To be surprised how posh most lawyers are?

What I meant was that the OP who is clearly intelligent used the word posh, yes she could have explained herself more articulately.

The word posh is a word oven used in a derogatory way but the OED definition is “stylish, luxurious, elegant, refined or upper class”.

The OP went on to say she thought her colleagues would be “ people like me”.
They are people like her, they are intelligent and have worked hard to gain a degree, they have a career in a prestigious profession.

I really dislike the use of the words, posh, common, lower class, working class etc.
I believe we are all equal but very different.

Oxbridge are taking far mor pupils from state schools so I’m sure there will be in the future hopefully a greater mix of young people entering the law profession.

They mean that the UC themselves don’t use the term ‘posh’ for someone ‘well-born’ (they use ‘smart’), but that makes zero sense unless you think that attending Cambridge automatically elevates you socially to the point where you use the vocabulary of the UC.

I’m really surprised that you have a law degree from Cambridge and use the word posh.

To all the people agreeing with this comment, can you please explain what you mean?

Do you mean that you think that everyone who studies law at Cambridge is automatically posh themselves? Or that “posh” is a sort of colloquial/slang term and you’d expect a Cambridge law graduate to express themselves more articulately?

It’s also important to remember that most big City law firms are part of international networks with offices and clients all over the globe. Strong accents tend to soften due to working with lots of clients and colleagues whose first language is not English.

I’m just thinking back to my training contract in the MC. My first trainee supervisor was incredibly posh, as in he used to be ribbed by the team as sounding like Prince Charles when he spoke. I said upthread that I was first generation of my family to go to University, which I did from state school.

The main thing I remember is how absolutely lovely he was as a colleague, how much he taught me and what a laugh we had. I had been to Cambridge like him so I felt intellectually equal, albeit less experienced.

(I’m Scottish though, so I’ve always been able to sidestep the English prejudices around regional accents as class indicators.)

I’m struggling to understand why having “posh” colleagues is a bad thing on a personal level, though I can see that the majority being privileged is not so good on a societal level.

Yes me neither. I went to an ex-poly university, no clue about applying for vacation schemes and timing, particularly as I did joint honours with French and a year out there. I worked for two years as a paralegal after my degree then went back to law school for a year, working four evenings a week to support myself. With my experience I was suddenly an attractive candidate, got a training contract with a good City firm and they paid off my professional career loan. No contacts whatsoever, I was the first person to go to university in my family.

I think other careers are much harder to get into - TV, film, journalism or creative careers for example are very posh and nepotistic. And often requires working for years for very little money. That's not the case with law. I'd love to have done something creative but always felt the pressure to get a proper job and earn money.

I have a friend from a working class background who is a solicitor earning well. However the ones I know in MC firms or similar have tended to come from a very narrow background.

Not true! My DS doesn't know anyone with influence. As I said earlier in this thread, (which has been ignored), he went to a state comprehensive, then to a non Russell Group uni. Did his vacation scheme, got a training contract at 21, and qualified as a solicitor at 24 (I think!) London firm. I realise how lucky he was to get a training contract, because he told me how few there are out there. Me and his dad are not from a legal background, don't know any lawyers. Well, apart from DS and his friend who is a barrister. I've met a couple of his colleagues, not posh! Lots of uninformed sneering on this thread, and it's very very annoying!

I'm on less than six figures, not much less though. I work for a small association and love my job. I wouldn't work for a law firm again if they doubled my salary. And once you get to six figures, if you are only just into that range, because of tax you end up with less for doing a lot more.

I'm a lawyer and from an ordinary working class/lower middle class background. It is unusual though. I've definitely been not posh enough for some clients (or law firms) but seem posh to some parts of my family.

I've never purposely changed my accent other than when we moved (only a few miles away) when I was 11, to a more middle class area and kids at school took the piss out of my broader accent.

When people embark on further education and then join professional outfits their accents soften, regress to the mean, and often adapt to fit in. I would be careful to assume that people are ‘posh’ with certain backgrounds. My DH’s colleagues assume he is privately school educated when he went to a rough as nuts school and his parents were factory workers. Unless someone has told you their background don’t assume

I'm not London but we had fully qualified staff on half that..It was public sector though.

I disagree OP

I come from a mining area in the north east too. My colleagues were diverse from all different backgrounds and social classes. Overwhelmingly women though.

Vets I think are posh but lawyers no.

sort of this but they are just regular middle class posh, not really posh! Yes top schools, but many parents with healthy to very healthy incomes rather than very rich.

I'm really surprised that anyone would feel the need to comment on that.

This!

@Sparklywhiteteeth I was trying to make a bit of a joke, and failing I guess. But why is it the silliest? Is there no element of truth in my attempted joke?

@Verydemure

For non partners, here's an example of a London family lawyer salary.

(Yes, it's outer London - but still high house prices compared to many other parts of the UK, and I've also seen similar salaries for lawyers with firms in the City of London (not magic circle or corporate law).

Between £30-50K.

https://www.douglas-scott.co.uk/jobs/61399/family-solicitor?

For partners (in family law), average according to this is £85,051 in London.
https://www.thelegists.co.uk/salary-checker/partner-salary-in-london-280

For comparison it's £77,501 in the East Midlands
https://www.thelegists.co.uk/salary-checker/partner-salary-in-east-midlands-280

And £70,001 in the NE of England
https://www.thelegists.co.uk/salary-checker/partner-salary-in-north-east-280

Taking into account house prices, the average family law partner would be better off outside London.

I’ve just looked at solicitor jobs in London. Partners are looking at £80k per year and that’s with only 8 years experience. ( regional firm- family law)

some were posted in 80-120k range.

Maybe someone can correct me, but I think the average mid career solicitor is likely to be on more than average of £65k ?

but maybe I’m wrong? Any London lawyer willing to admit they earn less than six figures on mumsnet?

good point

I'm in my 50s and in my experience it depends on the firm and type of law of course. Criminal defence versus in house corporate/tax civil litigation etc etc some do those are very skewed upper middle class (nothing above that I would say) with others less so. Certainly some are paid a LOT less than others and have far less glamorous jobs.

I didn't give much thought to it (other than expecting that to study law required many years and therefore money) but follow someone who has just qualified as a barrister and been open about the new/ongoing costs she's facing now, as someone from a low-income background. I was surprised - I did kind of assume once you qualified then that was it, bring on the cases (and high pay).

😂😂😂

Interestingly, albeit according to just one job agency's website rather than actual law firms own websites, average salaries for family solicitors (I picked that area of law to compare salaries just as an example) are higher outside London.

London it says the average is £56,667. It then lists
Top-paying locations for Family Solicitor jobs

Top seems to be Barry in South Glamorgan at £119,333, followed by Grimsby at £95,000.

That said across the UK, London or outside London, many family solicitors are on around £35-50K. Perhaps the job website has inaccurate figures based only on jobs advertises through them.

https://www.reed.co.uk/average-salary/average-family-solicitor-salary-in-london

I think you'll find that Barristers' Chambers are much more diverse than you think. I have come across 4 barristers in the last 20 years; 2 in London and 2 in the North.

1 no law contacts, disabled, northern comprehensive, parents (not graduates or professional) not Oxbridge
2 no law contacts, northern comprehensive Oxbridge, parents graduate teachers
3 no law contacts, privately educated, parents in medicine not Oxbridge.
4 no law contacts, northern comprehensive, northern uni, parents left school at 16, low paid admin.

What they had in common was drive and a tremendous work ethic so a plethora of volunteering, pro bono work etc etc and I guess the confidence their academic results etc gave them eg Firsts, academic prizes, scholarships etc etc.

Chambers often advertise work experience (mini pupillage) on their web pages and pay expenses for overnight stay, travel and provide lunches. They select and mark applications for pupillage etc in several stages by different people and 'blind' ie no names, ages, details etc to eliminate favouritism / prejudice etc.

At one random Chambers eg 15% are disabled, 65% educated at a state school, 50% first generation Uni educated. 50% of Juniors ie not KCs are women.

(If you know anyone who wants to break into a career in law ( or other professions) the Sutton Trust runs free residential and on line courses etc for year 12s.)