I am a practising solicitor. I worked at a very large international firm for most of my career. DH is a solicitor. He is office managing partner for a large national firm. We are both more than 25 years PQE. Two of our children are currently in the HE system, one non law, one law but both wanting to be lawyers. One is in the process of applying for Vacation schemes and training contracts. We have both had years of advising people about a career in law and recruiting junior lawyers. Both of us went to shit comprehensive schools in fully comprehensive areas with no grammar schools.
Im afraid anyone whose experience and knowledge is more than a couple of years old simply doesn’t understand what has happened in the legal market this year and to a slightly lesser extent last year. It’s brutal out there now and very different to even five years ago. The combination of changes to the qualification routes, new changes to graduate apprenticeships and the impact of AI (both on recruitment processes and the need for junior staff) are enormous. I suspect each year it’s going to get more difficult.
I repeat what I said at the top of the thread. Nobody should be starting law school without training lined up unless they’re happy to effectively lose that money. Nobody should be thinking of being a solicitor unless they’re very good at memory based closed book exams and have excellent academics because the SQE is an intensive and challenging exam and requires extremely hard work and attention to detail under pressure. It is not advisable to commit to self funded law school unless you have some work experience (partly to demonstrate that you appreciate that being a lawyer is absolutely nothing like bloody Suits, but in any event the recruitment processes now mean that work experience is generally a necessary part of the application process itself anyway and by the time you start law school you should have your training arranged).
The majority of law firms are now recruiting almost entirely from their vacation schemes which operate like an extended interview. Getting a place is highly competitive. The timing is not great for non law applicants because assessment centres and both spring and some summer schemes clash with finals. Non law students are also undertaking the same work as law students on the schemes but before they’ve studied any law at all which means they have to work harder to pick up the basics as they go.
Even once you have a place on a scheme the opportunity for conversion is generally about 1 in 3. Most firms still take direct applications but they often only really use these if they haven’t filled their slots on the schemes or in situations where a potential trainee has failed the SQE and their offer is withdrawn so an unexpected place has come up etc. Even minimum wage paralegal roles are extremely sought after and oxbridge graduates are working as paralegals to try to get a foot in the door. If you haven’t been to a London university you’re at a bit of a disadvantage in general if applying to London/US firms because it’s much harder (and more expensive) to attend the wooing events such as drinks/networking evenings/insight events where law firms try to attract junior talent.
Law firms don’t want any more trainees than is absolutely necessary for succession purposes. Trainees are very expensive and paralegals can do the same work for minimum wage.
The bar is much, much less competitive but places are still limited.