To ask if the law conversion course is worth it?

[superstarheartbreaker]

I am fed up with being a teacher, I am rubbish at it anyway (or been made to feel rubbish) and am fed up with the poitics. It brings out the worst in me.
I have a 2:1 in English, a PGCE and I am a hard worker. I have always fancied doing the law conversion course with a view either of becoming a solicitor and/or a legal secretary. I know it is competetive but I like using my brain.
Anyone done a law conversion course and loved it? What is it really like being a solicitor and as a single mother, should I give up any dreams of a high-flying career and start a bunting and cupcake enterprise instead? (no offence intended as having my own business is one of my dreams!)

Another saying I wouldn't do it. Law is my second career (after English degree, PhD and 3 years of academic career) - I am now 8 years in, part-time (thank God) and marking time until youngest DC is at school, after which I will look to do something else.

I'll do it until then because I can do it part-time and it pays v well for that. And I quite like the work (quite a techy area of law) and have some lovely clients. But oh, dear God, the piss-poor management, relentless pressure, long hours and resultant stress are pretty hard to take. I take my full complement of parental leave on top of annual leave each year as it's the only way I can cope.

Funnily enough, with an English degree and an academic background, I've been thinking of retraining as a teacher .

I think some people are natural teachers. After my fourth violent threat by a student since I started teaching, I am beyond fed up. I don't wish to get death threats when I go to work. I must be reeeeeeeaaaaallly bad!

I am a barrister not a solicitor but I wouldn't recommend becoming a high st solicitor in the current climate. The bread and butter work of these firms - crime and personal injury is bring squeezed almost into extinction by funding cuts and reforms.
I agree with others that there are hundreds of highly qualified people going paralegal type jobs.
The Bar is no better in terms of competition.
What about changing schools, going into higher education rather than changing career completely?

Just another "don't do it!" from a lawyer! I like my job, but I wouldn't go into it now.

In your shoes I'd look at tutoring and exam marking, good way to use existing skills/contacts, flexible so you can spend time with your dd, etc.

Ok... I am being put off. Will have to do some research.

I'm an accountant and my best friend is a solicitor. I have out earned him at every single stage of our careers, I have worked longer hours but I been rewarded with a nice bonus at the end of the year.
He has four good A levels, I have three crap ones. He has a degree from a good university, I have a degree from a crap one.

I wouldn't go near a career in law, unless I was loaded and had a perfect academic record.

Why don't you start by changing schools instead OP, as you give the impression that you think teaching is a hard career compared to the others on your list? After all the grass isn't always greener.

It is only a temporary position so will look for a job. I guess my point is I have had a few death threats now from students whilst teaching. Not entirely serious; it's blustering but enough to get my back up. I very much doubt I would get similar abuse if I did exam marking or tutoring (although this might happen in the law!)

All the money is in maths. I got a b at gcse in maths and had to work damn hard to get that. I wish I was more mathematical as I would do accountancy etc. I'm just not excited by it though.

A lot of firms require that you work as a paralegal for not muh money before you even get a training contract and going in at 9 and leaving at 5 is frowned on as it doesn't show commitment.

I am an accountant and I rarely use maths. If I do it is adding some numbers together on a calculator or working out a percentage...ona calculator.

I have a law degree but I am so glad I wen t the accountancy route. I worked hard at exams and work when I was young, now I have a family and I still do FT but actual FT so 9.15 to 5.15 (mostly)I don't think I could do that at the same professional level in a law firm.

So if you do accountancy surely you need to be good at numbers? I'm so glad I worked hard at school as it leaves me with options.

Mind you in teaching I'm in at 8, back at 6 and working til 11 pm at home.I am off to do some marking!

Another lawyer saying don't do it. I am currently on ML and my firm is (almost certainly) about to refuse me a return on 3 days a week (in reality: working 4 with unpaid "overtime") and to offer me the once in a lifetime opportunity to take a 20% pay cut for the chance to pretend that I only work 4 days a week. My boss is already saying that there will be times when I "just have to" work 5 days (what he thinks I am going to do with DS I don't know). Not all areas of law are like this but the ones that aren't don't pay any more than teaching - and even the poorly paid ones sometimes end up doing masses of unpaid overtime.

By way of example at 16 weeks pregnant I was up until 3:30 am working on a deal. I was just waiting to see if anything would happen. Only all the other parties' lawyers knew it wouldn't, but forgot to tell me . Dh is also a lawyer and spent at least 50% of his paternity leave working for a client - a client that makes infant and child products...

I'm not suggesting accountancy is for you, what I am saying is that teaching somewhere else might make you feel differently.

All careers have good and bad points - I've also had to work into the early hours to hit deadlines...

If teaching was your dream in the past, and you also dream of your own business, what about setting up a small specialist private school/getting involved with a free school project, or a tutoring business in some form, again perhaps with a specialist angle?

Think also about e.g. an afterschool/ holiday scheme with a strong literacy/English/drama angle. You could offer something amazing there. Also scope for baking activities

I actually did my traineeship with someone who had done a law degree to get out of teaching. He did his two year traineeship, then left law to go back to teaching!

I have a few friends who are solicitors who are reasonably happy and well paid in their jobs. They mainly work in large provincial firms (small local firms offering a broad range of work seem to be a thing of the past) or for banks or large companies. Several of the women on my degree course ended up working in the public sector with the 9-5 hours and flexitime it offers, but earn no more than 37k pa. So many solicitors seem to be off work with stress.

Most firms who do a reasonable amount of commercial type work are pretty pressurised, in terms of pushing you to make profit, bring in business, not make mistakes, turn things around quickly (and that often means no management of workload, simply keeping working until its done).

On the plus side, I think firms often look favourably on more mature candidates when allocating training places, often seeing life experience as a plus.

Don't go into higher education as one poster suggested - the attrition rate is far worse than law, jobs-wise! Departments are churning out PhDs and there are tiny tiny numbers of jobs and you now need 10-15 years freelance or short-term contract experience plus 1-2 books and a full research record even to get an entry-level lectureship. Pays far worse than teaching too (unless you lecture in law, medicine, etc.....)

Tutoring is a good area to be in at the moment. A friend of mine has just set up a tutoring business - there's huge demand and much more freedom than being a salaried teacher. She loves it. Sounds like you have lots of tutoring expertise - why not find tutors to work for you? Educational consulting? Or if you're near one of the big exam boards, they pay very well and treat their full-time staff well (curriculum development, language teaching materials, organising and running assessments like the BMAT and so on).

Hi, have you thought of a legal career just outside of the scope of law?

Such as purchasing (ie Chartered Institute of Purchasing exams). It is well-paid and from what I have heard in good people are in short-supply.

Or, train as a Company Secretary or Contracts Manager?

There are other careers which utilise law.

Hope this helps Good luck

Well, I was a teacher, and hated it, like you. I was stressed, unhappy and miserable. I did a law conversion course, loved it, then the LPC, then training contract in the City. I qualifed 11 years ago, and now work 3 days a week doing a KDL role (knowledge development lawyer). It is fantastic. I don't deal with clients, I have steady hours, and I enjoy the research. However, you need to have experience in fee earning work to move across to the KDL role.

I had my training contract offer in place before I left teaching, and they paid all my fees for the CPE and LPC, and gave me a small amount every month (£400 from memory). I still came out with £20k in debt at the end of it, but paid this off easily in the first couple of years. I now earn a really good wage and am very happy with my job.

Good luck.

Buddy80, Chartered Institute if Purchasing and Supply? Is that what you mean?

Have you considered taking a will writing course? You could run your own business and use legal knowledge gained from a professional qualification.

Winky yes, indeed.

I am also a former (almost) teacher and I'm 2/3 of the way through the full time lpc having done the gdl part time. I enjoyed the gdl but the lpc is pretty hideous.

I have a fully funded tc too, which I got in my first year of the gdl, so I took a massive punt when I left teaching.

It's hard though, I have spent a lot of time studying that I could have spent with my kids.

Right now I'd say don't do it, but that could be the lpc exams talking...

I'm a solicitor in a high street firm in a small town.

Anyone who is a trainee with us has to prove their worth and work as a paralegal for a few years first. Paid at national minimum wage. Same situation at most smaller firms.

Only London/big city centre firms tend to offer training contracts in advance and may offer something towards LPC.

I know holidays have been mentioned - I get 5 weeks (normal for industry) plus no benefits - so no sick pay, pension, statutory maternity only etc. Worth bearing in mind especially if you are a single mum.

Usual office politics and fast changing nature of law - i'd imagine similar to constant change in teaching. Lots of targets - bill x units a day, settle x cases a month etc.

I'd look in to ILEX route where you work and train at the same time. You can eventually convert ILEX to solicitor if you wish. Problem will be very low salary compared to what you earn now.

Law society gazette carries job adverts online - look what is being offered paralegal/trainee wise in your area.

How about law lecturing or teaching at a FE college. Must admit I have thought of that myself.

The CILEx course is definitely worth considering - it's much cheaper, is taught part-time so that students can work at the same time and if you want to be a solicitor you don't need a training contract.
I was a Barrister - loved it - gave up when i have DS and DD and now teach the CILEx course (love that to - so maybe I'm just easily pleased!!)