Solicitor wanting to become ex solicitor

[StuckSolicitor]

Help!

I’ve name changed as this is seriously outting in the small world that is law. I’ve changed some small details.

I am a solicitor in a really niche property law area. I have practised as both a contentious and non-contentious solicitor for 25 years. And on my goodness but I can’t keep going. I started out wanting to help families which failed at the first hurdle because I ended up getting a training contract at a corporate law firm and so got nowhere near anything other than large scale, high value clients and their matters.

I took 4 years out when I had my 3 children - not on maternity leave, I just quit and didn’t have a paid job for that time. And I went back when my youngest was 18 months.

I hate how the job has changed. Time recording is now the absolute be all and end all. Targets, business development (for which we seemingly receive no credit), supervision, marketing, know how, CPD, compliance and regulatory issues, being a team player, keeping up with the latest buzz words from the partnership and on and on and on it goes. All in making sure the PEP is as high as it can be.

The question is what on earth can I do instead? I’m based in a very rural part of England and cannot move for various family reasons so the job options seem limited. I would like to be able to do something that had more soul to it and meant I was doing something good. At the moment I simply seem to be making rich people richer and that sits very uncomfortably with me.

Are there any solicitors out there who have successfully become ex solicitors? I need to earn a minimum of £40,000 per annum as my husband’s teaching job is not very secure and we still have a large mortgage (although our house is small and nothing special - 2008 banking crash walloped us).

Any ideas or experiences?

I should add - I have never been happier since starting consultancy, which was the important thing but the extra money is a bonus.

I am currently reading Michelle Obama's book Becoming. She used to be a corporate lawer, switched off to something meaningful and made a success out of it (long before becoming First Lady). I think you might find how she went about the change useful. (You don't need to read the entire book, you can start from the p. 146)

Couldn't you still be a lawyer but for a charity or a council and have normal hours? Or in house somewhere?

Thank you to everyone - I do very much appreciate all of your private messages and messages here too. I’ve got a long list now and I’m going to do some digging tomorrow. The possibility of shedding the weight of time recording, invoice creation, debt chasing, inactive file reporting, business development, marketing and file opening (for vast landed estates - aaaaaargh!) is a very, very exciting possibility. I could be free of all of that complete nonsense.

I will message @PinkyBlueMe if that’s ok as maybe I’ve got the wrong end of the stick with consultancy work.

Finally, I realise it’s a bit of a first world problem all of this but it does make me thoroughly miserable and I just cannot keep on doing this.

OP have you looked at Lexis PSL or Practical Law? They may well need property lawyers to write their content, and they definitely embrace home working and hybrid working. At least with that sort of work you know that you are helping people do their jobs and there is some sort of point to the work!

Government work sounds very interesting too, although I think it is incredibly difficult to get through their recruitment process. But might be worth looking into it if you have the intellect.

"I hate how the job has changed. Time recording is now the absolute be all and end all. Targets, business development (for which we seemingly receive no credit), supervision, marketing, know how, CPD, compliance and regulatory issues, being a team player, keeping up with the latest buzz words from the partnership and on and on and on it goes. All in making sure the PEP is as high as it can be."

I recently left a partner role in BigLaw because of this bullshit. I just couldn't do it any more.

I'm now self-employed. I love the lifestyle. So much independence. No playing politics or attending meetings about meetings🙄. Earnings are all over the place, which is the only downside so far. I had some savings in place to back myself and things would be a bit hairy without that buffer. I hope that settles after the first couple of years.

Yes no problem. I'm a bit evangelical about consultancy as it's worked so well for me. I also hated targets and schmoozing and was at a well known law firm. I've been a consultant at the same firm now for 4.5 years. I'll never go back.
Just drop me a message when you want to.

It's not a trivial problem at all, we spend a huge chunk of our lives at work. Whether we are happy or not has a huge impact on our wellbeing

Of course all jobs have their stresses, but finding one where the balance feels more like "us" is key.

Thank you 😃as a PP said my grandparents were thoroughly broke and came from mining families so I can still hear my grandmother’s exasperation when I first voiced something like this when she was still alive. Her view was that I should just get on with it and be bloody grateful I’d got such a good job.

But I discover after 25 years I just can’t anymore. Not without it rapidly turning into that Michael Douglas film, Falling Down!

Just PM’d you 😀

Echoing that it’s not trivial. I only ever worked in small high street firms but when I left my last role as conveyancing fee earner to do an in-house maternity leave cover it was such a relief. I’ve never gone back to it.

Thanks for this thread which has helped to articulate a lot of my feelings about private practice a lot better than I have over the years. And to validate that feeling, when on the flip side you end up thinking, well it could be worse and I am quite well paid...

Still haven't made a decision and have been mulling on civil service, law school lecturing, legal content creation. I already do some of the latter freelance for a publisher (I work p/t for law firm) but it's not enough money on it's own. Sort of gives me hope of a way out though...

Yay! A fellow escapee! It’s like The Great Escape but significantly less interesting for those not in the law! As I say I’m married to a teacher who finds the world of law puzzling and really very odd indeed.

I don't know how meaningful you would find this, but maybe an in-house solicitor at a housing association? My former firm's property team used to get a lot of instructions from housing associations. Although you would probably be on the wrong side and act for the bad guys against the little person again 😬

Can I ask why your salary expectations are so low? £70K for your PQE level seems extremely(!) low, especially if you trained and practiced in the City

£40k, Swindon, but potentially hybrid.

https://careers.nationaltrust.org.uk/OA_HTML/a/?_ga=2.154100920.1068485679.1696704879-168596823.1695987385#/vacancy-detail/144155

OP, this one CLOSES TOMORROW!!

OP, sorry, I see you've seen this one.

Honestly, the hard part is getting a job - any job - at the NT. Once you've got a job it is much much easier to apply internally.

If that's what you want I would seriously urge you to apply for the assistant role, and then when a senior role comes up apply internally.

And also very poorly paid

Full time is £70k. Which is still low in the world of a top 100 law firm but not in the real world that everyone else lives in I think.

Have you spoken to a recruiter about your salary expectations? That's very low for 25 years PQE. Is this in London?

Definitely in-house - take a look at the energy sector and utilities which might utilise your environmental legal knowledge?

What about being a PSL? No recording hours and no clients - and still reasonable pay.

I don’t know what steps you need to take in terms of adding to your knowledge/moving into a different area of law, but what about the Coroners service?

I did some training with a Coroner a few years ago who was actually from a nursing background, but then studied law and qualified, went into personal injury/medical negligence type work and then started on the path to becoming a Coroner. Brilliant, inspiring woman! Medical/nursing background not actually necessary, there are no more medical coroners, every new coroner must be qualified in law.

What about the Land Registry? Or the SRA? Or another regulator's legal team?

If you're anywhere near Oxford, they have a small legal team and your specialist knowledge would be an advantage I imagine. Or another large university.

In house property management for a big landlord? Pub/ restaurant chain for example?

@StuckSolicitor DH and I have been together since we were students, so he gets it. His world (actuarial) is much more sane. Hats off to yours for being a teacher.

Have logged in from a poorly child to say either risk and compliance - pay good, great career options, most bigger firms have a risk team and all experience is helpful so no worrying about your niche practice areas. No time recording, marketing, billing or other messing around and it is pure law/regulation with a huge breadth.

but if you want to get out totally then consider training as a notary (£££ once qualified) or becoming a registrar.

personally I would not look at in-house from a niche area as the demands of advising the business are high and you need relevant experience for that really. I was niche in the city and didn’t consider it for that reason.

is it crofters rights op?

I'm a solicitor who left private practice and now work for a professional regulator. I really enjoy it. Full time working from home, flexi time, generous holidays and excellent pension. I'm a million times happier.