To be surprised how posh most lawyers are?

[eggtat]

I grew up in a mining area in the north east. Not a poor background but parents never had much money. I was the clever kid in school, worked my socks off and got a law degree from cambridge. Then moved to London for work.

I thought that law firms would be full of people like me and some posh people. In my office I’d say a an overwhelming majority of people come from what I’d consider a posh background - parents who are professors, diplomats, barristers, partners at law firms, senior accountants etc.

People who grew up privileged, good private schools, academic households, then onto a top uni.

Yes thats why I prefer Medicine for this type of thing (social mobility) which did use to open more doors or at least in my day when tuition fees were much less than they are now and pretty much free for poorer students. Not sure now with 9k + fees though.

Many people don't do a Masters, im led to believe. Last I looked, the LPC is up to £20k depending on where you take it.

Depends where you practise.

Farrer & Co - posh as fuck.

Slaughter and May - posh.

Allen & Overy - average.

Irwin Mitchell - common.

Yes and no.
My BFF became a solicitor and her father was one but she went to our school, just a normal school nothing fancy. And she was friends with lots of kids who came from.less peivilaged backgrounds such as me, bith parents worked in a factory. Me and my siblings all ended up in good jobs from uni. Dentist, pharmacist, radiographer and Teacher.

Not surprising. I know some firms make an effort to be more 'equitable' in their hiring processes now, but for my generation unless you had a high first from a top 3 university, the only way you were going to get a training contract was through personal connections.

I’m surprised you’re surprised.

most of my lawyer colleagues have at least one DC who is pursuing law. I have two that are considering it. like begets like.

whilst the law degrees are the same cost the BVS and LPC are another year of studying that is easier to bear if someone is paying your rent/topping you up.

Firms are competitive but also competing. Polished, well spoken, attractive associates who can be rolled out for corporate events are sought after

Oh and also the unofficial marshalling; mini pupils and work experience available to those with contacts is rife

I'm surprised you didn't notice that while you were at Cambridge to be honest.

Yes thats why I prefer Medicine for this type of thing (social mobility) which did use to open more doors or at least in my day when tuition fees were much less than they are now and pretty much free for poorer students. Not sure now with 9k + fees though.

I thought medicine had become less diverse?

I suppose most are and don't get me started at how useless some are...

I do however have 3 friends who are solicitors and they are in no way posh, working class upbringing, just chose that line of study. Xx

DEI allows performative diversity and is very convenient for the upper classes. So yes, I’d say it’s no surprise that this sort of diversity is on the increase in the profession.

Its whiter than Lapland in winter in my law firm for fucks sake. DEI just means you can't say racist or sexist or homophobic or transphobi 'banter' at work . I agree to a certain extent it has helped to create an illusion that black or asian college kids have a leg up somehow when applying for top jobs in law, the city, publishing etc, and sow divide and rule of working classes. But there's no real evidence DEI has increased diversity in law, its the same non-white grads who got the jobs 10 years ago- the small minority that are middle classed.

When they do make it past Pupillage , they have to put up with shit beyond any white working class kid.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-54694167

City law is actually surprisingly accessible from a financial perspective for kids who know how the game is played. You get a training contract two years in advance and they my firm then pays them a decent living allowance as well as fees to do the SQE (and conversion course if needed). Then as trainees they earn £50k for two years and qualify onto £180k. As others say the hard hit is getting the job. We have one brand new trainee who I know is from a very poor background (I mentored him through an access scheme) who has done a superb job of researching and networking not only what our firm does but also how people behave and how to ape the 'preferred' behaviours (bit of banter but never inappropriate and flatter the egos of powerful partners). He is effectively code-shifting and disguising his origins (he picked up a first from a top London uni along the way too). i am really rooting for him to succeed but a bit sad that he has to mask his background to do so

I think it does tend to be weighted by privilege = often posh. Good education, contacts, foot in the door, rich folks who can absorb the cost if you do a pro bono year which looks good on a CV.
More of a mix these days and depends on the firm. I'm at a city law firm which has a corporate division (ver ver posh), global insurance risks (medium posh) and UK insurance (mixed bag of proper posh, grammar school/ middle class and some former working class but very smart folk, often the youngest generation). I'm waiting for the days when the corporate section is more mixed but I suspect I might be retired by then (I'm age 50).

I think even if originally you are not posh after doing the degree/ bar/ hanging out with older lawyers you will inevitably start to sound posh and will acquire posh habits to keep up )))

How many other kids from your school also became lawyers in London? If it was a fair few of you then, yes, it would be a surprise that you are now not surrounded by formerly WC law students. But I'd hazard a guess that you were exceptional in your year's intake (although somewhat dim socially judging by this post).

I think in cities it is like this but not so much in smaller towns. Depends on what type of law you are interested in I suppose.

to the pp who said the many Aussie and kiwi lawyers in magic circle firms don’t seem posh - believe me they’re posh in antipodean terms. Almost overwhelmingly educated at top schools down under and with very rich parents to boot (usually. Some exceptions apply).

I think it's easy to assume a lot of lawyers are posher than they are. A colleague recently expressed surprise that I didn't go to private school. I'm just well spoken and lots of people morph to a uniform well spoken neutral accent after they've been in the city a while.

In my experience there are plenty of state educated people from working class backgrounds, you just wouldn't guess.

My DS is a lawyer at a London firm. He went to the local comp, then onto a non Russell Group uni. His friend went to the same school and same uni and is a barrister. Not posh, not unique.

Yes, a local firm doing conveyancing or something might not be as posh.

This is the silliest comment, you win the internet,

There was a reality programme a few years ago with doctors in training and they were all posh.

Mine was free as I was born in 1978. The professional qualification I did afterwards was expensive, I grant you.

Or that you could only be suprised now at the lack of diversity. One of my friends went to a magic circle firm about 12 years ago and as she was one of not two on that cohort who were state school educated they asked her if she’d like to join their social mobility network.

I am not sure how you know this. I used to work as a lawyer in one of the large law firms, silver circle, and I only knew the backgrounds of some of my colleague friends and only then if it had happened to come up in conversation. Out of the people I knew well, they came from a variety of backgrounds, and from all over the country. Quite a lot of colleagues were left wing having come from very down to earth backgrounds. Most people spoke with RP accents though not all and all had been to good universities and so rubbed shoulders with privileged people and so people may be presenting as privileged but not in fact privileged?

Some of my collegues from economically or socially privileged backgrounds had experienced serious loss or trauma, which isn't the point of the thread, I know, but which I saw as more relevant than whether they were posh.

I honestly think that half the posters here have never stepped foot in a lawfirm. I had lawyer colleagues from every religion, every culture. There were as many women as men.

Unless law firms have radically changed since I left.