Employment in the legal sector

[Crad]

I know there has a been recent question about working in the law, the answers to which I read with great interest. However, I would really appreciate some expansion on the information provided. I am currently working full time in a solicitors office, and studying a post grad law conversion course. Up until I worked in the law firm, I really belived that I wanted to be a solicitor. However, I have since started having doubts. I am still really interested in working within the legal field, and I would really appreciate any suggestions so that I can stay working withing the law field (though not a barrister).

[Hgrove]

Do you mean you don't want to practise after all?  If so, here's a suggestion (if you are numerate): how about becoming a costing agent?  You have probably heard about costing agents whilst working for solicitors already.

[Miss Zippy]

Are you fee earning at the moment?  If not, I would say give fee earning a try before you decide to turn your back on a career in practice. I experienced the same dilemma as you a few years ago and decided to abandon my solicitor training contract and move into industry and I haven't looked back. I did not find practicing law to be the challenge I had hoped and didn't enjoy the 'conveyer belt' mentality that many firms have, where you are under pressure to deal with cases as quickly as possible to get the costs in, never mind whether or not you are actually doing the best for the client. Fortunately, there are numerous other legal careers which do not involve 'practising' law. For instance,  I now work as a legal and regulatory manager for a financial services company, which requires knowledge of regulatory, contract and employment law. I'm also company secretary which is a role that many lawyers occupy and which is enjoyable if you enjoy company law.  There is always the option of working 'in house' as a lawyer for a company as well.

[Crad]

Thank you for advice. I read something Miss Zippy put a month or so ago to someone else who wanted to study law and I was hoping I would come across you again! No, I'm not practising at the moment, I still have to do my LPC (if I actually decide to go ahead with it that is!), and I don't have a traaining contract sorted yet. I have heard of costing agents, but I had forgotten about the idea until you mentioned it, Hgrove, and this is definitely something I may look into further. And yes, I get the impression from the firm I work at that there is a conveyor belt system, which really wouldn't suit my nature at all. However, it's the usual dilemma really - I don't want to regret not trying to be a solicitor in the future if I go through all this hard work now and then give it up. I've never been good at decisions! I would like to look further into becoming an in house lawyer, but I have no idea how to approach this area. But thanks for the advice, it has been very helpfu!

[Octavius]

Could it be that the practise you are working in, does not practice the type of law that you have a particular interest in?  If this is the case then your experience may be limited by what they do.

 

Broadly speaking, under national (british) law you have civil law (family, company, contract law etc) and  public law (constitutional, criminal law etc).  Perhaps one of your lecturers on your course would be in a better position to discuss your particular interests and strengths and a field of law which may suit you.

  

[Miss Zippy]

Crad, once you have completed your law conversation course, you may find it possible to obtain a fee earning position. I think this will make your mind up one way or the other as to whether you want to go on to qualify as a solicitor. Be realistic about what areas of law you are interested in and look to fee earn in that area.  For instance, if you are a �people� person and thrive under pressure,  you might enjoy criminal law or family law, where there is plenty of client contact and lots of court appearances.  Or areas of corporate law can offer more intellectual challenge (rather than dealing with run-of-the-mill marital or contractual disputes) if that is your preference.  You don�t have to make a hasty decision as I�m sure it is still the case that your law degree or CPE (whichever is the later qualification) is valid for 7 years for the purposes of commencing the LPC. There are lots of legal web sites that offer good careers advice � two that come to mind are totallylegal.com and thelawyer.com.

[El D]

hi Crad, I recently completed the PgDL and have decided not to take the LPC as law was not my cup of tea either. As Miss Zippy says I actually found it rather tedious and far from being intellectually stimulating. Apart from throwing a few cases around it seemed to be more like form processing than anything else. Add in the working environment - long hours expected and a puppy dog enthusiasm for brown nosing those up the chain - and I called time on my legal career. But as already mentioned I have 7 years to decide. Don't feel like if you walk away now it is the end, remember you will likely be working for another 40 years, spending 5 doing something else is not the big deal it seems when we are young. In fact work experience is quite highly valued, especially in something challenging. Why not try and get a paralegal position, perhaps as a temp, before making the big decisions. As long as you are being proactive in your attitude, rather than procrastinating like some (cough) it will not reflect badly on you. Browsing the job websites for legal jobs should throw some good ideas your way as well.