Meet the Insta-influencers combining fitness with law

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By Adam Mawardi on

Flexing their legal minds and muscles ? ?‍♀️

Jasmine Brown and Sophie Warren

Aspiring lawyers know the score: while commercial awareness, communication skills and even tech-savvy will set you apart from the competition, it takes strong academics to clear the initial stages of online applications.

Enter the new legally-minded fitness Instagram-influencers, training the brains and bodies of the masses.

Up first is aspiring lawyer Jasmine Brown, a University of Brighton first year law student using Instagram to share her study secrets and top exercise tips. For example, with the lockdown forcing law finals online, a recent post (embedded below) sees Brown breakdown her approach to open-book exams.

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With the impact of Covid 19 forcing exams to be held online it now means that we have access to all of our resources for the exam. So how do you become prepared for an open book exam without feeling overwhelmed by the load of information/books/scraps of paper/ textbooks and printed out articles? ? Here’s my top tips to getting your notes in order for open book exams so you know where to look to find the relevant information and make the most of the time you to sit and write the exam paper ? . ✨Have a small text book that includes all of your relevant cases for each topic and include headings that tell you which area of law that is being stated, a VERY brief summary of the case because this part isn’t particularly relevant in exams, what was held and the reason why/ the wider impact that has . ✨Have an overview sheet of each exam topic including the important legislation, cases and criticisms you need to mention to achieve your desired grade . ✨Have an exam structure in front of you to make sure you have everything you need in the right order, you are applying the facts of a case to the problem question at hand and you are stating the elements needed to prove a certain tort or the steps needed to be taken to apply for judicial review etc . ✨Have a statute book on hand that you have highlighted and tabbed so you can get straight to the relevant Act and see your highlighted notes on the relevant sections of that Act . ✨When you are in that exam bubble, you can sometimes miss bits of information in a frenzy to try and find something quickly. Make sure you spend time preparing and organising yourself beforehand to save you a heap of stress and frantic searching when you’re writing the exam . ✨Think of it this way, would it look good in a court of law where you’re trying to prove a defendant was guilty of an offence and you rely on a case that “had that person against that company that included a tax scandal that set the precedent for all future tax cases” ??? . ✨Remember you are presenting an argument or a desired view point on a situation, you need to be precise and to the point, make your notes follow suit

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In other entries, Brown, who’s racked-up nearly 2,200 followers on Instagram, explains how she stays on-top-of uni work during lockdown, as well as her advice on preparing and researching exam answers.

In the YouTube vlog embedded below, Brown, who completed a degree in event management at Coventry University before switching paths to law, also walks viewers through the Watson Glaser critical thinking test often used in vac scheme and training contract assessment centres.

When she’s not advising law students on enhancing their study game, Brown is sharing her workout routines, healthy snack snaps and motivational before/after progress pics.

The 2019 Legal Cheek LPC Most List

For example, despite gyms being closed until further notice, a recent post (embedded below) shows that Brown, a qualified personal trainer and former gym manager, has simply moved the powerlifting to her garden patio.

Brown — who tells Legal Cheek she’s a “big believer in the ‘you can do it all attitude’” — argues that healthy living can benefit legal studies. She explains:

“Maintaining health and fitness alongside my legal journey has helped me to keep mentally engaged and stimulated as well as a good stress relief when it gets down to crunch time!”

Next up is fitness fanatic Sophie Warren, an aspiring international lawyer documenting her path to qualification on Instagram page ‘LegallyRun’. As she describes in one post: “We all have ambitions and one day I really do want to be a partner in a big commercial law firm so then I really will be ‘running law!’ DREAM BIG!”

Warren, a University of Birmingham law with French law graduate, initially began Insta-blogging to chart her progress as she trained to run ten half-marathons to raise money Breast Cancer Now.

As Warren balanced marathon training alongside studying the Legal Practice Course part-time and working as a paralegal for Duncan Lewis Solicitors, her fitness page began to feature insight into the legwork that goes into building a legal career.

Warren, who’s amassed nearly 2,200 followers on Instagram, also speaks candidly about the lessons she’s picked up along the way. For example, in the post below, Warren gives her take on three core study skills: management, prioritisation and productivity.

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*TIME* ?‍⚖️As a junior lawyer, you rarely have control over your workload-and everything is ‘urgent’ in the legal world!! ❗️I wanted to share with you the key time skills I have learned from working in practice and how you can effectively management your working hours ⏱ 1️⃣ Management-this relates to the time you allocate to each task and not exceeding this allocation; and for example writing a to-do list so you know how many tasks you have do to in that day. Managing time may also mean having to come into the office early/staying late, perhaps having a shorter lunch or missing the gym to make sure all work is completed time. 2️⃣ Prioritisation- this is a skill which is a lot more difficult than imagined. You will often get all levels of lawyers giving you ‘urgent’ work that needs to be done by what is called ‘close of play.’ Sometimes yes, work is prioritised based on seniority for example work given by the managing partner, but you need also consider the consequences if the work doesn’t get done the same day. If, however, it will be impossible to get the task done, ask a colleague for some help (two hands make light work), then show to whoever that you have taken active steps but it will be done first thing in the morning. 3️⃣Productivity- how to maximise your allocated work time. If your task is complex/lengthy- try to do this in the morning with a clear head when the office is quieter and you will be able to achieve more in a short space of time. More mundane tasks such as scanning/photocopying (yes unfortunately we do this) require less brain power and could be done in the afternoon. Make sure you spend the time on a specific task and try not to stray to other work (easier said than done) as then it will take you longer to do one piece of work. • • These skills will develop and improve with experience but don’t be fooled how difficult it can be at first! • #law #lawfirm #solicitor #lawyer #futurelawyer #timemanagement #skills #birmingham #london #citylife #lawyerlife #bloggerlife #lawblog #lawblogger #lpc #success #aspire #business #commerciallyaware #study #ulaw #lawschool

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Now a real estate legal assistant at Freeths, Warren believes her side-hustle as an Insta-influencer has helped her to build highly sought-after skills. “I’ve acquired communication, marketing and entrepreneurial thinking skills that can be discussed on application,” she tells Legal Cheek.

Meanwhile, by combining law and fitness, Warren can show that there’s more to her than just academics. She says:

“Running this account has enabled me to show I have other interests outside of my career, which demonstrates I am a well-rounded person — which is what law firms are looking for.”

The duo aren’t the first legal minds to become fitness influencers. As previously reported by Legal Cheek, fitness blogger and Clifford Chance associate, Alex Buckley — aka ‘The Lean Lawyer’ — went viral as she discouraged calorie counting and unsustainable dieting. And then there’s Saffron Sheriff, the Lancaster University law graduate, who continues to impress with her bodybuilding posts.

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