As explained in our earlier article on Building Your Legal Profile, previous legal experience is not essential. However, the reason that most people would argue that it is beneficial to you and your clerkship application is because it shows the recruiter that you are familiar with the work culture and environment of a typical law firm and would have no issues fitting in should you be selected for a clerkship.
With the job market becoming more competitive, we have seen an uptick in applicants having many legal roles in their resume to demonstrate their ability to deliver and become a competent lawyer.
How important is a legal role for a legal clerkship?
Does having more legal roles translate to better opportunities for a clerkship? Not necessarily. What is still evident, even in 2024, is that a solid cover letter and a solid set of responses to the firm’s written application questions still gives you the best opportunity to interview and therefore land a clerkship.
While it is not critical for a clerkship, it seems like some legal experience would be beneficial. The question here now is to what extent? Our advice here is to focus on the roles and responsibilities of the legal position, rather than focusing on the number of different legal roles you can showcase on your resume.
Understanding the relevance of legal experience
To break this down, we need to first understand that the relevance of legal experience is to show whether you are equipped with the skills and attributes to succeed in a law firm. Understand that your skills and attributes are in fact demonstrated through the responsibilities and tasks that you completed in your role, rather than the number of legal roles that you have held prior to applying for clerkships.
From the view of a legal recruiter, it is simple to see that one legal role where you spent two years in the law firm involved in all tasks from drafting briefs to preparing court bundles is more impressive than having four month-long legal roles where all you did was document review. As clerkships recruit applicants with the objective of retaining their lawyers for the long term, the focus is no longer whether you are good at your job, but rather, whether you have the necessary skills to do the other tasks that lawyers normally deal with in their day-to-day. As a result, having that other experience in your role where you reviewed and drafted documents better demonstrates your ability to adapt and succeed at the law firm that you are applying for.
When should i look for a new legal role?
So what if you want to have more legal roles on your resume? Are there actually instances where having multiple legal roles would be beneficial and a true value add to your resume? We believe that this should depend on the purpose of the new role, and one should consider what value it can bring to your application.
Generally, there are three main scenarios where it may be beneficial to look for a new legal role.
The law firm is more reputable
If your previous legal experience is at a boutique law form, it may be useful to also have some experience where you worked at larger, more reputable law firms. There are two main reasons for this:
- If the law firm offers a clerkship program, you would have a slight advantage at becoming a clerk at the firm over other applicants as you have a history with the firm. As the law firm had previously hired you for another role, your application to be a seasonal clerk at the firm could be looked at more favourably compared to an applicant who does not have the same experience. From our experience, we have seen those with previous experience at the firm, generally have a better chance at being offered a first round interview at the same firm.
- As most clerkships are offered by bigger law firms, your new experience at a larger, more reputable firm would demonstrate that you are able to work in such an environment with many staff and lawyers. It also may give an indication to the recruiter that you have value, as another reputable law firm has previously hired you for a different role.
The new role builds on your existing experience
Using our previous example, if your current role is only doing document review for extended periods of time, it may be beneficial to join a role that offers greater responsibilities and tasks. This will allow you to put your best foot forward when answering written application questions and interview questions as you have more things in the legal role to talk about.
The new role builds on your existing interest in a practice area
A great way to demonstrate that you have a passion in a specific practice area, is if you take up new roles at different firms that operate in the same practice area. For instance, if you have an interest in property, having experience working at a property developer and in the property division of another law firm really reinforces your passion in the practice area. Having a set of similar legal roles and experiences is one way that students have been able to genuinely demonstrate their interest in the practice area and law more generally.