Im a Barrister and this is not a great job

yellowhouse

Hi All,

I am writing this post with a view to hear from others in my profession under the cover of anonymity and to garner opinions from other members of the bar.


I am a qualified barrister who has worked very hard with exams, spent a fortune on my education and spent the last three years trying my best to get ahead.

I cannot see how people at the bar are making money and if they are how they live like this?
There is no job security, very little work and no other avenues available to counsel without staying at the bar for over seven years!

I am fully aware that this environment and reality was apparent to me when I undertook this career but to say that life at the bar is depressing is a significant understatement.
I have been doing motions, had a few briefs and made good contacts with solicitors but I cannot seem to get ahead. My law friends in firms both large and small are earning good money, they have some semblance of job security and they are not constantly worried about where the next bit of work is coming from!

Can any of my colleagues, former or still there give me some wise advice? Do I leave? Where would I be able to go ? Is it a failure to admit defeat for the sake of a salary and security?

Help?

davo10

yellowhouse wrote: »

Hi All,

I am writing this post with a view to hear from others in my profession under the cover of anonymity and to garner opinions from other members of the bar.


I am a qualified barrister who has worked very hard with exams, spent a fortune on my education and spent the last three years trying my best to get ahead.

I cannot see how people at the bar are making money and if they are how they live like this?
There is no job security, very little work and no other avenues available to counsel without staying at the bar for over seven years!

I am fully aware that this environment and reality was apparent to me when I undertook this career but to say that life at the bar is depressing is a significant understatement.
I have been doing motions, had a few briefs and made good contacts with solicitors but I cannot seem to get ahead. My law friends in firms both large and small are earning good money, they have some semblance of job security and they are not constantly worried about where the next bit of work is coming from!

Can any of my colleagues, former or still there give me some wise advice? Do I leave? Where would I be able to go ? Is it a failure to admit defeat for the sake of a salary and security?

Help?

Have you considered posting in Legal Discussion forum?

DEFTLEFTHAND

I studied for an LLB and I remember a lecturer telling us how difficult the first few years of Barrister are. Tough to build up contacts and a reputation and hard at times to even scratch a living out of it as a Junior Counsel. Whereas solicitors can start earning well straight out the doors of Blackhall.

If you stick with it though you will one day reap the benefits.

You have still got a legal education and thats valuable so maybe look for a job and park being a barrister.

amtc

I've briefed scs in the commercial court and honestly they all started out with one good suit. One of them even supplemented his earnings by doung security in Penneys.

What about applying for the job as court researcher on publicjobs.ie? It starts at 79k, applications close next week.

If you focus on being "just" a barrister then maybe you won't make it, probably due to personal requirements to pay bills, pay back loans etc.??

However, you have huge skills and vast knowledge. Ireland is approaching full employment. You will get a job easily enough

There's a myriad of careers waiting for you out there- compliance in financial institutions, mediator for HR/Company cases, business consultancy, legal training, lecturing - the list goes on.

I think you need to look beyond your current line of work and open your eyes to other things if it's not working out- but as others have said, it can be good if you can stick it out but obviously, that's time and money- you don't sound like you have either.

Ronaldinho

yellowhouse wrote: »

Hi All,

I am writing this post with a view to hear from others in my profession under the cover of anonymity and to garner opinions from other members of the bar.


I am a qualified barrister who has worked very hard with exams, spent a fortune on my education and spent the last three years trying my best to get ahead.

I cannot see how people at the bar are making money and if they are how they live like this?
There is no job security, very little work and no other avenues available to counsel without staying at the bar for over seven years!

I am fully aware that this environment and reality was apparent to me when I undertook this career but to say that life at the bar is depressing is a significant understatement.
I have been doing motions, had a few briefs and made good contacts with solicitors but I cannot seem to get ahead. My law friends in firms both large and small are earning good money, they have some semblance of job security and they are not constantly worried about where the next bit of work is coming from!

Can any of my colleagues, former or still there give me some wise advice? Do I leave? Where would I be able to go ? Is it a failure to admit defeat for the sake of a salary and security?

Help?

I don't know the first thing about your industry... but I would suggest that you seek out a mentor/sponsor. Boards can be good for getting advice but it just doesn't compare at all to having face-to-face discussion and advice from somebody you trust. If you don't have anyone in your 'network' that you think you could go to then maybe try the Law Society in your college or the alumni office to see if they can put you in touch with someone.

It sounds like you're not all-in on this as a career. From my experience, I would say that first you need to figure out whether the path you're on is for you and whether this career, if you are successful, will make you happy.

Then it's just a matter of coming up a plan as to how you're going to get where you want/need to be. That's the easy part. First though you need to figure out whether those goals are something you're willing to run through walls for.

Sherlof3

Not a barrister myself but four good friends of mine are and they have all left the bar for the Central Bank. Seem to be happy there.

Jawgap

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I studied for an LLB and I remember a lecturer telling us how difficult the first few years of Barrister are. Tough to build up contacts and a reputation and hard at times to even scratch a living out of it as a Junior Counsel. Whereas solicitors can start earning well straight out the doors of Blackhall.

If you stick with it though you will one day reap the benefits.

I was a late bloomer and was in my mid-20s when I did my LLB, then BVC (in the UK) and went through my pupilage. At every stage I was warned that I'd struggle because I was a mature student (and thus needed a certain level of income) and I'd struggle to build a network quick enough. I set out to prove the naysayers wrong.......and failed miserably!!

Depending on the OP's circumstances you may be able to tough it through and build the required network and reputation, but it can be difficult especially if don't have any family connections etc to exploit. I'd say work your connections from your class, attend Bar Council and other similar functions and network aggressively.

It's a very long time since I qualified and practised, and a bit shorter since I gave up practising......can't honestly say I regret any of it. As the door of practice closed other doors opened. Practice is not the only option. After I went non-practising, I went in-house counsel for a US firm (took the NY bar), did some arbitration work, then a legal support services firm......now in regulatory affairs consultancy.

Hippo

I came to the bar very, very late, and it's certainly a struggle. I'm never quite convinced by the family connections argument, I know plenty of successful colleagues who had absolutely no connections when they were called. Having said that, it would be very useful to have rich, supportive parents - there's a fair bit of that about.

It's always been difficult to make a go of it, and six or seven years is now reckoned to be the timeframe for getting established. That's a very long time to be broke! It has seemed to me recently that solicitors are doing increasing amounts of advocacy at District Court level, especially in legal aid matters and this also has an impact on Juniors.

If you're heart's not in it, or you're fed up with reheated baked beans then jump ship. You've received an excellent training and I'm sure you'd get another job without too much difficulty. It's not for everyone and if you're not all in there's little point in continuing. Good luck with your decision.

PBR

Not one myself but I've known a few over the years, none of them work as barristers anymore, all went down different career paths after getting sick of being expected to basically work for free.