Can anyone become a lawyer? 

Law or Medicine 

When I finished school, those who achieved good grades and saw themselves as more inclined towards the humanities than the sciences often chose to study law. Medicine was another option. So high-achieving students went into law or medicine – unless, of course, they had already developed specific interests and plans or had no opportunity to pursue them in their hometown. There is little point in exploring the issue in too much detail here or discussing the rather controversial division of students with “scientific” and “humanities” minds. Looking back, however, this approach did not lead to much good – either in law or in medicine. 

Does the “I get good grades at school, so I’ll study law” mindset still persist? I think it does. Although each new generation choosing this degree is more aware of a whole range of issues, their knowledge of the profession remains limited, while their first experiences of legal work are often deeply disappointing. 

Who is a lawyer today? 

Almost everything, really. It may be easier to say who they are not: a gatekeeper of knowledge carrying a bulging case file, an unapproachable and infallible authority in a suit. Nor are they simply a clerk dealing with procedures. 

A lawyer running a law firm is first and foremost an entrepreneur. And this is perhaps the greatest surprise for most lawyers who establish their own practice. It turns out that someone with a humanities background needs to get to grips with numbers, while an idealist driven by visions of a just world must come back down to earth and start thinking about marketing. And when that entrepreneur begins to employ people, things become even more interesting. 

 Our value is growth 

There are many young people in our law firm. We try to show them what they won’t see at university (though, of course, we are pleased with the curriculum changes that universities are timidly, if somewhat belatedly, implementing). In every possible way, we try to make students and legal trainees realise that a lawyer is increasingly an interdisciplinary expert who combines traditional legal knowledge with digital, business, and communication skills. 

And in this context, the answer to the question of whether anyone can be a lawyer is: not everyone. And for entirely different reasons than even 10 years ago. 

Those who will thrive in this profession are people whose starting point will be an open approach to the profession, a readiness for change and growth. Because only such an attitude will give them a chance to navigate a world that our clients themselves must keep pace with.