Legal career - how to go about it?

emmadoc1

Hi I'm not sure if this could go here I've just started researching into a legal career and it has me all confused as where to go or what route.

I have an honours degree in social care. After 4 years in college I didn't know what route I wanted to take so I've taken a couple year working and now I have figured out that I would love a career as a child and family law solicitor.

I suppose my question is how do I go about this? Iv read about these conversation courses and then other courses say people who have a degree in the revelant area don't need too.

Can anyone help me with the next steps? Can I go from my degree to a family and child law solicitor or do I have to do the conversion course then go on and sit the FE1s and then start the long process of qualifying. Or can I just do a postgrads in LLM family and child law like the course in UCC?

Or do I have to get a diploma in law sit the fe1s and then do the further 2 years?

Any help is so graciously appreciated I have no idea where to begin with this as ye can probably tell

Yoop

emmadoc1 wrote: »

Hi I'm not sure if this could go here I've just started researching into a legal career and it has me all confused as where to go or what route.

I have an honours degree in social care. After 4 years in college I didn't know what route I wanted to take so I've taken a couple year working and now I have figured out that I would love a career as a child and family law solicitor.

I suppose my question is how do I go about this? Iv read about these conversation courses and then other courses say people who have a degree in the revelant area don't need too.

Can anyone help me with the next steps? Can I go from my degree to a family and child law solicitor or do I have to do the conversion course then go on and sit the FE1s and then start the long process of qualifying. Or can I just do a postgrads in LLM family and child law like the course in UCC?

Or do I have to get a diploma in law sit the fe1s and then do the further 2 years?

Any help is so graciously appreciated I have no idea where to begin with this as ye can probably tell

Once you have any degree (it doesn't have to be a law degree) you can apply to sit the FE1s. If you haven't done law before I would recommend doing a prep course which will guide you through the subjects examined and show you how to answer the questions.

You don't need any special postgraduate degree or training to become a family law solicitor; family law is taught as a module in Blackhall and you can try to find a training contract with a firm that practices in that area.

I recommend checking out the Law Society website for more information.

The LLM in UCC may be of benefit if it is something you're interested in pursuing but it is not a pre-requisite.

emmadoc1

Yoop wrote: »

Once you have any degree (it doesn't have to be a law degree) you can apply to sit the FE1s. If you haven't done law before I would recommend doing a prep course which will guide you through the subjects examined and show you how to answer the questions.

You don't need any special postgraduate degree or training to become a family law solicitor; family law is taught as a module in Blackhall and you can try to find a training contract with a firm that practices in that area.

I recommend checking out the Law Society website for more information.

The LLM in UCC may be of benefit if it is something you're interested in pursuing but it is not a pre-requisite.

Thanks so much for your help. Do you have any recommendations on what pre courses to do or where I'd find those?

Just so I understand once I sit and pass the FE1, I have to find a family law practice to work with and then sit one module in blackhall?

It just sounds so simple I'm afraid I'm missing something?

Yoop

emmadoc1 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your help. Do you have any recommendations on what pre courses to do or where I'd find those?

Just so I understand once I sit and pass the FE1, I have to find a family law practice to work with and then sit one module in blackhall?

It just sounds so simple I'm afraid I'm missing something?

I did a law degree so I haven't done a prep course but you can find a list of them here; https://www.lawsociety.ie/Documents/education/FE-1/FE-1GrindsList.pdf. I think most people do the one in Griffith College, City Colleges or Independent College.

Once you have passed the FE-1s (or while you're studying for them) I would recommend trying to get work experience in a firm practicing family law. This will give you a better chance of getting a training contract in this area. Once you have a training contract you go to Blackhall for seven months where you cover a range of compulsory modules. Then you work in your office for 11 months. You go back to Blackhall for about 11 weeks for more studying; this is when you can pick your electives, including family law. You then spend about another year working with your training solicitor before you qualify.

You can find more information on the 'Become a Solicitor' section of the Law Society's website.