To aim for Magic Circle law?

[twinzel]

I'm coming up to the end of my training contract in a regional firm (small/medium sized). I have a 1st in my law degree but it isn't from a Russell Group (top 30 uni) and a distinction in the LPC.
Is there any point applying?

OP I don’t want to sound harsh but you should be thinking about the work you want to do first, and the firm you want to do it in second. A tax lawyer at an MC firm has a very different life from a banking lawyer for example.

You’re not limited to your TC seats but if you apply for something new where you have zero experience then your academics will come into play. Why should a London firm hire you, with no experience, over someone that trained with them or a comparable firm who has done a 6 month seat in the area, and will likely have studied at a “better” university?

You could possibly differentiate yourself in a seat you have done (only property or litigation from your list) on the basis that you may have had more responsibility than a MC trainee by virtue of being in a smaller team.

If money is your motivation then why not a big city regional firm? Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham? Lower living costs, better work/life balance and good salary. Or a London firm that has a regional base to save costs in some areas. Hogan Lovells has a Birmingham office for property work for example.

Almost 15 years ago as an NQ at a midlands regional I was on £40k plus bonus. Ok not loads but it's a start. Generally left around 6pm occasionally worked later. You could expect to be in £50k plus after

You seem unsure what you want out of legal
life. I'm told although I have no experience of the same that NQs at the big London firms continue to do fairly basic tasks. You might be extremely bored!

@AlfrescoWee I didnt ever do basic tasks when I was at a MC firm - there were paralegals for routine work, and plenty of trainees too. I was 100% thrown in the deep end. The responsibility was significant from the get-go.

Unless closely linked to your seats or previous paralegal experience, it’s unlikely I would hire an NQ in an area they have absolutely zero experience in. I’d be better off (in terms of costs and expectations) moving a second year trainee there for a seat.

I work in a medium sized firm. I know people who have worked at all sizes and a MC wouldn’t be for me but it can be excellent for a lot of people. My anecdotal impression is that MC firms are seemingly less personal. Somebody said to me last week that they could have been there 10 years and not made a real friend (they’d been there 6!) which I thought was quite sad although clearly this won’t be everybody’s experience.

If you’re on sub £20k at the moment then you’d be on far more as an NQ in London almost irrespective of size.

I only know of Russell group grads inagiv circle firms in my group of friends. You can try but a lot of people really hate working for them anyway, and only use them to get a more senior role more quickly at a smaller firm with less billable hours insanity. There are plenty of second tier firms that are much better reputation as employers.

I've worked at MC firms early in my career (now 10 years PQE) and I wouldn't recommend it so early on in your career, particularly if you aren't sure what you want to qualify into. The bigger law firms are so divided in terms of practice area so if you aren't sure, I wouldn't recommend it to avoid getting pigeon holed too early.

As others have said, it's hard to crack into MC firms as a NQ, the level of responsibility you will have will likely be smaller and the hours are generally more brutal than the ones you are used to.

I would focus on silver circle - the salary will be a little less but still fantastic for a NQ and you'll have some time to enjoy it while actually learning something. You'll still have the camaraderie that's so important as a junior and good support services.

I think you have to be prepared for a TOTAL change in lifestyle, expectations of you from your team the firm and your clients, work/life balance, attitudes of clients, chargeable hours, type of work, difference in responsibility, etc etc. What you will have experienced at your current firm will have been fine but the fast, streamlined training and experience on huge transactions at the big firms can be a world apart from anything else which is why they keep their own. Remember it's client exposure, project and stress management they've been trained in, not just the black letter law.

As lots of PP have said, it's unlikely but maybe not impossible. Many MC or even SC don't really do lateral hires at all (many with a freeze at the moment) and will only do so if you can add something. They won't be doing it to do you a favour or to be nice. There will be hundreds of applicants for jobs but if that doesn't put you off then go for it. I am at a large international firm and trained there. We do lateral hires but will always choose our own trainees over lateral. Many jobs are advertised months in advance of NQ starting so it may be beat to start thinking about applying for the March 2021 jobs.
Have you thought about using your network to work your way towards a MC/SC to think about applying when you have more experience.
All in all it's your call but if you're willing to do the applications and not get put off if you're rejected lots then the 'wins' could be worth it for you, depending on what those 'wins' are for you!
Good luck.

You should definitely try. You may not get it, but you’ll be closer to where you want to be and could get it I’m future.

I echo the pp who said figure out what area of law you want to qualify into. If it is an area compatible with a magic circle then fine. If not it might still be an are you could be very well paid to do at a non magic circle London firm. I followed the area of law I wanted to do and never regretted it - this was not true for people who did otherwise.

I think get in touch with W good recruitment consultant - they will have the inside track and will be able to help you with your cv. But until you know the are you want to qualify into you won’t be able to even write your cv as you won’t know the right experience to put front and centre etc.

Overall if you are dedicated and ambitious I don’t see why you couldn’t - maybe not as an nq maybe later. But your competition will be people who are very focused dedicated and committed (on paper at least) to an area of law and those interviewing you will be able to tell if you want the firm and don’t really care about the job.

But good luck - sometimes you just don’t know what area you want to do and you have to take a punt - it can work out well!

🤣🤣 thought this post was about the magicians magic circle ...