management consultancy and now works in private equity as an associate. It is unquestionable that corporate/commercial is the place to be, and I would suspect doing at firms with the strongest brand will open the most doors. So if you are not at somewhere spectacular, change if you can when you qualify. I intend to do just that!

Trainee, Mid-Tier -03 Oct 2007 | 18:43

Think about what skills you would like to acquire. All skill or knowledge is transferable. In terms of choosing the right area of law on qualification, think about what you would like to do in the future. Do not be disillusioned that corporate lawyers have business understanding or any particular skill, which may assist in business. Corporate law is not particularly intellectually charged and you should bear this in mind. I agree with the previous advice about the MBA. Get knowledge, contacts and understanding, would be my advice. It will be your currency no matter where you go.

Tax lawyer and active entrepreneur -05 Oct 2007 | 01:03

employment. can go into HR when you get fed up.

Anonymous -10 Oct 2007 | 17:12

Qualifications, qualifications, qualifications - you can't go wrong! Take at look at Glasgow Graduate Schoool of Law and their specialist Technology/IP LLM.

Douglas, Edinburgh -12 Oct 2007 | 13:46