The University of Law student Chloe Autran discusses her pathway into law, leveraging work experience and tips for navigating the SQE
Chloe Autran, a future trainee at Eversheds Sutherland, did not begin her academic journey with a legal career in mind. She first studied international relations before making the decision to pivot into law, and she is now completing the LLM (SQE1 and SQE2) at The University of Law (ULaw). When we speak, I begin by asking what prompted such a change in direction.
“I started my studies in international relations because I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do,” she explains. While she enjoyed the research and essay writing involved, she soon realised that academic life “wasn’t really the world for me” and that she wanted something more practical, client-facing and involving problem-solving skills. That shift in perspective, combined with a public international law module she “really enjoyed”, was enough to spark the idea of a legal career. By the end of her undergraduate degree, she was certain that the solicitor path was the one for her.
Autran went on to complete the law conversion course and found herself completely drawn in. “I really loved it, so I decided to carry on,” she says and she opted for the MA with SQE1 preparation instead of writing a dissertation. She sat SQE1 in January 2024, and by then had already secured a place on Eversheds Sutherland’s summer vacation scheme, which she later converted into a training contract.
After completing SQE1, Autran chose to step back from studying for a moment and gain some hands-on experience, securing a legal internship at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s primary competition regulator. Reflecting on the placement, she describes it as “probably the best way to start a career in law,” noting that her colleagues took the time to train her thoroughly and the work environment was friendly and stimulating. The flexible nature of the internship meant she could move between different competition law teams, explore various projects and gradually take on more responsibility as she built relationships across the organisation. The experience confirmed her enthusiasm for competition law, particularly because “the work felt tangible and had clear consequences for consumers”. By the time she arrived at Eversheds Sutherland for the vacation scheme that summer, she already had several months of practical experience under her belt, something she says “really helped” her during the scheme.
When I ask what initially attracted her to Eversheds Sutherland, she explains that coming from a non-law background made the legal market feel confusing at first. Over time, she worked out that she wanted a full-service firm to give her variety, an international presence that matched her global outlook, and a medium-sized trainee intake for a more collaborative working culture. Eversheds Sutherland stood out for meeting all those criteria. She was also drawn to one major project that caught her attention — “the first hydrogen project in Egypt in the Suez Canal area”, a deal she found “super interesting” because of its potential positive impact. She tells me that the firm’s client base also appealed to her, noting that Eversheds “has a company-focused approach” and tends to advise businesses directly rather than prioritising fund clients, which for someone who enjoys understanding a client’s strategy and working closely with them felt like a meaningful distinction.
She also appreciated the firm’s recruitment process, which she describes as “focused on who you were as a person and your competencies”. It did not rely on technical grilling, which in her view “allowed me to express myself and show what I can bring to the firm”.
When we turn to applications, Autran is quick to acknowledge that the process can feel daunting and confusing at the beginning, particularly for those without a law degree. She remembers finding it difficult to understand exactly what firms expected from her. Her advice is to focus on learning by interacting with people. “Going to lots of law firm events and speaking to people as much as possible” made a significant difference for her. She even “shamelessly” messaged current trainees on LinkedIn, something she recommends because many were happy to help. Over time, these conversations helped her reach the point “where it clicked” and she began to understand how to present herself authentically.
One of her strongest messages is the “importance of being yourself”, and she emphasises that “applications should reflect your genuine interests rather than attempts to sound overly academic or to impress with case names for the sake of it. Every time I would write an application, I would talk about one specific deal,” she explains, choosing something she truly cared about and then “create connections” between that work and her own experience, which helped make her applications “as targeted and as personal as possible” while showing clear alignment with the firm’s values. She adds that it is crucial to remember that you “have to say something and explain why you’re saying it”, since listing experiences alone is never enough and the real value lies in explaining what you learned and how those lessons will help you thrive at the firm.
We move on to talk about the SQE. Autran recently completed through ULaw’s preparation course and she does not downplay the intensity, describing it as “a very intense and short period of time where I was studying all the time”. She credits ULaw’s course structure for helping her manage the workload, explaining that “you kind of just focus and hibernate for a couple months, and it really helps you to get your mindset into just doing this exam”.
Each week followed ULaw’s “prepare, engage, consolidate” model. In the prepare stage, she read manuals, took notes and did basic exercises. During the engage stage, she participated in small group workshops where a tutor guided students through applying the law to scenarios. The consolidate stage involved revisiting the material through further exercises and taking a weekly practice test on ULaw’s online platform.
When I ask about her study strategy, she highlights the importance of good notes. She took comprehensive notes from the very beginning, a decision she is pleased she made even though she later shortened them. She admits that she initially avoided too many practice questions, wanting her marks to look respectable, but eventually realised that “the point isn’t for your grade to be good. The point is to practice as much as possible”. Letting go of the fear of doing badly on practice tests made a huge difference. In the end, she believes “the secret for SQE1 is just doing the questions”, both for building knowledge and developing an instinct for the exam.
As our conversation comes to an end, I ask Autran what advice she would offer students currently navigating applications or studying for the exams. She acknowledges that the journey towards qualification can be tiring and challenging, but she offers two key pieces of reassurance. The first is that there is no single correct path into the profession. People enter law at both early and later stages, from a wide range of backgrounds, and there is no requirement to follow a “straight path” or begin immediately after graduating. Her second point is that there is no need to feel intimidated by anyone in the industry. Even the most senior lawyers have been through the same process. As she puts it, “there’s no reason to be afraid or intimidated by anyone, they’re just the same as us”.
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