Any lawyers about? Wondering if I can get back into legal practice

[Dreammeme]

I got my law degree several years ago, having had experience while at university as a paralegal and then going straight into a graduate role at a government agency. I got a broad exposure to different areas of law because it was a very small team, providing legal advice as a type of in-house counsel and doing tribunal/court appearances. However after I'd been there for just under a year I made a foolish decision to move on to another legal role which I absolutely hated and left very quickly. Because I then found myself unemployed I ended up taking the first job I found, which was in the broader legal industry but not as a practising lawyer. Ever since then (around 4-5 years ago) I've not worked as a lawyer again and it's been a regret of mine, considering I didn't know that taking one non-lawyer role would take me out of it completely for years! I work in policy/strategy now, with some tangential application of legislation but nothing directly legal.

Is it completely impossible for me to work as a lawyer again, considering my only experience was under 12 months, 4-5 years ago? I've thought about applying for graduate roles but I'm not sure how I would be viewed or if I'd even be considered since I'm not actually a graduate. Or is there another way to get back in potentially? I'd like to give it a go but am aware my chances are very very slim

So you completed a law degree about 6 years ago but have not since then taken either the BVC or LPC? It’s not clear what you mean by “lawyer” and whether you have a professional qualification or if you worked for government legal services in a paralegal / similar capacity?

I'm working on the assumption that you haven't qualified as a solicitor or a barrister previously but it is unclear what you mean by "lawyer".

If you want to be a solicitor or barrister you will have to obtain further qualifications (again assuming you haven't taken the LPC or BPC) and then go through a period of in the job training (training contract and pupillage respectively, both of which are highly competitive).

If it is the fact that you want to work in a more hands on legal capacity but in an unqualified role (perhaps as what we would call a fee earner - literally someone who makes fees for the firm) I see no reason you can't but I suspect you would have to start at the bottom (paralegal for example) and work your way up.

Do you have any idea of what field you want to work in and whether or not you want to qualify?

I'm not in England so ignore any differences in terminology, but yes, I've done the LPC equivalent, got admitted etc. I guess my question was more around whether anyone would even consider me as a candidate when my experience in practice is limited to less than a year, and that was some time ago!

It depends! Do you expect to be hired as a 1 year qualified lawyer or 6 years? Your timing is of course not ideal as law firms are furloughing staff unless they’re in insolvency/ family law in which case they’re busy. It also depends what you were doing in the associates but not practising role, and whether there have been any significant changes of law in your practice area in your jurisdiction in the meantime. Without taking some additional qualification to bring you up to date, what benefit is there in hiring you as a 1 year qualified lawyer over all the others etc etc?

Thanks for the responses I was working for a CPS-type agency when practising as a solicitor, and really enjoyed it. Not really keen on going into a private law firm and definitely not keen on fee-earning!

And sorry, should have used the word solicitor initially to avoid confusion - been out of the game as you can see so using the terms sloppily! I agree that there isn't really much I'd bring to a role that a recently qualified person would and the fact that all my recent work history is not as a solicitor will probably be viewed with suspicion. That's why this may be just a pipe dream ultimately. It's just sad that I didn't really intend for it to be this way, after all the trouble I went to in qualifying!