Legal Cheek Careers sits down with The University of Law programme lead Emma Taylor about her route into law and the case for keeping an open mind as an aspiring solicitor
Emma Taylor’s route into law started with barrister Helena Kennedy KC. While still in sixth form, she read Kennedy’s book on miscarriages of justice, an experience that first sparked her interest in becoming a lawyer. Looking back now, after a decade practising in commercial disputes and a move into legal education as programme lead at The University of Law (ULaw) Bristol, Taylor says her career has taught her the importance of keeping an open mind, and embracing the unexpected opportunities a legal career can bring.
That early interest eventually took her from Staffordshire to London, where she studied law with French law at UCL. The degree included a year abroad in France, where she studied in Aix-en-Provence and completed a French law diploma. She fully immersed herself in the language and culture, having “an amazing experience and the opportunity to live abroad and improve my French”. While she admits she hasn’t used the qualification directly in practice, the experience proved invaluable in other ways. “It gave me a real insight into what it’s like to study law in a second language,” she says, “it’s an experience that helps me relate to the students I work with in legal education today — particularly international students. A career in law provides exceptional experiences which you can’t necessarily plan for, but with excellent training, you can and should embrace these when they come along”.
Like many aspiring City lawyers, Taylor came into contact with firms through university careers fairs. “A lot of City firms came to UCL, and I applied to a few mid-sized firms where I thought the culture seemed the most collaborative and supportive, although that was quite difficult to assess back then,” she explains. “That process ultimately led me to a training contract with SJ Berwin, which later merged with King & Wood Mallesons. I completed my LPC prior to that at the College of Law in Guildford, now known as ULaw.”
After completing the LPC, Taylor began her training contract and soon discovered a passion for disputes work. “I qualified into commercial litigation and practised in commercial and property disputes for ten years. Life as a disputes lawyer was fast-paced and varied, dealing with highly contested matters at interlocutory stages, including fairly regular appearances as a junior solicitor at the Royal Courts of Justice.” Her client list included household names such as Marks & Spencer, British Land, and Westfield, and she also handled property-related disputes. “It was a very engaging area of law,” she says. “Quick-moving and involving a lot of court work!”
A few years after qualification, an opportunity arose at DAC Beachcroft’s Bristol office, taking Taylor out of the capital. This was a welcome change of pace from London, with Bristol still offering a “vibrant, eclectic city with quality work”, but with far more green space. For students and aspiring lawyers, the city is a great middle ground: smaller than London, but still full of opportunity. “There is high-profile work available in many great firms,” she says, pointing to specialisms including real estate, health, insurance and oil and gas. She also highlights the city’s “new legal quarter” next to Temple Meads, along with the flexibility Bristol offers in terms of lifestyle. Students can live in the city itself or commute from nearby places such as Bath or Cardiff, or from the surrounding hills and coastline.
While working at DAC Beachcroft around 2010, she was advising a landlord on a lease for the College of Law. She noticed that the institution was coming to Bristol and applied for a role as a tutor. “Teaching is in my family,” she says, “and I always had a draw towards it.” Teaching offered a different kind of fulfilment compared with private practice. “Both careers are rewarding,” she reflects. “But this role suits my skill set and allows me to focus on supporting students and developing engaging programmes.”
Her teaching has evolved over time, along with her role. “I started with dispute resolution on the LPC, which makes sense after being a commercial litigation solicitor,” she says, “now, as a programme lead, the focus is on the student journey — ensuring success and completion for students — and much of what I deliver relates to vocational progression, but I continue to teach tort, commercial disputes, SQE2 courses and the dissertation modules for our master’s courses. Like most of our lecturers, I have taught undergraduates on our LLB degree course too, and have been lucky enough to lecture overseas, delivering teaching at a university in Northern India just prior to ULaw opening their Online Campus early in 2020.”
She also delivers the non-assessed ‘Professional Skills and Behaviours’ course for law converters, which introduces students to core aspects of legal practice such as ethics, conflicts and commercial awareness. Today, Taylor is the programme lead for ULaw’s conversion courses. In the role, she focuses on supporting students and ensuring the programmes remain engaging and academically rigorous.
Success at law school, she says, starts with organisation. “The most successful students are organised with their time management from the outset,” she says. They recognise the scale of the commitment early and set aside dedicated time for study and preparation.
For SQE students in particular, she says getting to grips with the assessment style early matters enormously. “Getting used to the Single Best Answer Question format early is vital: it’s a format most students aren’t familiar with and will never have been assessed on before.” To help with that, students can make the most of the ULaw SQE app, where they’ll find thousands of practice questions to help prepare them for their assessments. The app will also cleverly adapt to test them more heavily on the areas they find hardest.
But technique alone is not enough. “You also need determination,” she says. That is especially true for students moving through the long and demanding SQE process, including preparing for SQE2 while still waiting for SQE1 results. “It is a gruelling few months,” she says.
ULaw’s support, she explains, is designed to help students manage both the academic and personal demands of the course. She describes the Virtual Learning Environment as “brilliant”, because it brings together teaching materials, textbooks and legal databases such as Westlaw and Lexis Nexis all in one place. She is also keen to highlight the role of pro bono opportunities, particularly for students who arrive without prior legal experience. Working in clinics or on Streetlaw projects can help them demonstrate both commitment and practical engagement with the profession. On the employability side, ULaw’s careers team helps with applications and offers mock interviews.
Even so, the pressure of the SQE can sometimes feel overwhelming. Her advice is simple and practical: take breaks, keep a routine, get outside and do not overload yourself. Most importantly, she says, students should not struggle in silence. “Speak to your tutors,” she says. There is a well-being team in place, along with approachable staff who can help with deferrals or moving deadlines where needed.
Asked for one final piece of advice for aspiring solicitors, Taylor stresses the importance of flexibility. Many students begin their legal journey with a very specific career path in mind, often focused on a particular practice area or type of firm. But Taylor’s own career demonstrates that opportunities can emerge in unexpected ways. “A lot of students start with a fixed idea of what they want to do, like human rights law,” she says. “But there are so many interesting avenues in the legal profession.” Her advice is therefore to stay determined, but also adaptable: “Don’t give up, and be open to different opportunities.”
Secrets to Success Bristol takes place in-person on THIS AFTERNOON (Thursday, 12 March). The event features a series of careers talks and commercial awareness discussions delivered by lawyers from Osborne Clarke, RPC and Bevan Brittan, alongside a careers expert from ULaw. APPLY NOW!
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