Alumna in profile — Rachel Lodge
Rachel Lodge (Murray Edwards, m. 2016), is a Scottish Trainee Solicitor at Clifford Chance. Here she discusses studying law and keeping an open mind and how it led to her current career path.
When I decided to apply to study Law at Cambridge, I did so because I knew I wanted to work within the legal system and had met the grade requirements in my Highers (the Scottish equivalent of AS Level). I hadn’t seriously considered Cambridge, or any other university in England, before then. Being from Edinburgh, I thought I was set on studying Law in Scotland and becoming an advocate (the Scots version of a Barrister). In the end, I graduated with a BA in Law from Murray Edwards College in 2019, and I’m now in the second year of my training contract at Clifford Chance, having done seats in Public Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Markets and with the Financial Institutions Group. I think one of the most important things that Cambridge has taught me is to be open minded, both academically and about the opportunities that are available, and always to be willing to try something new!
I originally applied to Clare College and interviewed there in December 2015 — which is an experience I remember very clearly (for positive reasons!). I had been to England just a few times, and my only experience of Cambridge was an open day I had attended three months previously when I decided seriously to consider applying. I had prepared for an interview based on my personal statement and recent legal developments that I’d been able to spot in the news: but my experience was far different from what I had planned. I think this was to my advantage in the end, as I couldn’t pre-plan answers and had to engage much more openly with the interviewers, as you do when discussing topics during supervisions. My interview focussed on reading sections from different Acts, and then applying them to a range of scenarios. There was also a longer question which we discussed in detail, focussing on the potential liability in tort in relation to Willy Wonka and a particularly troubling incident with an Oompa Loompa!
Following the interview, I received an offer from Murray Edwards College (Medwards). This is because Clare had placed my application in the winter pool, and Medwards had selected my application and decided to offer me a place. At the time, I had never visited Medwards, nor even been up the hill where the College is located. (I promise it’s a much smaller hill than you’d imagine, and not far from the middle of town.) However, once I matriculated at Medwards in 2016, it quickly became clear that it was the perfect College for me, and I’m so grateful that they decided to pluck my application out the pool. The Medwards atmosphere was always supportive and kind, but made sure we pushed ourselves to achieve our potential within our studies and beyond, with a true focus on preparing young women to enter the world and take on leadership roles still too infrequently held by women.
During my time at University, I discovered how much I loved studying law, and the depth and breadth of the course really gave me the opportunity to learn a great deal about areas I had never even heard of before starting the course. I developed a keen interest in Constitutional Law in first year (I still read Professor Mark Elliott’s blog “Public Law for Everyone” — I highly recommend it) and in Company Law, which helped lead to my current career path as a trainee solicitor. Another important factor for me in terms of my career was my involvement with the Cambridge University Law Society (CULS), which gave me exposure to City law firms in ways which wouldn’t have been possible in Scotland. Something I think is crucial at Cambridge is to explore interests beyond your studies. Through doing so I met some of my best friends, discovered career paths I’d never considered, and developed interests I never knew I had. In particular, I found a love for event planning: I was involved with the CULS Winter Ball, Annual Dinner and Garden Party, and went on to be Vice-President of CULS. I was also President of the University Judo Club, competing in Varsity against Oxford every year, and was the Logistics Officer for my College JCR (Lodge-istics? Get it?!).
Another thing I was able to do during my time at Cambridge was explore career paths I hadn’t previously considered. Being from Scotland, it would have been quite challenging for me to attend law firm open days and interviews or undertake work experience had I not been in Cambridge. I made sure to try and utilise the time before the start and after the end of each term to arrange work experience in London so that I could commute from university without worrying about somewhere to stay or organising transport far in advance. Because of the freedom this offered me, I was able to undertake a wide range of work experience including a mini-pupillage, a vacation scheme and law firm open days; I spent time with the legal editorial team of a major newspaper; and I spent the day with various judges at a Crown Court. Not only did Cambridge’s geography give me the freedom to do this, but the ethos of studying there really encouraged me to push myself and broaden my ideas of what I could achieve in the future. Once you’ve managed to complete the first set of supervision reading lists for the term, you really feel like you can do anything! All of these experiences led me towards my current career path and shaped how I viewed my studies in Law, preparing me for the wide variety of work in my training contract, and the extensive training in depth that Clifford Chance provide.
I loved my time at Cambridge and am very grateful that I had the opportunity to study there. To those who are going to do so in the future, my advice would be this: work hard, explore your subject and far beyond it, and always keep an open mind!
The Faculty of Law is grateful to acknowledge Clifford Chance as one of our Access and Widening Participation Partner firms. Their support allows us to do access work to encourage bright, young students from underrepresented backgrounds, broadly defined, to come to Cambridge. For more on their commitment to inclusion and diversity, please visit https://www.cliffordchance.com/about_us/responsible-business/inclusion-and-diversity.html
