Three people are sitting, looking at a piece of paper. On the left, an Asian man with a beard is holding the paper, in the middle, a black woman wearing glasses and a stripy dress is looking at it and on the the right a white woman with long brown hair is leaning over and looking at the paper.

Essential skills guide

This guide explores what you need to know outside of the law, from soft skills and networking, to commercial awareness and negotiating and how you can develop those skills.

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Three people are sitting, looking at a piece of paper. On the left, an Asian man with a beard is holding the paper, in the middle, a black woman wearing glasses and a stripy dress is looking at it and on the the right a white woman with long brown hair is leaning over and looking at the paper.

Career tips

“Prejudice I might have suffered was never harder on me than I was on myself, so I became impervious to it. If I hadn’t had that tenacity, I wouldn’t have got to this place”

Saeeda Rousselet-Yasmin, investment banking lawyer

“I developed lots of transferable skills on the hockey pitch that serve me well in law. In competitive elite sport, you learn to work in a team, develop leadership skills, manage conflict and know how to take criticism.”

Georgie Twigg MBE, senior associate at Bird & Bird

Day in the life of a solicitor

Hannah Newberry is a white woman with long, straight brown hair. She is smiling widely and wears a black suit.

Life as a family law solicitor in Wales

01 Nov 2024

Obaid Bin Nasir is a man with short spiky silver hair and a black beard. He is smiling and stands in front of a bookshelf.

Life as an in-house construction solicitor in London

01 Nov 2024

Rebekah Sutcliffe is a white woman with long, wavy brown hair. She is smiling and wears a houndstooth suit over a black blouse.

Life as a corporate and commercial solicitor in Hampshire

01 Nov 2024

Member stories

Alice is a white woman with blonde hair. On the left she is wearing a black dress and white jacket. She is standing in an office smiling. On the left she is wearing a green, off-the-shoulder dress and a pink sash. She is standing in front of a neon sign, with her hand on her hip and smiling.

“I left a Magic Circle law firm – people thought I was mad”

10 May 2024

Phill is a white man with light brown hair. He is wearing a blue suit, light shirt and blue tie.

Phill Bratt talks 2:2s, dyslexia and the impact of personal injury law

10 Apr 2024

Holly Moore is a white woman with long, wavy, dark brown hair. She is smiling widely and walking down a cobbled street, surrounded by stone buildings. She wears a red dress.

“People weren’t taking me as seriously until I showed them what I could do”

06 Dec 2022

News from the Law Society

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The palace of Westminster in the evening.
The palace of Westminster in the evening.

Westminster update

Your weekly update on all the latest developments and debates in Parliament and across Whitehall.

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The Law Society Gazette logo

The Law Society Gazette

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Who we are

The Law Society is the professional body for solicitors and a place to connect, grow and thrive.

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The Law Society entrance at 113 Chancery Lane, London. Stone building with pillars and iron railings outside. Under an arch with sign bearing the Law Society crest, steps lead up to glass doors with lights inside.