To consider retraining as a solicitor at 33?

[northernbella]

Hi all,

Just hoping for some advice about retraining as a solicitor (I'm most interested in immigration or human rights law). I am researching other sources too but thought I might try and tap into the huge wealth of experience on here!

I graduated 5 years ago (languages degree). I am now at civil service middle management level in a role I find very interesting with prospects.

However, i have been thinking seriously about law as a career since uni. I did a couple of internships with law firms (immigration) and free advice centres. I found the work really interesting and rewarding.

Also, lawyers I know personally have said that they think i would be well suited to the job (when asked for their objective advice on retraining, not fishing for compliments!!). I worked in some immigration roles with the civil service.

The reason I didn't train straight away was that I wanted some time out of studying for health reasons but this is largely stabilised.

Currently single but would like a family.

Does anyone have any experience or views on retraining at this point, is it realistically too late? It would need to be part time for financial reasons. Any advice on funding sources would be helpful.

Would law firms be likely to favour younger candidates for training contracts? Also my degree was a 2:2 as I had health issues during finals (I could prove this). Is this likely to put employers off?

Many thanks in advance!

For clarity, I'm 32 now but would probably start next year.

Following with interest

I don't think you should even think about it with a 2.2 - sorry. A 2.1 is the minimum expected and unless you have a friend or family contact who will give you a training contract you're likely to be wasting your money.

Are you aware that there are far more candidates than training contracts?

I'm leaving the law profession at 30 and hoping to move into the civil service. The realities of law are very different to how it appears. It's very difficult to get a job in either of the areas you identified as funding has been so severely cut by the government. It would cost you a fortune with the GDL and LPC costing in the region of £20,000. The days of firms paying these for you are long gone in all but the biggest firms. You'd likely experience a drop in wages with trainees starting on around £16k, a newly qualified solicitor on £22k. Even 4 years qualified I was only on £32k and working long hours with a lot of stress (I'm in the north west). It's not family friendly and many, many friends are also leaving as we start families. Benefits such as maternity pay and sick pay are very poor or none existent and flexible working is rare.

Sorry for the essay but honestly stay where you are! I think you'd regret perusing law.

I'm not a solicitor but I think you should go for it.

You have a lot of experience in the area of law you would like to practice and have additional law work experience which would surely put you in a good position.

I think you need more advice on the job market, from someone more knowledgeable than me! I'm all for retraining, as long as there are jobs at the end of it.

It's going to cost you a lot financially so you definitely want to make sure of that.

Good luck!

Dashing why do you say the OP should go for it? She doesn't have the academics required and there is stiff competition for the training contracts and then no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

And practically all candidates who get training contracts have good work experience. It's expected.

I wouldn't recommend it, especially not with a 2:2 and a need for part time hours.

If you are determined then have a look at the CILEX route, this is much better suited to mature candidates than the GDL, LPC and training contract route. It costs less and is designed to be done part time whilst working. You can still become a solicitor at the end if you want to but for many there is no need.

Thanks Cloud, appreciate the honesty and did suspect as much. Just wasn't sure if mitigating circs might be taken into account, especially now that I have some immigration experience.

Yep, fully aware of how competitive the field is and how the number of candidates outweighs contracts hence looking for as much advice as possible.

IMO OP you wouldn't get through the initial CV sift in order to get in front of anyone to tell them your reasons for not having the academics. Plus (and this isn't meant to sound harsh), everyone has a reason why...

Thanks Lexi, just to clarify- I meant part time training, not part time work. CILEX is a possibility I hadn't really explored as much as I probably should. I always saw this as a much slower route (perhaps wrongly)

It's doable but would be very hard. You will be up against a lot of stiff competition and mitigating circumstances is seldom what employers look for as a positive, and that's if you got past the assessment centres and through to interview stage to be able to tell them.

On the other hand, it's never worth having regrets and if you feel passionate then I'd probably explore it further...

I'm a couple of years older than you and started the CILEx route last year. I have a 2:2 and could do the GDL/LPC route, but I can't afford it, plus I work full time and have 2 young kids so need to take it slowly.

Bella that's a really useful perspective.

The idea of starting again (even if I had the chance to do so) on an entry level salary is quite a scary one (not that CS pay big money).

Hope the CS works out for you, there are a lot of legal specialist roles so hopefully you'd be able to put your expertise to good use, just maybe with better working conditions.

I don't think it's too late, and I don't think a 2:2 is necessarily a bar to working as a solicitor, although it may unfortunately limit your options (e.g. not the City - but you probably wouldn't be looking at that for the kind of law you're interested in).

My main piece of advice would be to try to secure a training contract that would pay for your training before you embark on it. Otherwise you risk being left with a load of debt and no job.

I would start by looking up online, in Chambers and Partners, what the top 20 firms are for your area(s) of interest and check on their websites/with them whether they will pay for training and also about the 2:2 situation. I imagine you might be interested in firms like Duncan Lewis, Bindmans and Leigh Day?

Also, have you looked at the Government Legal Service, since you're already in the Civil Service? Plenty of work in that vein I'd have thought and you might be able to keep some of your current benefits like pension etc?

More generally, I would also think about why the solicitor route, as opposed to just more of the sort of immigration work you mention in your OP. Helps to be sure of what you think would be the difference for interviews etc, which will be sooner rather than later if you're looking for training contracts with funding.

Best of luck!

Id also say checking firms requirements is important. For example a lot of firms won't even let you complete the application form on line if you don't click 2:1. It's that tightly controlled. So understanding where you'd like to work and how to get in is an important decision making criteria.

I don't know if I would reccomend it in your circumstances. I think the fees for the GDL and LPTC are over £20k now. There are some firms will sponsor you and pay your fees (or at least the LPTC fees) if you get the training contract before you begin the relevant course, but many will not.

The biggest problem though is that after you finish the courses you will need a training contract. They are very competitive, many firms have 100+ applicants for each training contract and tbh I think having a 2:2 would unfortunately put a lot of firms off even if there are extenuating circumstances. I got lucky but have quite a few friends who I studied law with who were stuck paralegalling because they couldn't get training contracts. I don't think the age thing is necessarily a problem other than that it might seem worse to waste a couple of years at this point if it doesn't work out than it would in yours 20s.

Legal aid changes mean that there is less demand for both immigration and human rights work nowadays and the jobs that are there are often not very well paid and require long hours (not great if you want to start a family and it can impact on people's health). The Government is always looking for lawyers especially in immigration and they will accept 2:2s now but if you're trying to get in at training contract stage then I know it is very competitive and they get well over 100 applicants for each training contract.

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I just think if you're content in your current job I would personally probably stick with that because I don't know if it's worth the risk. It all depends on how much time and money you're willing to gamble though.

I suppose if you wanted to you could have a look for training contracts that will let you apply 2 years in advance and then if you were successful pack in your current job and do the GDL and LPTC full time in those 2 years. If you're civil service already maybe you're best bet is to have a go at the Government Legal Department one and it seems their applications will be open in a couple of weeks www.gov.uk/guidance/government-legal-service-gls-legal-trainee-scheme-how-to-apply. You haven't got anything to lose and they do a lot of human rights/immigration stuff (even if it's for what many people would consider the dark side 😈).

I’m a 27 year old newly qualified solicitor. Getting a training contract was incredibly hard, even for my friends who got 1st degrees and had bags of experience. I was in the incredibly lucky position of having a family member who is a partner ina law firm but I always had aspirations of getting a training contract elsewhere and standing on my own two feet. I ended up having a massive reality check on finishing my degree and going cap in hand o this family member who took me on. Quite a few of my friends never managed to get training contracts and had to change profession. I don’t mean to sound harsh but with a 2:2 and at your age I think you will be wasting your money going down the route of requalifying, as Although you say that you have years of experience, when you are a little older and trying to get a training contract employers tend to view long periods of work outside of actual law quite negatively. For example I took a year out after my degree before doing the LPC (DPLP) in Scotland and I undertook work which was connected to the subject of law I wanted to go into but was not in an actual law firm.
It was viewed very negatively at each interview and I was asked at every one why if I was so keen to become a solicitor I had taken that year out. It’s brutal! I’m sure this isn’t the advice you are looking for and I’m sorry for that, but a lot of my friends who never found training contracts said they had wished someone had been straight with them about how difficult the whole process was going to be.

Solicitor here!

Firstly, YANBU age-wise. Lots of people retrain for law at later ages. I trained alongside a 38 year old woman and a 56 year old man who both got jobs at the end of it. I also did law as a second degree and qualified when I was in my late twenties. It really isn't at all uncommon.

Your 2:2 is also not the barrier PP's think it is. There will be universities who accept you on that grade, especially as you have relevant work experience. Most law firms (aside from magic circle) won't care at all about your first degree - they will only be interested in your law degree.

If you would enjoy it, do it. It's an amazing career and the opportunities are endless.

One thing I would say is that human rights / immigration law is very competitive - so when you are at university get whatever work experience you can (many unis have student-led free advice centres for example) to set you apart from others.

The legal profession likes candidates from unconventional backgrounds - I've heard many a partner complain about 'law clones' who do law as their first degree. You have relevant experience that you can use as your USP!

Thanks to every single poster so far, your advice and honest opinion is hugely, hugely appreciated.

I Just have to head to a long meeting but will be back later with a few more questions on points raised. Thanks again!!

I think you need to think about why you want to make this change. If it's to do something client-focused, it's worth considering staying in your role, but looking at doing a 4-day week and volunteering with CAB on the additional day. They would provide training, and I think this might be a way of scratching the itch without upending the rest of your life.

Another solicitor here and the first thing I will say is that law is not that great an option and not an easy life. People think it is, but it is highly pressured, very long hours, most firms do not have any flexible working so a work life balance is incredibly difficult etc.

If I were doing it all again I possibly wouldn't have gone into law, but I am not sure what else I would want to do so stay!

A 2.2 is not the end of the world, but training contracts are rare and there is a lot of competition for them. Trainees also get paid low salaries, so you may end up on less than you are now and need to see if you can cope with the wage cut.

A lot of law students go straight through degrees, self-fund LPC and are left with no job (we had someone apply to be our receptionist who had passed the LPC as she couldn't get a training contract).

Unless you have connections or a lot to offer (more than just a good degree and some experience as that is common) you are going to be in the same boat as lots fighting for the few training contracts.

If you do want to pursue immigration law, my suggestion would be to either stay where you are at the moment or get a secretarial/admin job in a law firm (without a law degree you won't get a paralegal job straight off but each firms calls the same role by different names). You may end up on lower wages, but that is the nature of law.

I would then look into studying CILEX part time and achieve your qualification. If you work hard and are eager to progress that is a bonus as a lot of firms I know prefer to train their own up and move people on from within.

If you then decide to move you have experience in a law firm and the part time study. If you qualify CILEX you can start fee earning and if you want you can go on to the LPC from there if you want (I know some fellows who did and being a fellow back then they did not have to then have a training contract and could be admitted to the roll straight away - not sure if that is still the case). You may well find that if you go that way there is no need for you to do the LPC and get the name of solicitor and you are better saving the money, doing the same work and being a fellow.

Since you have no law qualifications at the moment (if I have read correctly), I would say stay where you are for now and start on a CILEX course. You may find that whilst the job seemed great, actually once you start the evening class you absolutely hate it and actually like your current job more. You may also find that once you are into law you don't actually like immigration work and want to be in a different area.