Make sure you know about the whole range of legal opportunities in Scotland, to ensure you enter the area of the profession which best suits your interests, strengths and skills. Use the links below to guide your exploration, and the tabs on the right to find out more about gaining relevant experience, job-hunting, applications and interviews. Also read the handout 'A career in the Legal Profession in Scotland - FAQs, a good starting point for many of the most common queries on entry and training for the legal profession in Scotland.

How do I find out more about the different areas of the Scottish legal profession - commercial, criminal, public sector, family, legal aid ..........?

Use the links below to get you started, also consult the Orange file on Starting your Career Planning for law students, and the Green K files in the Careers Information Centre for more information about working in different areas of the legal profession.

Information and related links on the legal profession on the Careers Service website  - find out more about your options in the legal profession.

Legal profession job studies - read about working in different areas of the legal profession, including commercial and criminal firms, in-house, advocacy, local and national government. Written by recent Edinburgh law graduates.

Contacts in the legal profession - talk to previous law graduates about working in different areas of the legal profession - find out what it's really like to work in their area of the legal profession, and get tips for getting in.

Target Law Scotland. Read more about entry and training for the legal profession in Scotland. Includes information on different practice areas, case-studies, advice on applications and interviews, and  more.

Attend the Scots Law Fair in September and find out more about the work done by the different firms.

Use the Law Society of Scotland  and the Scottish Legal Aid Board databases of firms and organisations, to identify firms in different practice areas and locations. Consult the latest Law Society of Scotland statistics on traineeships to get a feel for what is happening in legal recruitment.

Use the Legal 500 database to identify the big players in different practice areas.

Read FAQs about training and working in law firms which provide legal aid, usually specialising in criminal law, human rights, immigration and nationality.

Commercial/business awareness is important to many law firms, particularly the larger commercial and corporate law firms. Find out more about Becoming Business Aware and listen to Sheffield University's Commercial Awareness Presentation for law students.