Teaching to law career change

[Lilllypad11]

So, I’m looking to potentially change career. I’ve been teaching for 4/5 years can’t fully remember. I do love it. But it’s tiring and the money is only getting worse.

my original passion was always law. I said I’d go into teaching to gain some experience but then leave when I feel I’ve got enough and explore law again.

Im very torn between climbing the ranks in teaching or just giving up and becoming a trainee solicitor. We’ve had a new member of staff who is an ex solicitor in a silver circle law firm, she said she knows a few people. I’m sort of interested but sort of unsure.

what do I do?

You might as well give it a go, nobody’s going to take your teaching qualifications away from you. If you hate it, go back to teaching (potentially at a higher level with more experience in a different field).

I’m tempted but it’s a big salary drop!

Could you try to get some experience in the legal field during the holidays? As a fellow teacher I know how precious the time off is, but it could be a good way of working out if it’s for you and worth the drop in money in the short term (with potential for higher earnings relatively soon in the new career). Maybe your colleague could point you in the direction of someone who could arrange it for you?

Law is really very stressful. If you can cope with a lot of stress and thrive on it you may like it.
I’ve left private practice and am working for charities which is much nicer. Lots of my friends have done similar things, having changed firms looking for the ideal and realising it’s all much the same.

have a read of this website for an inside view

https://www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/exclusive-lawyers-rate-their-firms-worklife-balance

Well I met a law graduate who's been working as a care asst for 9 months, and she said the job market is massively oversaturated due to Unis selling courses that far exceed the required number of graduates, iyswim? So caution, I would say!

Just do it. There’s loads of jobs in both law and teaching. You’ll find the way.

Why did your colleague leave law to go into teaching? The grass isn’t always greener…

Law can be horrible and stressful
and work life balance is awful. But so is teaching as I understand it and least (some) law jobs are significantly better paid.

Youd need to be very realistic about your ambitions and prospects though. What kind of law do you want to do? Do you have a 2.1 from a Russell Group uni?

I echo the question on whether there is a particular area of law that interests you and to be realistic on whether you have the base academics needed to have a reasonable chance of job. I also disagree with the PP that there are lots of jobs in law and it'll be easy to get one.

What I would do in your position is try to get work experience over the holidays. Anywhere you can (realistically will be the smaller high street firms as the firms with formal placement schemes won't take you at this stage). Then look at studying part time whilst you continue to teach. That way you don't have to give up your income whilst you're studying and it also gives you a taste of likely workload if you get a job.

Whether or not you'd be looking at a big paycut depends on what type of law you want to do. Be aware that teaching may pay better long term that some areas of law (eg conveyancing), particularly if you consider the teaching holidays.

Look at the SQE.

The type of law that’s well paid is very competitive to get into and hours will be insane. Teaching is likely to have better pay and conditions than most types of law.

Teaching is better pay than alot of legal jobs and better work life balance. If you like a challenge go into the management side of teaching as you earn more.
You can have reasonable work life balance as a lawyer in the public sector but the money is not as good as teaching.
There's alot of low paid lawyers and alot of law graduates.

Oh God don't, law is insanely stressful and pressured. The money is not as good as the press would have you believe either, it is skewed by a small number of extremely high paying firms in London.

I know many lawyers who have left to become teachers, they all say teaching is a better work life balance.

Ex lawyer turned teacher here! I earn more as a teacher and get more holidays and less stress than I did in law.

If you're still around on this thread, have you reached a decision, OP? I came across it as I'm having similar thoughts but have been put off by the comments. I'm a very experienced teacher so earning £50k. It would take me a long time to do that in law (possibly never as I'm 46 now). I'm a head of law so have a head start but I don't have a law degree. Just looked at the SQE1 questions and can easily do those in the areas of law I teach and most of the rest.

@Hairydogmummy I am a solicitor and my DP also, salaries are not what you might expect unless you want to do 80 hour weeks, it’s about the same as you’re on now. And it is unsustainably stressful
I used to teach in a college and though stressful, private practice is more so.
you could go in house, that’s generally better

What grades did you get at school/uni?
Are you willing to move across country?
Would you quality for the me of the access schemes (disability/minorities)?
What areas of law do you think you want to work in?
Have you thought about how to present your skills and experience in a ‘corporate’ way?

Law is oversaturated but having different experience can give you an edge. An edge can get you into one of the better/wealthier firms on a training contract. Which might give you the same or your current salary.

Note that you’ll be competing against a veritable army of paralegals who are all trying to land a training contract. So don’t quit teaching until you’ve actually found something.

Also beware a recession (which I see there are murmurs of again). Law firms can and do withdraw/postpone up coming training contracts to save money.

@Palacelife I'm not looking for a salary increase, but how long do you think it would take to even just get back to what I'm on now? I just want to do family law in a small/medium local firm ideally. It's encouraged me now there's the SQE rather than having to do two years training and then the training contract. 80 hours is way more than what I want to do...I do 60 ish now during term time and ideally want to be doing less.

@Hairydogmummy if you can work as a paralegal and take the SQE at the same time it will be a lot but you could qualify on completion I think? I’m not sure how that route works. Starting salary around £30k outside London and then maybe 3 years post qualification to get up to £45/50 in high street firms
depends on the area of law also, if commercial and big firm obviously it will be more but the big money contracts are work til 2am back in the office 8am.

can’t edit my post above, the contracts aren’t those hours! The working culture is

You can’t remember how long you’ve been teaching?

Hmm, @borntobequiet ...

The first two numbers of your TRN tell you the year in which you got it, so that will help you to know how long you've been teaching.

The new SQE system is very confusing and misleads people very easily. It is easier to qualify but that does not mean anyone will hire you. Most firms want someone with a 3 three year LLB (and having done an SQE course, not just the exam) or a PGDL year and then SQE course (and then someone who managed to win a place on a 2 year formal training contract at a law firm. So anyone who qualifies under the new system by studying for SQE at home etc is very unlikely to get a job. Even regional smaller firms want an LLB or PGDL before an SQE course and good 2 years of training. (I am a lawyer as are 4 of my children - the last 2 of whom qualified this year).

However the original poster can try applications for training contracts now ideally in firms that pay for your 2 years of full time training and see how she goes. The new application season has just opened for this Autumn so lots of law students who will graduate in summer 2025 are busily now applying for training contracts starting in the future- law firms recruit trainees years ahead.

The organisation that I'm a trustee of, employed a young barrister for a couple of years, in a low paid job. She couldn't find work, so took this role in the non-profit area , basically to keep busy and learn about the sector. She left when she and her partner moved area, but still hadn't found a job in law.

I'm not sure that I'd jump from teaching to law, to be honest.

Don’t do it!! I have friends who have moved in the opposite direction , ie left law to teach and their work life balance is 100 times better in teaching. Law is one of the most stressful professions out there requiring insane hours and the pay doesn’t generally reflect that.