How to Build a Career as a Personal Injury Lawyer
The personal injury market in the UK is estimated to be worth around £4 billion, with this having increased markedly since a coronavirus-inspired slump in 2020.
This market sees an estimated 800,000 individual claims made each year, so there’s a clear demand for this type of specialist and focused legal service.
But what skills do you need to build a career in personal injury law, what qualifications do you require? Let’s find out!
What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?
In simple terms, a personal injury lawyer provides expert legal advice and representation to clients who have sustained an injury (either physical or mental in nature) that wasn’t their entirely their fault.
Typically, you’ll need legal help to help inform your claim and prove at least partial responsibility on behalf of a third party, whether it’s a fellow motorist or an employer.
You may also liaise with a personal injury lawyer to raise a claim in instances where you’ve incurred financial loss as a result of your injury.
While you’ll have to demonstrate both liability and causation, you can rely on an experienced and specialised solicitor to push forward your claim.
What Qualifications Are Required?
On a fundamental level, you’ll need a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree to pursue a career in any field of law.
Alternatively, you can pursue an undergraduate degree in another subject before undertaking a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), which essentially converts your existing qualifications and makes you eligible to work in law.
The next, key step is to study the Legal Practice Course (LPC), which helps to augment your newly acquired academic skills with practical experience.
This also creates the foundation for you to undertake a training contract with a licensed and reputable law firm, ideally one that specialises in the field of personal injury.
What Soft Skills are Needed?
While everyone competing for a job as a personal injury lawyer will have these core academic skills, you can set yourself apart with your portfolio of relevant soft or transferable skills.
These include organisation and attention to detail, which are crucial when you consider the swathes of paperwork and documents that must be processed as part of the typical personal injury claim.
An analytical mind is also key, not least because you’ll need to drill down into specific details of your client’s claim and use the data at your disposal to help prove liability or causation.
Similar, negotiation skills are highly coveted by personal injury law firms. After all, solicitors will negotiate compensation payouts and settlements on your behalf, often dealing with huge health trusts and multi-billion-pound insurers in the process.
Being able to demonstrate empathy and understanding is also key, as patients will often be vulnerable in this field as they continue to deal with a range of physical and mental symptoms.
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