Career Change - Law.

[Shwar25]

After spending the last 18 months thinking about this I think it's about time I start trying to get some advice and putting a plan in place. I'm 28 years old and currently working in the motor trade, selling parts, at school I was only ever really interested in cars, so decided quite early on that I would pursue a career in this industry.

However, I am becoming increasingly bored with the work I do, although my colleagues think every day is different, and that the work is challenging I do not, I have one of the lowest error/return rates and also have one of the higher sales rates. I have looked at the next steps for me within this industry, which are appealing but only in the short term. I have spoke to my manager about my frustrations with work before, but nothing changes.

I have been looking at going to university to study law, but as I have a young child, we need my income to remain as close to what it currently is as possible, so studying full time may not be possible. I have a prospectus from The Open University, but as I'm currently full time employed, I'm not sure if I would get any financial help with course fee's.

In the long term I would be aiming for either a job in prosecution or with the Coroners Court.

Am I mad? Can anyone help me with any advice on options available to me? Has anyone been in a similar situation, and if so, what did you do?

Any advice at all is appreciated.

[Jasandjules]

I sold my house to go to Uni but we had no kids.

[kremlingazette]

My son was taking a part time law degree, enjoyed what he was doing but it was going to take a few years to finish. He has dropped it and is now training to be a NDT inspector.

have you not considered the booming oil & gas industry, difficult to break into, but with the relevant courses completed your trade background will help.

Globally the oil industry is in a massive boom, average North sea wage is £80,000 per year and set to grow.


You would still be getting dirty but the rewards are far greater, and more interesting work than office based stuff.

[Shwar25]

kremlingazette said:

My son was taking a part time law degree, enjoyed what he was doing but it was going to take a few years to finish. He has dropped it and is now training to be a NDT inspector.

have you not considered the booming oil & gas industry, difficult to break into, but with the relevant courses completed your trade background will help.

Globally the oil industry is in a massive boom, average North sea wage is £80,000 per year and set to grow.


You would still be getting dirty but the rewards are far greater, and more interesting work than office based stuff.

Not really considered O&G Industry, My other half is from the north east of Scotland so knows plenty of people who work offshore. Her uncle works in Singapore within the oil industry too but I'm not sure how much interest I actually have towards it.

I would rather pursue something that I have an interest in, so that I can keep furthering myself, rather than just seeing it as a job and a way to exist.

[Siscar]

It's very hard hard to change career and maintain your income in the short term. It will also take a very long time with lots of fees - that's not to say you shouldn't do it if you really want it, but it's a really tough call.

[Shwar25]

Siscar said:

It's very hard hard to change career and maintain your income in the short term. It will also take a very long time with lots of fees - that's not to say you shouldn't do it if you really want it, but it's a really tough call.

Thanks, this is pretty much what I'm struggling with.

I don't want my family life to be massively impacted (financially) while I study. But, in the long term I think it would be a better move for both me and them, with regards to most things.

[Siscar]

Shwar25 said:

Thanks, this is pretty much what I'm struggling with.

I don't want my family life to be massively impacted (financially) while I study. But, in the long term I think it would be a better move for both me and them, with regards to most things.

Yes, it's hard and a problem is that it's not so much the time you are spending getting a degree, it's what comes next that hard, you need to do well enough in the degree to get offered a job (almost forget it if you don't get at least a 2.1), but that's not the end. To become a solicitor, for example, you need to do a year of Legal Practice Course and two years of a training contract with some solicitors whilst you also take the Professional Skills Course. So even doing it full time you are looking at six years to get fully qualified at a minimum whilst not earning a great deal. And to be a prosecutor you need to be, I believe, a qualified solicitor or barrister.

I'm not an expert at this though, I've more seen it from the outside, someone who knows more may be along to correct me and advise of a better route.

[Shwar25]

Siscar said:

Yes, it's hard and a problem is that it's not so much the time you are spending getting a degree, it's what comes next that hard, you need to do well enough in the degree to get offered a job (almost forget it if you don't get at least a 2.1), but that's not the end. To become a solicitor, for example, you need to do a year of Legal Practice Course and two years of a training contract with some solicitors whilst you also take the Professional Skills Course. So even doing it full time you are looking at six years to get fully qualified at a minimum whilst not earning a great deal. And to be a prosecutor you need to be, I believe, a qualified solicitor or barrister.

I'm not an expert at this though, I've more seen it from the outside, someone who knows more may be along to correct me and advise of a better route.

I think the 6 years to be fully qualified is about right, I know that to become a Coroner you need a further 5 years experience practising too.

I may well fire off a few emails next week to try find out more information.

[bad company]

I retired a year ago after 23 years running a legal recruitment company.

As already stated getting a training contract to qualify as a solicitor is not easy AND there are a lot of unemployed lawyers out there. I would not advise anybody to go into law unless they had a great education and could get into one of the top firms.

[Sir Bagalot]

Shwar25 said:

I don't want my family life to be massively impacted (financially) while I study.

And how do you want your family life impacted if you get a trainee position? I know many trainees who regularly put in 14 hour days.

Saying that one top 25 law firm did have some guy start in the postroom who worked his way up to equity partner. Another where a secretary became qualified.

The hours are long, the work is hard, but the rewards can be great

[bad company]

Sir Bagalot said:

And how do you want your family life impacted if you get a trainee position? I know many trainees who regularly put in 14 hour days.

Saying that one top 25 law firm did have some guy start in the postroom who worked his way up to equity partner. Another where a secretary became qualified.

The hours are long, the work is hard, but the rewards can be great

Yes but there is a huge difference between the top 25 firms and the 'High Street'.

[anonymous-user]

You are not too old to try this, but need to be aware of the costs and risks involved. The vocational courses for the Bar and for solicitors cost 10K plus. Training as a Legal Executive may be cheaper, but offers more limited career options. Training contracts (solicitors) and pupillages (barristers) are hotly competed for, and there is no guarantee of being kept on at the end of the training. Most practising barristers are self employed, with the risks that this entails. Successful lawyers make big bucks, but many lawyers earn quite modestly, and those at the lower end of the market earn peanuts. As well as the CPS, the Government Legal Service may be worth a look. OK ish pay, although not great, but high levels of responsibility early on.

I infer that you do not presently have a degree, If you had a degree in a subject other than law, you could do a one year law Diploma, but you will need a degree in something to start the training. There are university foundation courses for those who have no A levels or have poor A level grades.

Birkbeck College, London, specialises in extra mural and part time courses. If you feel brainy and confident, Harris Manchester College, Oxford, is solely for mature students. Aim for the best university that will take you, as not all degrees are rated equally by prospective employers. A 2.1 is pretty much the minimum requirement these days.

One of my colleagues in chambers was a nightclub bouncer and club organiser before taking a Birkbeck degree and becoming a barrister in his 30s, Another was a trade journalist who took the same route in her 30s. Both are now very successful.

Practising law can be fun and interesting, but it can also be deadly dull and sometimes morally enervating. Still, if you can afford it, and have some appetite for risk, go for it.

[Rude-boy]

bad company said:

I retired a year ago after 23 years running a legal recruitment company.

As already stated getting a training contract to qualify as a solicitor is not easy AND there are a lot of unemployed lawyers out there. I would not advise anybody to go into law unless they had a great education and could get into one of the top firms.

I've been qualified since 2002 and have to tell you that there is no way in hell I would suggest anyone went into law. It's nothing like it was even 10 years ago and the next 10 years will see even more firms close and more change brought into the profession.

In the OP's shoes I would be looking at Oil and Gas. There is more potential and much better pay for people who aren't in the top few %.

[bad company]

Rude-boy said:

bad company said:

I retired a year ago after 23 years running a legal recruitment company.

As already stated getting a training contract to qualify as a solicitor is not easy AND there are a lot of unemployed lawyers out there. I would not advise anybody to go into law unless they had a great education and could get into one of the top firms.

I've been qualified since 2002 and have to tell you that there is no way in hell I would suggest anyone went into law. It's nothing like it was even 10 years ago and the next 10 years will see even more firms close and more change brought into the profession.

In the OP's shoes I would be looking at Oil and Gas. There is more potential and much better pay for people who aren't in the top few %.

If you are working at a Suffolk High Street firm you are right. I have long thought that the effort to qualify as a Solicitor is not justified by the rewards.

I owned a legal recruitment firm in Cambridge so perhaps our paths have crossed at some time?

[anonymous-user]

Also, look at the Roll on Friday website. The life of the trainee or junior solicitor in the large commercial firm is one of well paid extreme drudgery and often mind numbing tedium. Even when Friday comes, it makes no odds, as they have to work all weekend anyway.

I have fun, but I am self employed, bone idle, and in a fancy-ass chambers where we get interesting work. I'm lucky.

[10 Pence Short]

The thought crosses my mind, but then an area I'd be interested in would be criminal defence work. So it then uncrosses my mind!

[theguvernor]

Watching this thread with interest, i am of a similar sort of age to the OP.
With also a young son & it is something i have considered (although i'd be looking at family law).
I didn't do too well at school as i didn't apply myself, althogh i was always told i had potential for great things.
I suppose it was only the last 3-4 years i realised that myself.
I don't have a degree, however i've been in full time work since leaving school, so i'd imagine it's something that's practically impossible for me to get into which is a shame.

[anonymous-user]

Not impossible, but difficult, especially when you have a family to support. The two colleagues I mentioned above did not have children when they made their leaps, and one of them had a husband earning good money who backed the plan.

My wife, who has a swanky English degree and had a career in television until recently, almost took the conversion course a year or so ago, but we decided that the costs were too high and the risks too great. Her age was also a factor, as despite anti discrimination legislation, age can be an obstacle. Note, however, that the GLS and other public sector employers are more receptive to older candidates than private sector outfits tend to be.

[StoatInACoat]

I had the same lightbulb moment last year at 26 and am in my first year of a CILEX law course.

I understand the options are more limited for a legal exec upon qualifying but I have one afternoon of college a week for 6 hours and then loads of homework. It isn't a chore as I want to do it, find it interesting, it breaks the monotony of doing the same st at work all day and I can keep my job/wage while I study which was crucial.

I am not sure how well regarded this option is in the legal world but my other half suggested it after working in a big London Law firm as a PA for years. With no degree (maybe a stupid decision, not sure yet!) my options were limited anyway.

Details here:

http://www.cilex.org.uk/

[Shwar25]

theguvernor said:

Watching this thread with interest, i am of a similar sort of age to the OP.
With also a young son & it is something i have considered (although i'd be looking at family law).
I didn't do too well at school as i didn't apply myself, althogh i was always told i had potential for great things.
I suppose it was only the last 3-4 years i realised that myself.
I don't have a degree, however i've been in full time work since leaving school, so i'd imagine it's something that's practically impossible for me to get into which is a shame.

This s quite similar to myself actually, I had offers for several colleges to do what I wanted at that point so let myself go at School, I completed 2 and half years of a Modern Apprenticeship programme too, not sure if this goes towards any credits?

Thanks for all the advice so far, I think it is something I will need to seriously think about over the coming weeks.