My awareness of the enormous good that lawyers can do, and an interest in pursuing the law as a career, came in 2012 when I worked as a medical volunteer among the underprivileged in Tunisia. I was helping young drug addicts in the slums and came into contact with young lawyers working for the NGO who spared no effort in identifying and enforcing our clients' rights. Among other actions, they successfully persuaded the government to improve the opportunities for rehabilitation of addicts and to provide free medical assistance. I was hugely impressed by their skill, determination, diligence, and a vague impulse to serve others during my life took on the solid form of an ambition to pursue a career in law.
Since that time, I have pursued this interest both academically and by informal reading and have become increasingly fascinated by the law. I studied Contract, Tort, and Corporation Law during my undergraduate studies and have undertaken the broad casual task of texts and journals relating to the law. I now ardently wish to acquire the skills and knowledge that will enable me to practice law as a solicitor.
Apart from my formal studies and informal reading, I have sought exposure to legal work and practicing lawyers. I have had some, admittedly limited, direct experience in legal work. I have worked as a paralegal in a large law firm in China and recently took up a post as a Research Assistant for the China Intellectual Property Group in the UK. Both have provided an instrumental introduction to legal work and confirmed my choice.
I have no wish to pursue a career path in which I will be merely competent. I wish to excel, so I have carefully considered the characteristics required of a first-class lawyer and this application is made after substantial research and extended consideration. An excellent practitioner would need to be amiable but confident to inspire trust and confidence in clients, have a unique ‘eye for detail,’ be able to grasp the essentials of situations rapidly and accurately, be able to think creatively, and have excellent intuitive and interpretative skills and, not least, to care about the causes of his clients genuinely. This application would not be made were I not confident that I possess these characteristics and desire to apply them for my good and the good of my future clients and employers.
I am Chinese. My first language is Mandarin; I speak and write fluently in English, having lived in the UK for two years. I have happily studied, worked, and socialized with people of many social and ethnic backgrounds. I enjoy sharing knowledge of my culture and learning about others. I have traveled fairly widely, visiting North Africa and several European and southeast Asian countries. I have worked as a volunteer in Tunisia and Sri Lanka, which were humbling and instructive experiences during which I was privileged to improve the lives of others, even if only marginally.
I have a solid academic record and have received several awards and honors, which will assure the reader of my diligence and intelligence. I have a variety of career experiences and voluntary roles that have called upon my ability to operate within a team, exercise leadership, and to demonstrate excellent planning and administrative skills.
I promise enthusiastic and diligent participation in the program, if selected, and thank you for considering my application.