Training as a solicitor / working full time as a mum

[Motherofking]

I have just completed my Masters in Law, I have done a few vacations schemes and opens days and i am planning to apply for training contracts. I have a 1 and a half year old so no plans to look for training contracts in city law firms , Just international law firms, national and regional firms which offer a better life work balance. Can someone give me tips on how i can manage a full time job and be a full time mum . I will put my son in nursery but i want us to spend alot of time together, i dont want to spend the only hours i have at home cleaning or cooking id rather spend it with him ?

And another question, alot of training contracts give you the job two / three years in advance, For example if i get the job in 2022 my start date will be 2024 or 2025. Would it be a bad idea to get pregnant and have a baby within that gap. I really want another baby especially because once i start my career i dont want to have any more babies. I just want to keep working until i am established enough within my career without any breaks or interruptions.

@Viviennemary

You should have waited till you had completed your training and then had a child. Especially as you are so young. It will be hard work whatever you do now.

Ignore this. I trained with two under two. You can do it. It will be tough but if you want it enough it's possible.

The question is whether now is the right time for you to look to qualify - you're unlikely to get family friendly hours, the only places in law that offer that either pay absolute peanuts (and even those jobs aren't necessarily decent hours) or are for highly sought after lawyers who choose to take a step back and have the skills that people still want to work with them.

The only dyslexic trainee I knew didn’t manage to qualify. It was just too much with speed and volume of reading/writing required. He actually had a breakdown with stress of it. I did know a partially sighted solicitor with a guide dog who was fine though using appropriate technology.

@Viviennemary how helpful is that comment to OP? Are you a solicitor/legal professional with children? If not, you are not qualified to comment as far as I can see Anybody who has no legal experience wishing to pass judgement or criticism should not be passing comments on this thread, especially unkind comments, which are uncalled for.

@Motherofking, I'm so cross the way this thread has gone for you.

In fact, I would have great respect to anyone entering into this profession with young children. I qualified as a solicitor way back in 2006 when I had arguably no real life experience and no children, I now have two.

However, I knew plenty of women doing a litigation role with young children and they had varied hours. Flexible working is possible in law and arguably even more so since COVID. Women are doing flexible hours and having young children and working in law. Contrary to what some people believe on here, it is actually possible!

You have to pick your in-house role though and it's hard to find out hours in advance. I work in house and it's rare for me (or anyone on my team) to finish before 6! It's common for it to be 9 or later (which to be fair is a lot better than private practice).

I agree with PP that this thread seems to have become very nasty since I looked at it yesterday. I think it is really admirable that you are focused on becoming a solicitor with a young child. I had my children after qualification and that has its downsides too.

You have had some good advice from other posters. I agree with you that working as a paralegal would be good, to get more work experience and possibly help you decide on a practice area that would be family friendly. In terms of work areas, I can't offer much advice, as over the course of my career I have worked in 3 different areas of law that are all legally aided with a combination of long hours and low pay. I trained in a regional firm and since then have worked for a charity and latterly been self employed.

I would say there is more to the job that the salary you earn, but despite that, I wouldn't advise doing legal aid work now, as pay freezes and fixed fees coupled with ever increasing regulation and frequent audits make it hard to make a good living and feel like you have done a good job for your client.

When I was still at university I did some work experience with a tax solicitor who said that there was a real shortage of junior lawyers qualifying into tax and the lawyers in the department seemed to work standard hours. I know a lawyer at HMRC who works very part time and has also been promoted since having her third child, so that could be an option.

Good luck OP!

@Motherofking have you looked at somewhere like Kennedys for 2022 start for the SQE? There are some firms offering start dates next year albeit not many.