I am a lawyer, AMA

[mumofthe21stcentury]

Ask me anything

Hi,
How much money do you make and how many hours do you work?
Do you feel you've got a balance between home and work?
Thanks

Solicitor or barrister?
Which area of law?
What kind of qualifications do you have?

What's the deal behind all the legalese language used?
Until my divorce I had had little experience with legal terms and found some of the language just plain baffling and confusing.
I am an educated woman and resented reading something many times, spending time googling etc.
It made a stressful process even more so.

Me too! No questions obviously but just a quick 'hello!'

Do family lawyers judge the woman who've allowed themselves to become totally vulnerable through their marriage and experience of motherhood?

How much behind the scenes discussion between lawyers about their clients actually goes on?

Why dont lawyers tell their clients their plans?

Ooh, I’ve been hoping for a lawyer.

Is it okay to meet with a solicitor and get cold feet and not go ahead with what was talked about (yet to sign paperwork instructing them to do it)

What area of law do you specialise in and why did you go that route?

Snap!

If you had your time again, would you still have been a lawyer?

I had a lawyer like you once. Very hard to get hold of. Never answered any questions.

I had a lawyer like you once. Very hard to get hold of. Never answered any questions.

I laughed at this

Are we being charged for this?

Would you say that someone in their mid 40s would be unlikely to be able to secure a training contract or pupillage?

Hello mywhaticallusername

I make £80,000 per annum. I work mon-fri 9am-5.30pm. I practise corporate and commercial law.

Hello Jelliedfeels

I am a solicitor. I have a BSc, MSC, LLB and LLM.

To answer an earlier question, now that I am an in house legal counsel, my work life balance is better. But pressure on the job is still high.

Hello theorigfv45

The legal jargon is due to our legal system is one of the oldest ones and in the olden days the use of language is different to the modern day language we use.

Hello bluetrampolines

A good lawyer should never judge their clients and remain professional. However, lawyers are also human only. There are times judgemental thoughts may appear but a good lawyer should not let the client feel that they are judged.

How much behind the scene depends on the work. Lawyers might converse about strategies if it is litigation (going to court) or a commercial contract - how to make the contract more beneficial to our party.

Why don't lawyers tell client their plans? Well there are different reasons why. 1. They are not sure what the plan is yet. 2. Client not knowing could be part of the plan 3. To explain the plan to you might take more time and cost to you.

Brave. You'll be asked all sorts of questions about areas you know nothing about!

Hello theisland

Yes it's totally fine to chat to a lawyer and get cold feet. This happens often. If no engagement letter signed or oral agreement made, a solicitor cannot charge you. Therefore if a solicitor didn't mention about charging you and giving you advice, take it as it's free!

Hello 28282ooooh

I specialise in corporate and commercial - mainly mergers and acquisitions as well we company law.

I got into it because family/criminal law are too personal and I couldn't not bring work home. Thinking about the victims et. Therefore I chose to do something complete impersonal - business stuff!

Hello Plimmy

Ouch - us lawyers do have a bad reputation don't we? Charging lots of money and not great customer service!

Hello Utterlydesperate

I would not say it's unlikely. In law we value talent and sometimes the older you're means more life/work experience you can bring to the job, which is a good thing.

If you want to pursue a career in law, go for it. I know women (my peer's mum!) in their forties doing a training contract.

If you want some advice I am happy to have a call with you.

Hello cloudtree

I always get asked questions I don't know about. When my family and friends hear 'lawyer' they think I know every piece of legislation and in every single area of law. I get asked about family and immigration law a lot. All I can is that I am not in the position to advise as I am not 'that sort of lawyer'.

Now many years qualified are you?

I'm also a lawyer so I know all about that. I run a specialist employment law firm. We only do Employment law. I still get asked about conveyancing family law and debt recovery...

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to be a lawyer? Do you need work experience directly relating to law to get a training contract?