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.

To answer your central point, OP: it's possible to do a TC whilst raising small children, but it's hard. Large and medium- sized regional firms make a lot of demands on their trainees' time. They won't look kindly if you're in the middle of assisting with closing a big corporate transaction and have to stand up and leave to collect your child from nursery, or whatever. Trainees are ten a penny unfortunately.

OP consider Government Legal Department who I know have allowed some Legal Trainees to do it part time by extending the 2 year period to ensure they complete the required hours.

I would have the baby in the gap.

@GraceandFrankie Hi thanks doe your opinion. I got AAC at alevels and a 2:1 in history at royal holloway university. Then my masters in law at bpp

I qualified as a solicitor in the 90s, and was in mid 30s when I had my first child. I had 7 years PQE by then, and it was manageable, in a national private client firm doing litigation. I was fairly senior by then, so could demand some flexibility, and had established a reputation.

If I had been very junior I think life would have been difficult.

What I understand from the junior end is that life is incredibly competitive. You will not get far if you are rushing out the door every night , at 6 or so, you may be better off in house.

There are so many people looking for training contracts that you will really need to be stellar academically and have good work experience to get a foot in the door even as a paralegal, which did not exist when I started work.

The paralegals who work at our panel firms, I am now in house, are on zero hour contracts.

If you want to get in to decent firm, you will need a 2.1 or above from a Russell group university, and be prepared to work long hours for at least the first few years.

Solicitors firms, large or small are all about how much money you are going to bring in, and the top tier firms are very very intellectually snobby.

If you want to do corporate, you are really going to need a good nanny.

[quote Motherofking]@GraceandFrankie Hi thanks doe your opinion. I got AAC at alevels and a 2:1 in history at royal holloway university. Then my masters in law at bpp[/quote]
for*

You have got this far
And you only now start to think about the logistics?
Masters are so expensive
I’m baffled

I think people have been told incorrectly they can have/do it all, but women are most likely to believe this tosh.

You cannot:

Have a high powered career
AND have reasonable working hours
AND spend all evenings and weekends with your family
AND not have to use childcare

You just can’t. Particularly not when starting out.

My old boss is earning something in excess of £250k - her salary has increased x5 since I met her in 2008.

She has had two children in that time.
She took 4 months maternity leave each time, both kids had combinations of nanny’s nurseries and childminders from 3 months.

She’s worked evenings all the time.

I know 7/8 women just like her.

The love their kids 100% but expect for some time on weekends they are largely not with parents.

So decide which bits are important an that’s how to you plan.

But you can’t have everything - no one can.

@CampagVelocet I do not write like this for my applications, or wouldnt write like this in a professional setting . I am just trying to answer back responses whilst doing other things at the same time. I am currently at home with my toddler so i am a little distracted

@lentilsforever why are you baffled?

@BlackCatMum thank you i never knew this

I had young kids as a junior lawyer and qualified into an area with more reasonable hours and a firm with a better life balance. People there didn't have a presenteeist attitude and I had to leave on time for childcare anyway. I still got into in house work as soon as I possibly could though. More interesting work, regular hours, nicer people, no timesheets, no billing, no target hours.

You have done extensive study
Very expensive
And now you have finished up

You start thinking about logistics and timings of second babies

It’s just… baffling to me

Training contracts are more than a full time job themselves and as they are like gold dust if you did get pregnant in the middle of them you may be set impossible timescales when you return. In your position I would work as a paralegal first, have your babies, and then request a contract from your employer.

@wewereliars Thank you. I am capable academically . I did not go to a Russel group university out of chose however i did have the option to .

Are you a single parent? If not, surely the housework and cooking is shared. If you can afford to, I would get a cleaner or housekeeper to help out. If not, toddlers and upwards really enjoy helping to dust/vacuum and to cook so it’s still time you can spend together.

Everyone I know has their training contracts lined up whilst finishing up studying

@lentilsforever okay. Well i have always planned to be a lawyer . But got pregnant before starting my masters and decided to continue.

@lentilsforever

Everyone I know has their training contracts lined up whilst finishing up studying

This would have been ideal if it was not for covid. Due to covid my exams got postpones so I did not know when i would finish my course

I'm a lawyer, a shit hot one [blows own trumpet] and my posts are littered with typos and even IRL I can't spell for toffee. That's what spell check is for.

OP, most international firms would also consider themselves city firms. You can train with young children (I did) but you need rock solid childcare and (as others have said) it is a long hours profession pretty much everywhere. I second looking at GLD.

Op you say you wanted to apply for International companies but don’t know that * I’d also shy away from international firms. I worked for an US firm and always had to work late to fit in with the time difference as a lot of our clients were based in the US. I also had to be on calls early if dealing with the Far East or Australia. International firms tend to lead to international work.*

Op you sound completely naive about the entire thing

@CreepySpider No i have my partner but he works full time. Thank you, I guess i am used to doing everything as i stay at home , i didnt think about getting a cleaner or house keeper but i will look into that

@lentilsforever

Op you say you wanted to apply for International companies but don’t know that * I’d also shy away from international firms. I worked for an US firm and always had to work late to fit in with the time difference as a lot of our clients were based in the US. I also had to be on calls early if dealing with the Far East or Australia. International firms tend to lead to international work.*

Op you sound completely naive about the entire thing

Yes, this is why i am asking people on here who have trained as lawyers or have more knowledge . And that message you quoted has made me aware to something i was not aware off . So i will obviously be able to make the right decision for myself and family

I am a lawyer in house for a large company. I also have two kids ages 2 and 4 and work full time. It's totally doable. Just get a good nursery / grandparent help, cleaner etc if you can afford it and father of your children to help 50/50! There is absolutely no reason why you should have to compromise on either really as long as you have the support system in place then you can do both!

It depends what you mean by "high powered". I'm a director in a small company, well paid, not compared to being a partner in a city law firm, but well paid compared to nearly everything else, and the work is interesting, not too stressful and not long hours, and mostly from home. I was never interested in all that corporate bollocks in the city or being a partner in a law firm, even if I hadn't had a family I didn't want to waste my best years beimg at work all the time. I dislike most commercial law firms and how they operate, both how they treat their clients and staff.

But there are much more pleasant, more interesting ways to practise law.

@Hargao Thank you . I dont need to do a gdl as i do the masters in law which is the gdl but on a masters level . Thanks , i will consider looking at different types of firms. Unfortunately i know they wont pay for the SQE but i will look into other ways to pay for it or another legal route.