The University of Law’s employability group manager Catherine Morgan talks AI, ESG and why ten minutes with the news each morning beats a last-minute panic
Commercial awareness is the phrase every aspiring solicitor is told to master, but what does it mean in practice, and can it really be crammed the night before an interview? Catherine Morgan, one of The University of Law’s (ULaw) national employability group managers, has some thoughts.
Morgan knows the student journey from both sides. “Many moons ago, I qualified as a solicitor,” she says, having completed her LPC at the College of Law, as The University of Law was then known. She trained at a multi-practice firm in Stoke, before joining Weightmans’ commercial property team in Manchester. After five years as a commercial property lawyer, with DWF Solicitors her last firm, she had a brief stint in legal recruitment, finding jobs for partners and solicitors. In 2009 she returned to the College of Law as it opened in Manchester, becoming careers manager for the campus. Today she has a national role, helping to manage the team across ULaw’s 17 campuses.
Keeping up with the commercial world is part of the job. Morgan subscribes to Legal Cheek, The Law Society Gazette and other publications, and says, “I read the BBC pages every day just to keep my commercial awareness going.” She also leans on the university’s alumni network, built over 150 years “in one iteration or another”. At Legal Cheek Live in Manchester, she recently caught up with former students who are now trainees, and even partners she has worked with. Speaker events, where practising solicitors and barristers share their insights, help too, as do the university’s tutors, most of whom are former or current practitioners.
Then there are the students themselves. “In one-to-one chats, students often underestimate their knowledge, but many are incredibly switched on and proactive,” she says, adding that they often share articles they have read, which makes the relationship a two-way street.
So what should students be reading about? Morgan names three big themes as 2026 draws to a close. The first is AI. “Everyone might be getting a bit fed up hearing about AI, but there’s a reason it’s so ubiquitous,” she says, urging students to understand the ethical considerations, opportunities and challenges. The second is economic uncertainty. Her point is that “students must go beyond the headlines” and connect geopolitics, interest rates, budgets and changing governments to law, legal clients and their own entry into the profession. The third is sustainability and ESG. Because the regulations keep changing, she explains, “work is generated on both ends”, with law firms adapting their own operations and advising clients who must do the same.
On AI, she is keen that students look beyond the question of what it means for lawyers and trainee numbers. “Clients face issues around ethics, cyber security and data protection, and law firms must advise them on adopting AI safely”, with an eye on data privacy, intellectual property, risk management and governance. There is also pressure on cost. “Clients might question whether they need to ask a lawyer when they can query AI, though whether AI gives the right answer isn’t that simple,” she says.
Now to the big question. Can commercial awareness be crammed? “I’m probably going to be slightly controversial: a little bit, yes,” she admits. “It depends on who is going to interview you.” The key is to tailor your research to the firm in front of you. “There’s no point in just reading headlines; you have to adapt and understand those headlines contextually for the law firm and its clients,” she says.
That said, she is clear that the real work happens little and often. “You build that understanding effectively by osmosis. I advise students to do a little bit every single day,” she says. There is no need to spend two hours reading the Financial Times back to back. Instead, she suggests the Legal Cheek weekly update, The Law Society Gazette, The Lawyer, Little Law or FT headlines. ULaw also runs a national commercial awareness challenge for more than a thousand students, who get access to Watson’s Daily.
Morgan practises what she preaches. “It shouldn’t be a chore; it should be part of your routine,” she says. Every morning she grabs a tea or coffee and spends five to ten minutes on the BBC business headlines. The payoff comes later. “Something you read last week or last month suddenly becomes relevant when researching a specific firm.” That, she says, is what separates the good from the outstanding. “That ability to connect the dots makes a good student an outstanding student and turns a job application into a job offer.”
Having seen plenty of applications, Morgan has a clear list of the mistakes she sees again and again: not doing enough research, not adapting it to the firm, and failing to stay up to date. On that last point, she has a cautionary tale. A law firm once announced a merger on the morning of an interview, and a student who had researched only up to the day before was asked, “What do you think about our merger?” “It put them on the back foot immediately,” she says. Her tip is to check the firm’s website just before you walk in.
Another trap is regurgitating information without being able to discuss it. Candidates often mention deals on applications to show they have done their homework, but Morgan warns that “anything on an application is fair game in an interview”. If you cite a deal and three months later cannot explain why it stood out to you, she says, you will not progress.
If she had to pick one thing students could do now to improve their understanding of the business of law, it would be to subscribe to legal commercial podcasts and news outlets, which help put stories in context. Think of it as a long game. “Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she says. Listening to a podcast on a run, or having Radio 4’s Today programme on while you get ready, are the kind of small daily habits that add up.
Looking ahead, Morgan is upbeat. “We are in interesting times, but it isn’t all doom and gloom,” she says. Having lived through the 2008 financial crash as a commercial property lawyer, she saw that when property transactions slow down, “litigation, insolvency, and employment law go through the roof”. Markets correct themselves over time, and she describes the legal profession as “very resilient”. She expects governance to be a major growth area, and says there is demand for graduates who are technologically literate, commercially savvy and emotionally intelligent, with solid legal knowledge.
Finally, what does she wish she had been told when starting out? “Have confidence in yourself. Clients want confident lawyers. You are being paid for your advice and opinion, not to sit on the fence,” she says. That opinion must be informed and well researched, of course, but students who lack confidence at first can build it through preparation, or by stepping outside their comfort zone in university societies and networking events. “Resilience and confidence are the two main qualities I would encourage students to develop.”
Get ahead of the biggest commercial awareness issues shaping the legal profession at ‘The Big Commercial Awareness Themes of 2026-27’, a virtual student event hosted by Legal Cheek TOMORROW, Friday 6 November, from 2pm to 4:30pm. Join experts from ULaw and leading law firms as they explore the key trends every aspiring lawyer should know. Secure your place now.
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