Legal Career in the UK

GummyBears

HI,

I was just wondering if there's anybody who has gone to the UK to become a solicitor or whether anyone knows the in's and out's of embarking on a legal career in the UK. Are the chances of getting a training contract over there as poor as they are here??

I'm a final year law student I know that it is necessary to complete the LPC before commencing a trainee position with an english firm. I'm obviously looking for 2012.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!:):)

xp0

The world will end in 2012 so does it matter that much?

evercloserunion

Hi Gummy, I'm a penultimate year law student thinking along the same lines. Obviously there's more competition to get into the big law firms over there but there are also more places going so I'm not sure if it would be easier or harder to get anything with them (hoping against hope that it's easier but unlikely). As of yet I'm really applying more for vac schemes than training contracts.

Have you studied English land law? AFAIK that's the most important thing for when you go over there to do the LPC, because that's where the legals systems differ the most (in other areas, if you've studied the Irish law they just consider you to have studied the English law).

Sorry if you knew all of that already!

GummyBears

Thanks a million Evercloser:).. the big corporate ones are probably just as difficult as the big 5 are here. I'll be trying big and small!! Yeah I've done english land and it's also necessary to do administrative law II aswell so make sure and cover it!!

If anyone else knows how difficult it is to get a foothold in the english firms..do let me know!! Thanks!!:)

mut

I heard the Law Soc over there were actually running ads telling people not to do law (it was in the papers sometime last year). Your best bet is to check out their Law Society.

paulanthony

You're right about Admin Law and English Land Law. If you have them you are treated like a graduate from an English University and can proceed straight on to the LPC without having to do the GDL (or a few modules of it at least).

It's impossible to say whether it's more difficult to get a TC, but the Irish degrees seem to be well respected and in some ways its easier to stand out in an interview in London as opposed to Dublin where you are more likely to be similar to other interviewees.

I suppose if you apply you will have some chance anyway and having done the aforementioned modules shows you are serious about it.

The application forms are very important so be prepared to invest a lot of time and energy into them. You should use up the word allowance to a reasonable extent and you are probably better off doing ten really well than twenty average ones. Also try to personalise them, they will see through it if you copy paste the same answers into all of them and just change the name of the firm.

If you get interviews they will generally pay for you to fly over etc so it won't cost you anything. It's been a couple of years since I dealt with them so I'd say things have changed a bit since then and things have probably tightened up I'm sure but there are always opportunities if you are willing to pursue them and it's no harm giving it a go anyway.

P

dudelaw

I am studying in the UK at the moment, having completed all 8 FE1s last year. I have a degree and masters in law but was concerned by the number of newly qualified solicitors being let go in Ireland so I decided to come to London.

Even if you have a law degree in Ireland you will be required to study at least 2 GDL subjects before you can begin your LPC course. The GDL is taken by all students who wish to pursue a career in law but do not hold a law degree.
I was exempt form 6 of the 8 GDL (Graduate Diploma in Law) subjects but have to study Public Law and Land Law this year. You must attend college to take these and courses begin in September. They cost from £800 to £1300 per subject.

The LPC is broadly equivalent to our PPC1 course and can be studied full time (1 year) or part time (2 years). Course fees range from £11,100 to £13,500, and interest free student loans are usually available for these.

While there is plenty of work in London, there are also many many talented people jobhunting. The difficulty with here is that tons of people invest a huge amount of time and money into taking the LPC course and then fail to find a training contract at the end of it all.

Thr general practice over here is to take the LPC and then work as a paralegal for a few years before securing a training contract. That is what I am doing and most firms expect trainee applicants to have professional experience befoe beginning their contracts. I would recommend that you take the LPC part time as you will be able to work and study at the same time, thus rendering you more appealing to firms whan applying for a traineeship. In addition, many firms offer first choice of traineeships to their paralegals- this is exactly what has happened with me and your traineeship is reduced by one year if you have a year's expeience as a paralegal/similar.

All colleges have pro bono schemes and I would recommend that you sign up for at least one as this will further increase your chances of securing a contract.

Most importantly, while it is tough finding training contract here it seems that once qualified, there are far more job opportunities and the prospect of being kept on at your firm is high. All the trainees in my firm have been kept on this year.

I hope this is helpful - the above advice relates to London only - from what I hear it is very difficult to find traineeships and legal work in general in other parts of the UK.

Jdlad

The career path to work as a solicitor is somewhat different in London than it is here in Ireland.

Firstly the general trend there is that firms recruit graduates 2 years in advance of their start date. For example I got my traineeship in the summer of 2007 when I was in my second year of university. I like the majority of other candidates got my offer having completed a vacation scheme at the firm in question. Internships are therfore highly advised.

A year after you get your offer and post graduation you will start the LPC. Almost all London firms will pay the associated fees and will provide all their students with a maintenance grant of about £7k to help with living costs in London.

I also recommend that you check your degree with the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority- they will quickly inform you whether your degree is qualifying and if not will recommend what other modules you will need to rectify this. My degree at an NUI was qualifying and I went straight onto the LPC ( I had however studied a module in UK land law during my bcl). I was therefore treated exactly the same as an English law student.

I start my training contract in a couple of weeks and from what I hear most large corporate firms are still continuing to recruit heavily at graduate level. However, competition at many of the top firms can be fierce. This has intensified further recently due to the students who were once considering investments banking now turning to corporate law as an alternative.

I agree however with the above poster regarding the application form. This should be excellently composed and presented with plenty of firm specific knowledge being subtly included. You really have to make your application stand out from the thousands of others. And the city is rife with tales of HR teams binning hundreds of applications due primarily to simple typos. That said, it is generally said that getting to interview is the hardest part. And as stated above Irish Universities are generally well respected in London especially amongst the leading firms.

The path maybe a little long- but on the plus side you get to work with some of the worlds leading lawyers; many trainees get to spend a 6 month stint abroad and the money isn't bad either. Oh and not having to do the FE1's is always a bonus

Websites such as Rollonfriday.com, and the Lex100.com are a good source of information on City firms

Good Luck:)

dats_right

Very good (and realistic) summary of entering the profession in the UK provided by the Junior Lawyer Division of Law Society

GummyBears

Thanks a million for all your help and advice..appreciate it!