To tell ds he may be too old to go into law

[User700800]

Ds1 will be 24 when his a levels are finished and would like to go into law. Wouldn't he struggle a lot more to get into this insdusty?

I know someone who retrained at 40.

If he is 24 doing A levels that may suggest he is not academic so maybe law is not the best field for him.

I’m 23 and in the first year of my law degree 😊

It's a hard industry to get into but I don't think he's too old. He'll be 27 ish when he finishes his degree? Plenty of trainees in their late 20s at my (large) firm.

That said, he should be aware that (I think) the majority of law graduates never actually qualify.

Not remotely! I have a friend who started his law degree at 55 and qualified into a full time job at 60. It's not at all unusual for lawyers to do law as a second degree.

Not too old necessarily but what’s he been doing since he was 16?

I think on paper he could but in reality law is fiercely competitive and he might struggle unless he has a really good reason for doing his A levels so late?

Not at all - there are lots of trainee solicitors who are significantly older than that.

If you don’t know, don’t advise him.

One of the best medical neg lawyers in London started out as a nurse and retrained a little later. She is now a partner at a famous London practice.

Certainly not too old, but it can be a brutal & aggressive profession. Also, as Wobble says, strong academics are usually required (i.e. 2:1 from a Russell Group university) for a training contract with a lot of competition for places. I’m not sure I would encourage DD into the law: obviously not relevant to your DS, but it is very difficult to juggle with motherhood/family life and the industry has not (yet?) progressed in the way others have.

Not too old.
Never too old.
He's young and at the beginning of life's opportunities.
Why not stand back and let him go for it?
Maybe he just got it all together later than others. That doesn't mean he is less capable, less bright, or has less of an opportunity.

Encourage, don't discourage.

Definitely not too old but what are his reasons for doing a levels so late?

Law firms also quite like unconventional routes in - there are thousands of law clones who went straight from school to uni to traineeships and it can help to stand out from the crowd!

Not too old but getting a post graduate training place to be a solicitor is very competitive, even for those with a more conventional timescale. That’s not all he could do with law degree, though - there are other in-house roles that would welcome a bachelors law degree.

Im 32 and am partway through my law degree. IME many people who have actual life experience seem to understand it better and more thoroughly (think land law boundary issues!) than many of the younger ones (not all obviously). Biggest hindrance has been childcare and time.

I've got a friend who's doing his traineeship and he's late forties.

Brother is a barrister. Went to university at 33.

No law the older you are the better chance in actual fact. If you can talk with an element of age and gravity behind you and know your job instructing sols will like you

Sorry I've always encouraged him. I just didn't want him to be disappointed if he's unlikely to ever get a job in this field. He's doing a levels at this age as he has had poor health.

SIL is a trainee solicitor and is 35 this year.

Definitely not too old. She did her law degree part time around 3 young children then the same with the LPC.

She became a paralegal a year and a half ago and then was awarded a training contract and has been doing that for past 6 months. She has 18 months left and she'll be a practising solicitor - she specialises in family law.

If he doesn't have the same commitments then he could do it full time and therefore won't take as long.

Of course he won't,my sister did a law degree at 37 and is working in law field. Don't mis-inform your son

His age is not a barrier.
The real barrier is the very stiff competition with about 10 times the law graduates than jobs directly in law (though law good general degree for roles in banking, insurance, police etc).

He needs a combination of strong academic performance and the demonstration that he is exceptional. This does not require a silver spoon or connections (though they can help)...it is evidence of passion, resilience and drive like this amazing women who qualified in her 30s first100years.org.uk/denisa-gannon-i-needed-to-know-my-rights/

Suggest that he start volunteering in an advice agency to see if it is something he enjoys enough to really push to achieve.

Even with a first class honours degree it is extremely competative to get a job even as a paralegal. He is not too old and his "life experience" will stand him in good stead.
You need to have a very good acedemic record (can't emphasise this enough) and good people skills.
I used to work in the Court Service, there were many law graduates who were my colleagues who had been unable to follow their preferred career and ended up doing admin jobs in a "legal enviroment"

Not too old at all!
My friend is late 30s and is retraining in law, it’s fairly common for many people to re-train later in life too.