To change careers at nearly 40 and study law?

[Hubbel]

Ok, here goes.

BA and MA degrees from Oxbridge. Successful career in academia involving frequent international travel. Great salary, mostly loved my job.

Had children and took career break for five years. Worked on something unrelated to academia with little money but fulfilling/successful.

Stressful period and divorced ExH. Back to academia but had a very hard time finding a similar position to what I held previously. Accepted job with smaller salary and fewer responsibilities than I had 10 years ago! I feel so over qualified and under appreciated in job to the point where I think about resigning every day!

Had a couple of life changing events happen this year and just think is this it? Apart from DC I am not fulfilled in life. I have a brain but working in a job where I feel over qualified is dire… I feel my experience is wasted in this position. I have applied to many other positions but academia is not the same as it was. Jobs are very competitive and salaries have barely risen. I have had numerous interviews for better jobs with almost the same response, someone else with more experience beat me to it. On top of that I’ve lost my enthusiasm for academia which probably shows in interviews.

I am looking for something new. I want a challenge and feel I have a lot of energy and drive which is wasted where I am. I know I’ll have to retrain with years of study but don’t want to look back in another 10 years thinking I could have done/been so much more.

The pros are I have always been interested in law and have worked on law related projects. I love networking, am a deep analytical thinker and have all the experience of research, writing and managing projects etc. I want to use my brain, learn new things and feel appreciated! I want to feel I’m able to move up a company with career progression with the potential of earning more.

The cons are I currently work part-time and juggle two children and I am tired! So tired every day. But I think this is partly because my job is literally sucking the life of out of me. I’m a single parent living within commuting distance of London. It would be great to work in London but how could I possibly do the commute with school/being a single parent etc. I have a lot of life experience but I’m nearly 40, too old? Would pursuing a career in law mean I barely see my kids?

What do you think mumnetters? Should I go for it or am I mad to consider?

OP, there are quite a few people qualify in their 40s and even in their 50s. The oldest I knew was a guy who had retired from the merchant navy. He finished the LPC aged 58 and walked straight into a training contract for a shipping firm. There is a greater respect for those with life experiences nowadays, although I feel that the city firms probably prefer younger trainees who can be molded into their image. Some are better than others for offering a work/life balance.

In all these type of threads about the legal profession, I have never seen anyone recommend a judicial career. For those who want a flexible working life with reasonable pay, fee paid judicial roles might be the answer (Deputy District Judges earn around £523 per day plus weighting for London, and you need to commit to a minimum of 30 days sitting per year). Full time District Judges are on around £112,000. Take a look at the Judicial Appointment Commission's website if you are interested.

I'm not saying it's an easy job, but it can be rewarding and you will not be burning the midnight oil.

Most judicial roles require you to be qualified solicitor or barrister with a minimum number of years post qualification experience though. Unless they are lay roles - usually tribunal or coroner posts. Full time judicial appointments almost always look for you to have had in addition a number of years experience sitting as a P/T judge. Most lawyers take a pay cut to become a judge though this is partially compensated by the pension and other benefits

Hi Katrina, yes, everything you say is true. I raise it simply because there appears to be plenty of female solicitors out there who are very unhappy with their lot and I haven't ever seen judicial roles raised as a potential alternative. You could work part time and earn a decent crust.

There also appears to be a lack of people wanting to apply for judicial roles partly because, as you say, many solicitors earn much, much more. But I wouldn't say most - plenty of solicitors earn much less.

Generally, you need to have at least 30 sittings under your belt before you will be considered for a FT post, but I do know of some that have jumped straight in.

I thought you needed higher rights to take on a judicial role? I could be wrong on that but if so that means it's not an option for the vast majority of solicitors.

No, you don’t need Higher Rights.