Anyone taken a break from the law and returned?

[basana]

I would love to hear any experiences from lawyers who have returned to the law after a career break or who have retrained to practice in a different area of law.

I trained & practiced in a City firm, had my first child at midlevel PQE and have been a PSL for a few years since. I really don't enjoy the role, but I do it for the ability to work part-time (and possibly as I lack imagination as to what else I could do). I really would like a break to spend some more time with the kids, have another baby and get our home in some sort of order, but I am terrified I will never get back into decent work!

I would love to change area of practice or try for the GLS but if I take a break I would be in my late 30s on returning - is this too old to make a change/retrain in the legal field?

Thanks for any suggestions/thoughts, I would appreciate them.

I have had a career break of almost 3 years and have to say I have found it pretty difficult to get back in. Partly I think this is due to my PQE (Only just gone 2 years) so you may find you fare better at a more senior level. Sorry that you haven't enjoyed PSL work, I thought that might have been a more family friendly alternative when I'm a bit more qualified. What is it you don't like about it, if you don't mind me asking..?

On the "What else could I do?" front, have you considered something like project management. I have a few lawyer friends who have moved into this area, or who want to. You probably have alot of transferable skills which you could use in other areas if you wanted to.

Thanks crumpetsolo - appreciate your input. PSL roles I suspect are different at each firm. I miss "real" drafting and the problem-solving aspect of fee-earning. At my firm the PSL role has been largely sidelined and devalued in the recent past. If you found a firm where the partners really valued their PSLs, it might be different I suppose!

Well Im family lawyer and have just returned after 4 years out - I have been lucky to gain a temporary position in a large firm covering maternity leave.
The department i work in is full of women, some are mothers some are not but lots work part time - even those without children.

I am working part time but I have returned to the area of law that i was previously working in - i have been very lucky - the agencies i contacted werent interested as Id been out for 4 years - i contacted a couple of local firms directly.

The problem i am finding is not getting back in - but getting back in part time! Everything seems to be full time as existing staff have already requested flexible working so not much part time exists. If you are willing to go back in full time then you could apply for NQ roles in the area you want to retrain and i'm sure someone would value your experience.

Thanks all, appreciate your experiences. Good luck to those returning - I wish you all the best with it!

Nice to see that there are women with a similar job to me on MN!

I am 35 and a PSL at a City firm too. I was 6 years PQE when I went on maternity leave and was enjoying being in practice. But DHwas (and still is) also a solicitor, and there was simply no way that we could both cope with the demands of the job and spend time with our DS. So I took a maternity leave of just over a year and came back as a 3 days a week PSL a couple of years ago.

I too would like to consider a different role (its not that I don't like my current job, it pays brilliantly, I have almost fixed hours unless there is something that I need to attend which I will know about in advance so can make childcare arrangements, I have lots fo friends in the workplace etc), but I ahve been at the same workplace since starting as a trainee 11 years ago and I just want a change I think.

Except that I am facing the same situation as you - I can't see how I could get back in. With so many redundancies, competition for jobs seems to fierce, and I would imagine that was especially so for part time roles. So I'm staying put for the time being.

If having anotehr baby is part of your plan, why not do that, and ask to take extended maternity/unpaid leave? It would keep your job open, and your employer might go for that (not having to pay your salary in that time!). And by having a break from work, you may find that you gain a sense of perspective about your role and you may actually want to go back to it? Only an idea.

Hi

I am an 8 year PQE commercial lawyer and have just returned to work full time after amost 12 months maternity leave. Like you, I would love to change position as I am finding it almost impossible to juggle the demands of the job with wanting to spend time with my DS. I am hoping it gets easier with time...

I would have thought that PSL would have been the perfect way to get the right balance between the law and being a mum so am sorry to hear that it has not worked out as planned for you.

I agree with weaselbudge and would suggest taking a job as an NQ in a different area, however that would obviously mean a pay cut and my experience of NQs are that they work just as hard, if not harder, than more qualified solicitors. But maybe it will work out better for you in the longrun.

If only there was a job out there that was as satisfying as the law, you could do part time, paid well and had minimum responsibility, I would jump at it :o