Qualified as a solicitor, feeling let down

[Coffeetree]

I just qualified as a solicitor and although I love the area I work in I'm really feeling exhausted and let down.

I really am grateful that my firm sponsored me in a training contract and have now given me a raise to their standard newly qualified rate of £27000 pa. Except now they're hustling me into a leadership role with a lot of middle-management bullshit and oh could I do the billing now and the audit prep.. But for no extra money.

I'm 50 and I know I should have the negotiation skills to deal with this and get a raise but the truth is I'm still trying to sort of inhabit the role. I was a paralegal for many many years and although I did well in law school I am still seeing myself as a junior.

Also the worklife balance sucks if you want to deliver quality work for clients. I go to court regularly and I have a good reputation for winning appeals but that's because I prepare more than anyone else.

I guess I have the standing now to push back but that's a new feeling for me. I'm still in "proving myself" mode and trying to get a mindset shift.

Anyone know what I'm talking abou? Any tips?

@Coffeetree

It's okay anonymously, I appreciate your candour and being an older NQ has that danger of hubris.

I didn't ask to be supervisor of our small team (4 sols) but I was the one with the most experience at our branch so management asked me to sit the exam and step up. Which was all exciting and brownie points when I was a trainee but now its just a pain in the arse and I want money.

I mean I had the most experience in our team's particular area of law, from years as a paralegal.

Do you have to stay for a certain length of time as they paid for your training? Maybe after that period you might look to start somewhere new where you've not been a paralegal. In the meantime the experience you're getting can be added to your CV. But if part of your job is negotiating then you should be able to ask for more money - pretend you are doing it for someone else.

I too am staggered at the low wage. My best friend is a senior partner, employment lawyer, and I know that her NQ's are on a much higher wages than this. Admittedly I know nothing re the steps up to £50k, £75k, £100k+, but surely you do?

I wouldn't usually expect anyone to supervise before 3-5 pqe so if you are doing that on the basis of your previous experience I would say there's a decent argument for being paid more in line with that level of pqe rather than as a NQ.

Thanks anonymously. I think I have landed in an awkward position in that I was both a trainee solicitor and a supervisor in our niche area of law. That helped me get through my training contract a little faster and guaranteed an NQ position at the end, but I was a little taken aback that they gave me the standard NQ rate and acted confused when I asked about supervisor pay. Maybe I should've negotiated all that earlier but its so competitive to just get a training contract I didn't want to jinx anything. So now I'm a NQ asking for a raise.

Someone earlier mentioned that I could refuse to take on the extra work but if you're the named supervisor that doesn't really work.

What have you realistically got to lose by asking for a pay rise to reflect the extra work - they can only say no! Good luck OP

Massively sympathise. I’m a chartered surveyor. I also had the leadership stuff foisted on me and I very much felt they thought I should accept it as an “honour”.

I was lucky in that I had a slight inckling it was coming (both my line manager and head of deartment were working their notice) and gave a flat out “no” in the meeting. I told them in the same meeting that I actually wanted to CHANGE areas I worked in (eg going from real estate to construction), explained that I’d be happy to speak to them again if they came up with a solution that might meet both our objectives. They came back with a 10% honorarium which was about £1kpa short of what I’d mentally wanted to achieve as part of a job change, so accepted it. They made promises I KNEW were empty about the job change I’d requested.

It stood me well in terms of building my salary more permanently in a leadership type role (the leadership stuff went well and it’s since been a permanent position with a half decent pay rise) BUT absolutely nothing was done about my job change.

My point is… apart from just saying no, is there anything else you would want that you can ask for?

In Django Unchained, Dr Schultz advises “when you want to buy the horse… ask to buy the farm”

p.s. I actually really did want that job change, but knew I wouldn’t get it

I'm 9 years PQE and in my experience you spend your entire career being asked to do more work for free. Sorry OP.

I’m sorry but that is a really low wage for a qualified solicitor, my daughter started her training contract on more than that. I get it’s high st. But you said branches and twenty in your branch, so it’s not that small. Now you’re qualified I’d be looking elsewhere, they are taking the piss,

Work life balance you should have known about

Resist the middle management role of you want to

£27k is very low. Where are you based?

I qualified on similar more than ten years ago and it was low then!

I don't mind working long hours if I'm getting paid enough.

I would leave. I worked as a PA and started a law degree and was advised by my manager if I qualified to leave as I would always be regarded as a PA. I think that was really sound advice.

That's a really good point.

I think you need to say to the manager

Either: treat me as a NQ solicitor who used to be a paralegal and give me only work commensurate with that status

Or: treat me as an experienced practitioner with management responsibilities who just happens to have qualified as a solicitor and pay me commensurate with that role.

They can’t get the latter for the pay of the former

I think you’d be better off all round leaving. Have you looked to see what you’d be paid elsewhere?

The market for legal recruitment is buoyant at the moment. Take advantage of it: kick these CF’s in the nuts and run, preferably to another firm with a bigger salary. You deserve better - they’re taking advantage.

@Bluntness100

I’m sorry but that is a really low wage for a qualified solicitor, my daughter started her training contract on more than that. I get it’s high st. But you said branches and twenty in your branch, so it’s not that small. Now you’re qualified I’d be looking elsewhere, they are taking the piss,

No it's not low in a regional / local firm. Hell, even some national firms pay not much more than that (particularly on the Defendant side). You have no clue!

Whereabouts in the country are you OP? That is a very low NQ wage even for high street but I’m in then SE so maybe wages are lower elsewhere.

I agree with others that you’ve fallen into the trap of being paid as an NQ but treated as much more senior because of your prior experience with the firm, and you should address that with your firm. If they won’t budge on your salary then I think you should look to move elsewhere, where you’ll still be paid as an NQ but without all the other crap. (Although everyone has to do some crap at every level - preparing for audits is something everyone has to do, likewise billing - we have secretaries to actually raise the bills but every fee earner has to go through their own files every month in order to decide what to bill, check the narratives etc).

Think though about whether you actually do want to be treated as an NQ elsewhere, probably being supervised by someone much younger than you!

27k sounds really low. I qualified in 2004 on nearly 15k more than that (although that was London, but not magic circle).
But that aside, the early years of your qualification are all about doing as much as you can to stand out, including working loads of extra hours for no extra pay. I think you just put up with it when you’re 25 as you know you have years ahead of you. It’s good to know your worth though.

Are you working at the same firm that you worked as a para legal? If so leave!

They’ll always see you as the enormously competent, safe pair of hands that they can throw anything at. The market is hot at the moment and 27k is low.

£27k is low. I started at £31k as an NQ and that was 10 years ago! NQs also shouldn't be supervising until they are at least 3 years PQE.

As for the rest, welcome to law!

Thanks for the nice comments. Yes I am looking for something else and have put out some feelers.

There are some plusses of the firm, it's a beautiful office very close to my home. And I actually like leading and developing the team, we're doing really well and building a good reputation. And I genuinely enjoy watching the people I supervise grow in skill and confidence.

However in the past month it became evident that one of the team has been underperforming and hiding it to boot. At management's request I did a huge audit and now she's under a disciplinary. I mean management is supporting me but it's a huge amount of work for me plus unfortunately she's taking the route of "[Coffee tree] is mean and horrible" and I have to go around being all reasonable rather than telling her to shut the fuck up. That's what gave me the eureka moment of "Wow I absolutely literally don't get paid enough for this".

I found that when I qualified as a mature student as an NQ solicitor after having worked as a paralegal/legal exec the only way to gain the actual status was to move to a firm where you had not worked at the lower level job. I would definitely be looking to move firms.

However I was given a higher rate than the standard NQ pay to reflect my experience although this uplift minimised as time passed.

Even in regionals the more usual NQ pay would be closer to £40k. Don't sell yourself short and if a move is what it takes for your worth to be seen and appreciated make that move.

Thanks that's good advice. I mean, I'll raise it just to be fair but yeah I think I need to go.

I don't think regional firms are paying £40k for NQs. I know a senior associate role was going for £60k.