To take my Son to Court?

[Sharpandshineyteeth]

.....not like that 😊

He is 15yo. In his GCSE year. He is lacking motivation, although he wants to go to sixth form, he is only aiming for the minimum grades.

He has no idea what he would like to do when he is older. He loves arguing and debating and has a really good eye for detail. I thought a Solicitor would be a good career for him to aim for. He said he is not sure, so I have said we could go to Court in the feb half term and see what they do.

I have been to Court myself as a Social worker so know what to expect but it just seems a bit...I don’t know...cheeky, to use a Court case as work experience. But then again I am desperate for him to become more motivated.

We have no family or friends around us in professional jobs that he is interested in to offer him work experience another way either.

@bombardier not that many though. Most solicitors I know prefer to send barristers even where they have rights of audience. It’s certainly not within the remit of typical solicitoring for successful and experienced solicitors.

*Better planning for a legal career would involve waking him up at 2am, then giving him 1 hour to summarise 6 of the more obscure pages of Tolley's tax law into a coherent piece of advice. For added authenticity, you could pretend to be a client by ringing him every few minutes and telling him how urgent it is.

Not. Jaded. At. All.*

Just got home from a long day of lawyering and this made me laugh! Also somewhat jaded....

Wanted to add that at my firm we fairly often have people come for a few days of work experience. We try to get them interesting things to see, taking them along if any court hearings, sitting in on meetings (obviously as long as client happy with that etc). Might be worth thinking about as well.

I agree with the PP who said that debate and arguing isn't necessarily a huge part of being a solicitor. Even in a contentious area like I work in I still think the major skill is admin (have to be on top of diary, court timetables etc), attention to detail and diplomacy with a client who is perhaps angry and/or has unrealistic expectations.

Racecardriver, I have no idea what you mean by “typical solicitoring” as even within what one might call “litigation” there is a huge variety of expertise. However, I can assure you that solicitors regularly appear as advocates in the County Court.

If you are talking about corporate solicitors and the like, then you are correct. If you are talking about representation in the higher courts, you are correct. However, I take exception to what appears to be your definition of successful and experienced.

FallenMadonna is right, more and more solicitors are doing court work these days.

Ds is studying LLB and LLP law at university, as he wants to be a solicitor. He went to watch a few cases in different courts which he enjoyed during the 6th form. We were then lucky to get a few weeks work experience in different solicitors before his UCAS form went off, to see if that was the route he really wanted. He loved it. Done some interesting things too, more than just filing!
As I said he’s in his first year and loveing it so far. He says it’s mainly older people on his course but that doesn’t bother him. He’s also getting very high grades on his papers and for his presentation. So we are pleased he’s doing well and enjoying it so much.

Barrister here. Those who succeed are highly motivated. And they don’t have their mums holding their hands at 15. At that age, I was getting the bus and bobbing into the Mags court in the school holidays and things on my own. He may just need to find something that gives him some motivation, and there is obviously no harm in what you’re suggesting (it’s a good thing for anyone to do), but don’t let him feel pressurised into the job. You don’t want him in 20 years to be moaning in the pub ‘my mum wanted me to be a barrister and I let her down because I wanted to be X’.

I would recommend speaking to the court first and explaining. The court listings don’t say anything on them about what they are in relation to: it doesn’t say “court 3. 10am. R v Shalli. Trial for Murder of eleven people” it just says what kind of hearing it is. You could end up sat in a court with lots of PTPH (plea / trial prep hearings). Ideally you would want a short trial to see from start to finish - watching jury selection etc all the way to their decision.

It is a looooong day with many breaks and lots of legal discussions.