Any solicitors (or former solicitors) out here?

[MagicJigsaw]

I'm currently doing my training contract at a corporate law firm in the city but I'm not enjoying it at all. The work is dull and the hours are very unpredictable. Some of my more experienced colleagues with kids have confessed that they're leaving the law because it's just not compatible with a family life - DP wants to have children soon and I just feel like, what's the point in forging a career I'll have to leave in a few years?!

I was wondering if any other solicitors have been unhappy in their jobs and if so, what you did about it? I'm considering moving to a different firm or going in-house on qualification if things don't improve but I've heard that the hours can be equally rubbish there. I'm even wondering whether to change careers entirely.

Would be great to hear people's experiences.

I went in house on qualification (having trained in the city at a US firm)- took a pay cut to do it but never looked back. I am now 12 years qualified and head up legal for a media company. My hours are pretty reasonable (9-5) and I have a reasonable amount of flexibility. It's a good time to be an NQ - we're having to pay silly money to get them at the moment. I am on £160 which is much less than people at 12pqe in your firm I'm sure but is obviously decent money and I'm pretty happy at my job.

Oh and I have a 9 year old.

Similar to PP I qualified at a Magic Circle firm 12 years ago but went in-house at 9 months qualified. I took around 5 years out to have my kids but am now back working in-house at a senior level, 4 days a week. I WFH 3 of those days. Amazing work/life balance (but admittedly much less money, which I am fine with)!

Thank you for responding, I've heard that it can be hard to move in-house on qualification so this is just what I needed to hear. Have you found that the work you're doing is materially different to private practice? Also, can I be nosy and ask what kind of money you are paying for NQs at the moment? I'm obviously prepared to take a pay cut but anything around £70k (in London) would be a dream.

That's great, thanks for sharing. How did you find it compared to private practice?

Law is a very difficult thing to combine with a family life. Very sad but this is the reality. In House is the most likely to give you a bit more of a balance. Beware of part time roles. Same work load, lots to do on days off and less money. Good for firms who can claim to be accommodating whilst paying less. I wish you luck. Keep an eye on the Gazette etc and your ear to the ground!

I qualified at a non magic circle firm outside of London and am still there approaching 6 years PQE.
I stayed for the work life balance - when office based, it was 9-5 or 8-4 or some variation thereof, usually following the partners out of the door.
We're now all WFH and Flexi hours to suit us.

It works for me as I like my evenings for hobbies and family rather than the presenteeism culture. I also have 2 under 5 so no intention to be working all the hours available.

It comes with the obvious drawback of lower salary - you wouldn't get anything near £70k. But not being the breadwinner in our family, it's a compromise we're both happy to make!

Magentax, are you me? I think we probably know each other.

OP, go in-house. If you go at qualification, I'd suggest going somewhere with a big inhouse team - certainly 5+ other lawyers - and you won't look back. The money isn't as good but it's more rewarding in every other way.

I’m in-house too - done as a junior and now I’m a different company as very senior. Great work life balance and I am very well paid. We are paying NQs around 70k in London at the moment, in commercial /IP work. It’s a good market for job hunters. Get a good recruiter to help place you somewhere good. Just pick a place carefully eg don’t go to a bank if you want good hours.

We are paying about 70 for NQs (a bit less basic but slightly over if they get their bonus). I found the move in house to be fine at NQ level, in fact it felt weirdly easy compared to my job at a proper US basket case firm. I kept running out of work!

Thank you all, this is extremely useful and I really appreciate the responses. For those who work 9 - 5 in private practice, can I ask what sort of firms you work at - are you at high street firms, smaller non-Magic Circle/US London firms, large regional firms? I'm wondering whether to try private practice at another firm in case it's just the firm culture I don't like, but I also don't want to risk being stuck not liking my job for another couple of years!

For those who work in-house, how does it compare to private practice? I imagine it's lovely not having to faff around with time recording!

Oh phew, that's good to hear! I've heard it's bad to move in-house at such a junior level because you don't have enough experience to know what you're doing etc. so this really puts my mind at ease.

Ha ha we probably do! I agree with this too - you want (in my opinion) a bit of a team around you as a junior or you risk stalling your development a bit.

Thank you for the response. Is there a particular reason to have a bigger team - is this so you get more in the way of training/support etc.?

I'm a solicitor in a high street firm. The pay isn't great in comparison to what I could earn at large corporate type firms, but I only work 3 days a week 9-5 around my 1yo.

Respectfully, you'll know comparatively little at qualification. You need to keep learning and developing as fast as possible in your early qualified years and doing that in a tiny team is much more difficult. You'll want to observe and learn from as many more senior lawyers as you can, in those years.

I qualified at a magic circle firm and hated it. I stayed for over a year but then left and joined GLD. I took a huge pay cut but it actually worked out as more per hour as I went to a reliable 36 hour week, no weekend or evening work. It was the best move I ever made. I loved the work - really meaningful and access to really senior stakeholders. I stayed in the same department for a long time and went to part time after starting a family. I was very happy there but recently got a huge promotion in a similar department. It’s the right time for me and still civil service so very flexible and family friendly.

none of the women I qualified with are still at law firms - many went in house, or to GLD.
Best of luck with your decision and moves.

I've always been in-house (came as a paralegal after LPC and qualified here) and absolutely love it. I work in tech and the atmosphere is really relaxed, the corporate benefits are brilliant and its just a really creative and supportive environment. I'm given a lot of autonomy over my work, work flexible hours and we can be really solutions focused. Legal dpt in my company is global, but in UK alone we have about 15 lawyers, 2 trademark attorneys and 3 patent attorneys.

I've got 2 kids and the flexibility works well for me. It's very busy and fast-paced, but the flexible hours mean I can attend calls or pull in a few hours once the kids are in bed, and I'm always available to do bath/bedtime with them.

Yes, that's a fairly common experience and I know lots of people (especially women) who've ended up taking a slightly different career path in order to achieve better work-life balance.

In house can be a lot better- both shorter hours and more predictable. Do you know what area you want to work in? I think a big decision for you is whether to try to move on qualification or whether to get a couple of years' PQE under your belt first. In your shoes, I'd give a few recruitment consultants specialising in in-house a call now and talk it through- they should be able to give you a sense of the market and your employability on qualification v later, and if you're looking to move later where to consider qualifying into. It always used to be that 2 years' PQE was the sweet spot but that may be out of date (and of course may not fit with your other plans)- agree with PP that, the earlier you move, the more care you should take that you are going to a proper legal department where you will be given support to learn as (with respect) NQs don't know a lot.

Another option is the GLS- interesting work, usually excellent on hours and flexibility, pay isn't great but pension is excellent.

I'm in a legal counsel role in a City firm. I was in a fee earning role for a decade or so, then moved into OGC/compliance team doing contracts review/management work. Still within a law firm - so familiar territory - but without time sheets and financial targets. Essentially an 'in-house lawyer' but within the firm itself. There are plenty of similar roles around, but you might need to widen your horizon scanning as to the subject matter of your work. Hours are steady. Salary for me stagnated a bit in my first counsel role (no pay cut though), but a move to a different firm gave me a big increase.

I agree with other posters, it's a good idea to speak with the recruitment agents about what is out there for NQs. You'd be able to find a junior role within a general counsel team I'm sure, and you'd be surprised at the variety of options available these days.

I work in legal recruitment and I'm finding lots and lots of solicitors are leaving their jobs because it's mundane, not enough work or the work is too much. You aren't alone