Law Story 2– Archie Waylen
“The hardest part is getting in front of a person, the process becomes far more natural after this point”
Follow along as we take a dive into Archie’s journey into law.
An absolute privilege to interview Archie Waylen, future trainee solicitor at a UK Top 50 Law Firm with offices around the country and for others to learn his law story. Whilst his law story is far from finished, this will provide readers with an insight into an early career and the future ambitions of a determined and driven individual as well as an insight into the Solicitor Qualifying Exams (SQE).
If you wish to learn more from Archie, feel free to contact him via LinkedIn
Listen to the full story:
Please introduce yourself and tell us what it is you currently do ?
My name is Archie Waylen, I am currently studying for my Solicitor Qualifying Exmas (SQE) and am fortunate to have a training contract lined up in September 2024.
What inspired you to pursue a career in law ?
I haven’t always wanted to be a lawyer, but I would say that my passion for law begun at A-level. My school offered for us to cover a variety of areas such as criminal, corporate and touched on other small areas of the law. My school also offered us practical skills as part of our learning and offered for us to participate in a mock bar competition against schools around the County. We competed at a Crown Court with a real Judge who was the adjudicator and the judge for the competition. My school came second and I was able to represent as a defence Barrister and having thoroughly enjoyed this, I knew I wanted to go on and study law at University and pursue becoming a lawyer.
What was your experience like during Law School and how do you feel this helped to shape your understanding of the legal field ?
I would definitely recommend to anyone currently deciding their A-Level options to take Law if you are looking to pursue a legal career. I say this because I felt it gave me a good benchmark understanding of the Law as well as an understanding of where my degree was heading to. I would also say that studying Law at A-Level gave me a sense of normality from University life. Whilst there can be difficulties with the changes in moving to a completely different location with people you do not know, it was nice to have the normality of studying something that I was familiar with thanks to taking Law at A-Level.
I would recommend studying a straight LLB Law Degree, this way you are able to pick and choose as many legal elective modules as possible in areas of interest whether that’s family law, commercial law or something more niche such as agricultural law and it gives you a great understanding of the law as a whole.
Myself, I was able to graduate with a 2:1 which I was very proud of.
What other challenges have you faced along your journey and how would you say you overcame them ?
My first year of University was cut short due to the pandemic. Like everyone else, this was the biggest impact on my life. Some of my exams were put online, I was moved out of my University accommodation and had to move back home and began studying and completing my exams from here. With my mother working from home, brother revising for his GCSE’s and my Dad being unable to work, we were all doing our own things in an enclosed space which was physically and mentally difficult. Being unable to properly interact with our University Lecturers and friends was also very difficult and I would definitely say that the compactness of the family home and the loss of engagement with remote learning did have a negative impact.
We did push through this like everyone did and we were able to move back to University in our second year and I was able to form a bubble with my friends who I lived with and be able to live independently away from a home lockdown which helped me mentally and overcome the challenges faced.
In terms of applications for vacation schemes/training contracts, could you share some insight into what this process is like and how you feel you can stand out ?
As most will know, securing a vacation scheme or training contract is not easy. I know some people that applied for one training contract or vacation scheme and were successful and I also know people who applied for hundreds if not thousands in order to achieve their dream. I am on of those who applied for hundreds if not more in order to secure one.
It was a good experience, every vacation scheme application is different in terms of the questions they ask, what is expected of you etc. I would say that getting in front of somebody is the hardest part, interviews are difficult however once you are in front of someone in a firm the conversation becomes far more natural. The interviewers do want a conversation like this one; what got you into the law, why the law and describing career aspirations.
My advice is to keep applying, keep persevering. Once you can show someone you have a genuine passion for the law and a desire to grow in the industry, interviewers or employers will want to give you an in.
In terms of the vacation scheme I participated in, this was a two week scheme where I was immersed in different departments, I was able to be part of four which included, commercial property, agriculture and corporate. Whilst they do assess your knowledge, a firm will also assess how you interact with other members of the team.
Who you are as a person is just as important as your knowledge of the law. Whether you are a Solicitor or a Barrister, you will have to speak to colleagues and members of the public. Firms are therefore looking to ensure this is something you are capable of and to ensure you are an approachable person. You do need a good basic understanding of the law, however my firm said to me on my vacation scheme that they are there to make good lawyers, its more about how you engage with others along with how you engage with the tasks that they give you.
The Vacation Scheme fuelled my passion for becoming a solicitor even more as understanding the work people did day to day proved to me that I would genuinely enjoy this line of work. Whilst it may be cliche, people say that you won’t work a day in your life if you enjoy it and I strongly believe this is the case in the law as its so rewarding and how different every day can be.
Could you explain to us what studying the SQE entails and what a week in the life would look like ?
I am coming to the later half of my studies for the SQE which is split into two halves, one being the SQE1 and the other being the SQE2. The SQE1 is on a computer completing two 5 hour multiple choice tests which is the part I am currently doing.
The second part being the SQE2 is practical and oral skills and you will do interviewing, advocacy as well as other elements on the computer such as writing emails to clients.
Going back to the SQE1, it is difficult and I would be lying if I said it was easy. In such a short period of time you do have to learn quite a lot of new content. It does touch on the practical side of the law however which I feel is something the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) is trying to hone in on.
In an average week, I would be spending a fair few hours a day studying for my exams alongside going into University which on average I attend three times a week which is in London. The University provides study spaces which are very helpful as are the lecturers/seminar leaders who are very engaging and have a very strong knowledge of the legal industry.
You do need to put the time and effort into this part of your studies if you are to achieve.
Whilst studying for the SQE, how do you manage a work/study life balance ?
Whilst I do spend a lot of time studying, I do also have time for myself and other things in life. For example, I do have a part time job and contracted to twelve hours a week and fit this into my life alongside my studies. I think the only way I am able to maintain is by being structured, I do have a diary and timetable to keep myself on track of what needs to be studied and setting deadlines for tasks too. A big part of the SQE1 preparation is a hub practice questions and you are answering a lot of multiple choice questions and you really need to know your stuff.
You are definitely able to fit other things around your studies, you just need to be resilient and structured with it. Time management is definitely your friend, if you can get a well structured diary it will make your life a lot easier.
How is it you keep updated with issues in the legal world and the world more generally ?
It is important to keep up with general news and trends. I tend to listen or read BBC News or other news sites daily and tend to look at the Financial Times in order to keep commercially aware.
I have also signed up to many mailing lists which are free to subscribe too for a variety of areas of law such as; family, dispute resolution as a whole and corporate matters. A lot of law firm websites will tend to offer mailing lists you can subscribe too as well which I highly recommend as these will help in knowing about small and big developments and cases in the legal field.
Whilst your law story has only begun and there is a lot more to be written, what do the next chapters look like ?
As I am very early in my career, my real focus is my exams coming up in the next couple of months with the SQE and beginning my training contract. Looking ahead I would like to become a partner of a firm and this is something that I will definitely be working towards in my legal career.
I am very set on becoming a solicitor and with the opportunities I have got in place that I am very thankful for, I am just going to get my head down and keep moving forward and do the best and I can. I hope I can show the world I can be a good lawyer and help as many people as I can.