Question for Newly Qualified Solicitors

Amazotheamazing

Just wondering, seeing as there's over 750 solicitors on the dole as of last December, what is the prevailing employment situation.

The options are clear enough, imo.

dazza21ie

Scary times for us all. I count myself lucky to be still getting a wage. I know quite a few who have been let go as soon as they have qualified and some who have a few years PQE and are now unemployed. The scary thing for a lot of them (and probably myself in the near future) is what can they do now?

Amazotheamazing

dazza21ie wrote: »

Scary times for us all. I count myself lucky to be still getting a wage. I know quite a few who have been let go as soon as they have qualified and some who have a few years PQE and are now unemployed. The scary thing for a lot of them (and probably myself in the near future) is what can they do now?

I would say the majority of the newly qualifieds I know have been let go, from the big 5 right down to the sole practitioners so you're in a bad spot. Some are taking the long term view and doing the New York Bar exam, some are going to head travelling, very few are hanging much hope on staying in Ireland in the short term anyhow.

dazza21ie

Unfortunately not everyone is in a position or would want to pack up and head anyway. I guess for those who stay put it is a matter of making the best out of a bad situation and trying to survive.

Wink

I'm going to qualify in December, and, to be honest, I'm terrified. I know I'm not going to have a job so I have to start thinking about plan b,c,d etc...

So what are the options for someone in my position. Basically, I think we have to be as marketable as possible, but also while keeping an eye on the future, when (hopefully!) there'll be an upturn.

These are the ideas I've come up with so far:

1. Travelling for 6 months or so (hoping to ride out the worst of it)

2. New York Bar

3. Applying for a stage in the EU

4. Trade mark exams? think I'm too late for this year, but maybe next year.

5. Internships in NGO? UN? Don't think as an Irish person, you can get an internship in the UN at the moment.

6. Finding out how to qualify in UK/Canada/Australia/New Zealand - should the law society be able to help here?

7. Trying to get a teaching job (tutoring/lecturing) here or elsewhere - and getting some experience, keeping up with research, writing some articles with this in mind.

Are there any more options? Maybe we can give each other some help and ideas, we're all in it together!

Wink

8. tax exams (defo not for me!)

firstapache

I'm on the YDS committee (Young Dublin Solicitors, the "youth" wing of the DSBA). We’ve put together a survey designed to get a feel for how the current downturn is affecting trainees, newly qualifieds, and those with less then 5 years PQE. http://www.dsba.ie/news_and_events/the_dsba_launches_yds.542.1544.news.html We’re also going to be holding a free seminar at the end of March (date tbc) dealing with the following subjects;1. How to deal with redundancy and how to negotiate a better package with your firm. 2. Legal options abroad, qualifications needed, and how to obtain them. 3. Other career options at home that a solicitor’s skills would be particularly suitable for. 4. A more general section on life coaching and “where to go from here”. The survey would be of great benefit to the speakers at the seminar so we’re trying to get as many people as possible to fill it out. It is completely confidential – either print it off the website and post it into the DSBA, or there is a dedicated email address that you can email it from.
EDIT: Don't know why that comes out without paragraphs!

Amazotheamazing

firstapache wrote: »

I'm on the YDS committee (Young Dublin Solicitors, the "youth" wing of the DSBA). We’ve put together a survey designed to get a feel for how the current downturn is affecting trainees, newly qualifieds, and those with less then 5 years PQE. http://www.dsba.ie/news_and_events/the_dsba_launches_yds.542.1544.news.html We’re also going to be holding a free seminar at the end of March (date tbc) dealing with the following subjects;1. How to deal with redundancy and how to negotiate a better package with your firm. 2. Legal options abroad, qualifications needed, and how to obtain them. 3. Other career options at home that a solicitor’s skills would be particularly suitable for. 4. A more general section on life coaching and “where to go from here”. The survey would be of great benefit to the speakers at the seminar so we’re trying to get as many people as possible to fill it out. It is completely confidential – either print it off the website and post it into the DSBA, or there is a dedicated email address that you can email it from.
EDIT: Don't know why that comes out without paragraphs!

Badly needed. Will you be making the results public?

firstapache

As far as I know the results will posted on the website but its really up to the DSBA committee to make the final call on that.

Wink

Firstapache, that's really excellent and so badly needed. I'm just wondering willl I be able to go to the seminar? I'm not a member of the DSBA, and I'm not working in Dublin.

I'm having problems opening and editing the doc though? it seems to only open as an adobe acrobat document and not as word? and I can't edit the adobe doc, or save it as a word doc. That might have something to do with me being an eejit rather than the form.

I'll print it out and send it up in the dx anyway.

firstapache

Wink, there's no problem attending the seminar even if you aren't a DSBA member, or working in Dublin. Our position was that this seminar should be open to everyone who may need it.Yeah, I don't know why you can't download it as a word document. I'll email the boss and see what she says.

Amazotheamazing

firstapache wrote: »

Wink, there's no problem attending the seminar even if you aren't a DSBA member, or working in Dublin. Our position was that this seminar should be open to everyone who may need it.Yeah, I don't know why you can't download it as a word document. I'll email the boss and see what she says.

What's the general perception of the state of affairs in Dublin? I have a few friends who qualified last year still looking for work.

firstapache

Well I've one friend who's qualifying in April and is desperately looking for something but no luck so far.I myself am in the odd situation of having been made redundant, and then rehired on "fixed purpose" contract so that they could second me out to a public service body for a year. It worked out okay, in that i got a redundancy payout, but it's a little uncertain as the secondment is only a year's contract. A good few others who had a few years PQE were laid off too. There's another girl in here who is filling a maternity leave position, was in my year in Blackhall Place, and was laid off from a Big Five firm. To be honest, it's difficult to get hard facts, you know the Dublin legal market, it's all rumour. That's why the survey will be good.

Amazotheamazing

firstapache wrote: »

Well I've one friend who's qualifying in April and is desperately looking for something but no luck so far.I myself am in the odd situation of having been made redundant, and then rehired on "fixed purpose" contract so that they could second me out to a public service body for a year. It worked out okay, in that i got a redundancy payout, but it's a little uncertain as the secondment is only a year's contract. A good few others who had a few years PQE were laid off too. There's another girl in here who is filling a maternity leave position, was in my year in Blackhall Place, and was laid off from a Big Five firm. To be honest, it's difficult to get hard facts, you know the Dublin legal market, it's all rumour. That's why the survey will be good.

Yeah, hopefully you'll get an accurate response to the survey.

So many rumours, so few figures except to say that as of last December there was 749 solicitors signing on.

thisisit

The Law Society in UCD will be hosting an Alternative Careers Evening in Theatre 1 in Roebuck this Wednesday 25th at 7pm.
The event will seek to inform law students of the alternatives to the traditional legal career routes and to help them think about their careers in different ways.
There will be a number of speakers who have pursued unique careers, which were built upon their law degrees, eg. legal journalism, tax consultancy, business, human rights, ADR etc
This promises to be a very interesting event in light of the current competitive situation in the market and all UCD students are welcome.