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<blockquote data-quote="George Maxwell" data-source="post: 116216" data-attributes="member: 17165"><p>Hi [USER=4098]@futuretraineesolicitor[/USER], </p><p></p><p>It's lovely to hear from you again! It feels like quite a long time since we last interacted on the forum. </p><p></p><p>Just to caveat the below, this is only my opinion. Different interviewers are likely to expect different things from your answer to this question, so as with all questions, it is important that you go with what you feel is right/comfortable. There is no 'right' answer here ultimately. </p><p></p><p><strong>1. </strong>From my perspective, the answers to these two questions should be distinct, although there is likely going to be some overlap in the content of your answers. </p><p></p><p>I think "Why law?" can be interpreted in two ways: 'why did you study law?' and 'why do you want to become a lawyer?'. This should be made clear by your interviewer and the context of the line of questioning. I will concentrate on the latter. I would therefore interpret this question as aiming to find out why you wish to do a job which, for example, requires high attention to detail, is intellectual, (often) requires teamwork and requires strong reasoning and language skills. It seeks to find out why you are seeking to work in the legal industry<em> in general.</em> This includes a large range of practice areas, such as those listed below (e.g., family and criminal law). </p><p></p><p>Think about what these different practice areas have in common that other careers lack. To prepare for this question, I would encourage you to compare law with other professional careers from your perspective, such as medicine, accountancy or dentistry. Why do you want to be a lawyer and not a an engineer or a management consultant?</p><p></p><p>"Why commercial law?" is narrower. It requires you to justify why working in a commercial context, albeit from a legal perspective, appeals to you. Commercial law firms generally work on matters that involve corporate entities, or persons involved (in some way) with the buying and selling of goods/services. Why does this appeal to you more than media, family or criminal law, for example? Do you have any experiences that you can use to demonstrate your interest in commerce perhaps?</p><p></p><p><strong>2. </strong>In short, yes I think it is. Although, I don't think that you should need to as I think it should be made obvious by the context. Even if it isn't, try to incorporate your "Why commercial law?" answer into your "Why law?" answer. </p><p></p><p>The way I approached "Why law?" in an interview, was to start with explaining why I was interested in law in general, before justifying my interest in commercial law specifically. I always tried to keep my answers as succinct as possible, so if I felt like my answer was too long, I would briefly introduce my reasoning, and offer to go into further detail if they wished. My aim was to make sure my answers logically flowed from one another. I did this by highlighting the specific things about being <em>a lawyer</em> that attracted me, before demonstrating why these were most strongly associated with <em>commercial law</em>.</p><p></p><p>One thing to highlight, is to ensure that there is consistency between your answers. In interview if you are asked "Why commercial law?", try to cover both bases (i.e., "Why law?" and "Why commercial law?") in your answer if you can. This will avoid your interviewers pursuing searching follow-up questions to try to delineate why you are interested specifically in commercial law. They will only do this if your initial answer raises any doubts. For example, if you highlight in your answer that you really like the idea of interacting with clients in addition to doing a job that requires high attention to detail; your interviewer may ask why you didn't consider family law over commercial law. This isn't necessarily a problem, but as far as possible, you should aim to make your "Why commercial law?" answer logically flow from your "Why law?" answer. </p><p></p><p><strong>3.</strong> I don't think that you need to try to justify why UK commercial law in your answer over practicing overseas specifically. It is of course your decision if you wish to do this, but if your interviewers are interested, they may ask you a follow-up. This is your decision though! I would be careful of trying to fit too much in your answers. Your answer could be fantastic, but if you lose the focus or interest of your interviewer (as a result of speaking for too long), it is likely to negatively impact your interview score. </p><p></p><p>Hope that helps! 🚀</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="George Maxwell, post: 116216, member: 17165"] Hi [USER=4098]@futuretraineesolicitor[/USER], It's lovely to hear from you again! It feels like quite a long time since we last interacted on the forum. Just to caveat the below, this is only my opinion. Different interviewers are likely to expect different things from your answer to this question, so as with all questions, it is important that you go with what you feel is right/comfortable. There is no 'right' answer here ultimately. [B]1. [/B]From my perspective, the answers to these two questions should be distinct, although there is likely going to be some overlap in the content of your answers. I think "Why law?" can be interpreted in two ways: 'why did you study law?' and 'why do you want to become a lawyer?'. This should be made clear by your interviewer and the context of the line of questioning. I will concentrate on the latter. I would therefore interpret this question as aiming to find out why you wish to do a job which, for example, requires high attention to detail, is intellectual, (often) requires teamwork and requires strong reasoning and language skills. It seeks to find out why you are seeking to work in the legal industry[I] in general.[/I] This includes a large range of practice areas, such as those listed below (e.g., family and criminal law). Think about what these different practice areas have in common that other careers lack. To prepare for this question, I would encourage you to compare law with other professional careers from your perspective, such as medicine, accountancy or dentistry. Why do you want to be a lawyer and not a an engineer or a management consultant? "Why commercial law?" is narrower. It requires you to justify why working in a commercial context, albeit from a legal perspective, appeals to you. Commercial law firms generally work on matters that involve corporate entities, or persons involved (in some way) with the buying and selling of goods/services. Why does this appeal to you more than media, family or criminal law, for example? Do you have any experiences that you can use to demonstrate your interest in commerce perhaps? [B]2. [/B]In short, yes I think it is. Although, I don't think that you should need to as I think it should be made obvious by the context. Even if it isn't, try to incorporate your "Why commercial law?" answer into your "Why law?" answer. The way I approached "Why law?" in an interview, was to start with explaining why I was interested in law in general, before justifying my interest in commercial law specifically. I always tried to keep my answers as succinct as possible, so if I felt like my answer was too long, I would briefly introduce my reasoning, and offer to go into further detail if they wished. My aim was to make sure my answers logically flowed from one another. I did this by highlighting the specific things about being [I]a lawyer[/I] that attracted me, before demonstrating why these were most strongly associated with [I]commercial law[/I]. One thing to highlight, is to ensure that there is consistency between your answers. In interview if you are asked "Why commercial law?", try to cover both bases (i.e., "Why law?" and "Why commercial law?") in your answer if you can. This will avoid your interviewers pursuing searching follow-up questions to try to delineate why you are interested specifically in commercial law. They will only do this if your initial answer raises any doubts. For example, if you highlight in your answer that you really like the idea of interacting with clients in addition to doing a job that requires high attention to detail; your interviewer may ask why you didn't consider family law over commercial law. This isn't necessarily a problem, but as far as possible, you should aim to make your "Why commercial law?" answer logically flow from your "Why law?" answer. [B]3.[/B] I don't think that you need to try to justify why UK commercial law in your answer over practicing overseas specifically. It is of course your decision if you wish to do this, but if your interviewers are interested, they may ask you a follow-up. This is your decision though! I would be careful of trying to fit too much in your answers. Your answer could be fantastic, but if you lose the focus or interest of your interviewer (as a result of speaking for too long), it is likely to negatively impact your interview score. Hope that helps! 🚀 [/QUOTE]
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