I am a lawyer, AMA

[mumofthe21stcentury]

Ask me anything

Hi. Back in January I made an appt with a solicitors to discuss divorce. I gave them my husband's name and our financial details. I cancelled this appt and my husband and I are now happy. However, turns out the solicitor is an old friend of my husband and has told him I made an appt with them to discuss divorcing him ( they are divorce lawyers) As u can imagine our marriage is now back on the rocks. Surely they are not allowed to do this? Please advise.

You are going to regret this OP....

Can i sue my neighbour because i dont like the look of her garden?
I have absolutely lovely astro turf you see with some spiffing potted plants. it is truly a sight to behold!
But my neighbour grows vegetables her garden looks like an allotment! my friends and i are truly aghast (weeps)

Hello Obviousnc101

I am three years post qualification.

Hello cloudtree

Yes I think you're right!

Hello livestotravel

My advice would be - be prepared to get rejected a lot! It is a very competitive market and you need to be resilient to get somewhere.

Having work experience is a key factor in securing a training contract. Most applicants would have at least 3 legal work experience when they apply for TC.

Hello emma1973

The solicitor should not disclose your name and situation to anyone else without your prior written consent.

There is something called client-solicitor confidentiality. Not sure whether you sign an engagement letter at that stage but ethically the divorce lawyer should not have said anything.

However, now the damage is done. If you want 'revenge' on the lawyer I can suggest a few ways to 'get him in a bit of trouble' eg writing to the Solicitors Regulation Authority about his misconduct. Like I said, damage is done whatever you might do may just be 'revenge'.

Can I ask what part of the country you are in? I am in-house and am nearly 16 years PQE and earn nowhere near £80000 so am wondering if I need to get job hunting and/or move to another part of the country!

I genuinely think this thread might be a mistake OP. I don't think you should be posting talking about people getting "revenge" on their solicitors or "getting them into trouble". You really don't want your own conduct being called into question. Plus you're 3 years PQE and so shouldn't be giving out unsupervised advice and this thread will inevitably go that way.

For others reading who think I'm being narky - I'm really not. We are bound by very strict rules on conduct and even things like bad language can get us into trouble.

Emma I'm in the Midlands (city). I now run my own firm and earn vastly more than I did as an equity partner at a very large regional firm, £80k for a very junior lawyer would be unheard of unless the area was incredibly niche and the lawyer in question was a superstar and so I suspect the OP is London based (although she also says she's in house and not in private practice which of course makes a difference)

£80k would be a very experienced senior associate expected to keep progressing/junior salaried partner here.

Hi all,

I am afraid I am going to close this thread. I opened it initially with the intention to try to let people ask some harmless questions and I never said that I'm giving out legal advice. I am being criticised by other lawyers on this tread that I am making a mistake.

I just want to clarify that a newly qualified solicitor in an America law firm earns over £100,000. This information can be found on thelawyer.com or simply by googling it.

When people asked about my salary I never give out. I thought here whilst remaining anonymous I could let other mums know that if you work hard, ask for it, that anything is possible. I never thought that, perhaps due to my nativity, it would become a topic of discussion and this sort of salary is certainly not unheard of in London. Actually all my peers in my age, earn similar money in London (we are in our late twenties). Some of us are bankers, accountants or marketing executives. Would it be that surprising that someone young is actually very good their job and negotiated their package very well. It's sad to learn that women are not congratulating each other on their success.

Thank you for your comments and participation. It was a bit of fun, no harm intended.

This is probably my last time on here. So long all. All the best wishes x

I wasn't criticising or doubting your salary at all OP and nor was I disputing that you can earn 80k (or £100k+) at 3 years PQE in London. I was simply saying that in the Midlands that wouldn't be usual and so you were probably in London. It wasn't anything to do with not wanting to "congratulate you on your success".

I thought the thread would turn into people asking you about their own legal issues (which it very quickly did) and whilst lots of us do of course respond to requests for advice and help on here, I thought the wording of your response to emma1973 was ill judged. I'm sorry if I upset you. That wasn't the intention.

OP for a lawyer you are exceptionally naive

Your response to emma was ill judged and unprofessional.

The fact that you think cloudtree was criticising your success is mind boggling.

Another lawyer. 18yrs PQE how the fuck did that happen

How much does it annoy you when people say that you are ‘entitled’ to a free half hour with a solicitor?

Are John Grisham novels realistic?

Another lawyer, agree with cloud, emma, wonderful....

I'm a partner, Scotland, criminal and civil legal aid, 15 years qualified. I don't even make 30k never mind 80. Although I do appreciate rural versus city and area of work differences.

Your 'advice' is really really questionable on here.

A newly qualified lawyer in America does not automatically make £100k. A NQ in one of the most prestigious firms in America makes £100k. I'm sure that, like here, the rest of them make anywhere between an "average" and "good" salary for someone their age.

I'm a lawyer.

Is it true prenups aren't worth the paper they're written on?

mrssnooty

Prenups are not legally binding in England but if certain safeguards exist then judges are increasingly taking them into account.

That said, like the OP, I am a corporate lawyer not a divorce specialist and therefore it's a bit like asking a orthopaedic dr about cardiology. They will have a good idea of the general process and functions of the body and can apply these to a degree to areas outside their expertise, but you probably don't want them doing your heart surgery

Lawyer has written letter (asked for payment upfront) which is not only the worst letter i've ever read, rambling, grammatically incorrect and totally missing the point re the instructions I gave. Won't correct. What do I do. Thanks ?