Retail bank or psl

[Mamafoof]

I'm a corporate lawyer in private practice at a silver circle firm and have just come back from maternity leave. Prior to maternity leave, the hours were pretty harsh and i was worried about how i would cope when i get back. i negotiated terms where i would work till 5.30pm in the office and then leave to pick up my daughter from nursery and then work from home after that. To be honest, i haven't been too busy at all so its worked well but i know that when i do get busy its going to be so tough as my daughter needs a lot of attention in the nights and it will be difficult if i have to work urgently go on calls etc (my husband is also a laywer at a MC firm so it's also quite tricky). I have thought about working as a psl - good hours, reasonable pay and comfort of private practice but there is huge competition for jobs and i am worried i may get bored. On the other hand, was thinking of inhouse but am worried that corporate inhouse may still demand a lot of me when really i would like to leave work at the office at 6.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether psl or inhouse is the way to go? i have heard there are some jobs going in both retail and investment banks but am worried there won't be too much of a lifestyle change!

ps - am not lazy - happy to work hard but when home, want to be 100% with baby and hubby!

thanks alot for reading xx

If it were me I would choose psl rather than in house. Some in house jobs are easier hours wise, but most are pretty demanding.PSL will not be as exciting and you will lose your lawyer status. Also you will be working with other lawyers not clients which really put me off.
Don't try and work in the evenings or on your day off - you short change your clients and children and in the end will resent it. Something has to give in the end. Good luck with your choice !

Thanks Workinprogress. Can I ask what you chose to do? I think psl is prob more suitable but am not too much of a law buff and prefer to execute rather than to study the law but something has got to give i guess!

Well it's a bit of saga. I never worked for a city firm - I worked for one of the big regional ones. After I had DS I worked 4 days a week, but also did a secondment in house. I would probably have moved in house at that point but got pregnant with DD. I went back to work on a job share basis, it could have worked but there were personality issues and to be honest I was bored as I'd worked for the same firm for over 10 years ( and not progressed much because of being part time). I moved to part time at a much smaller firm which worked quite well, hours were much better but often worked on days off and in evenings. Would probably have kept doing that but 2 years ago DH was made redundant. He couldn't find anything locally but eventually he was offered a fantastic job - in Scotland. He commuted for a bit but in the end I took redundancy and we all moved up. So I have ended up a SAHM in Scotland. Which just goes to show you never can tell..

Hmm, I am not a lawyer myself but have a friend who moved in-house to an investment management business rather than an investment bank and she was always out the door by 5:30pm.

Hi Workinprogress

I'm inhouse and have worked for two telcos, generally my hours are really good much like smallwhitecat. I'm IP though, not corporate -sometimes our corporate lawyers have late nights BUT generally they are overseeing outside firms doing a lot of big project stuff rather than doing it all themselves so the late nights are few and far between.

I would think also that PSL and inhouse roles are pretty much equal in terms of being hit first when times are tough. I was made redundant in my first inhouse role after just 6 months, and my current role is not looking particularly bright for next year. But that is something that you can't predict as I know lots of PSLs who have been given the chop too so I think you have to just go for the job you most want.

God, good job I am not proof reading....sorry, that last post from me is for Mamafoof. See what happens to one's mind after 7 months looking after twins?

Spotted that but wasn't going to correct you. The other benefit of not being a lawyer for some time is you lost the urge to correct people all the time !

lost - I mean lose. Also don't proof read anymore..

Thanks Ladies - this is really helpful. The prospective job is at a retail bank so not an investment bank. I did a secondment at a retail bank before and the hours were pretty tough so really not sure what to do and think it totally depends on where you go as everywhere is different. The only trouble is I think if I decided to go inhouse, it would be difficult to become a psl if i wanted to jump ship and vice versa. So the pressure is on to make the right decision. I also want to have another baby quite soon and the plan was to stay in private practice till that happened but don't think it's going to happen soon as am still breastfeeding and still no period.......and don't think i can stick it out in private practice that much longer. As you say, workinprogress, you can just never tell what is around the corner! So am trying not to be too rigid in my plans and what will be will be!

Have you thought about being a in-house PSL? That way you get better hours than a private practice PSL and you can focus more on practical matters as in-house PSLs are more likely to be writing policies and manuals rather than internal briefings. It is also easier to have a mixed role with some internal advisory work if you wish...

BF + no period does not at ALL = not fertile! If you are TTC i.e. no contraception (ignoring the bf) then I would be very careful about moving jobs now and I would find out all I could about potential employers' maternity policies. Luckily some of the banks have very generous policies that apply to people who get pregnant after, say, 1 month in the job, but they wouldn't work if you were pregnant on Day 1 and there is a big difference between an employer policy and Maternity Allowance!