Solicitor…

I can, after almost six years of longing for that finish line, finally call myself ‘Solicitor’.

Almost.

For some reason, the SRA have a system in place whereby you can only join the roll of solicitors on two specific dates in each calendar month; one at the beginning, and one in the middle. Something to do with ‘streamlining the process’…

So, that’s all well and good if your training finishes in accordance with one of those dates, and granted, many of those in the larger firms will be qualifying in such a way that on Friday they’ll be a Trainee, and on Monday they’ll be a Solicitor. But how about those of us who didn’t have such a structured training contract, and were asked to start ‘as soon after your LPC as possible’?

Well basically, it’s a bit of a legal no man’s land.

It’s not just the admission dates that cause the problem either…it’s the deadlines for being admitted on those dates.

We’re all well aware of the current job market. It’s atrocious. I remember two years ago when it was all going downhill, thinking to myself and discussing with others that by the time qualification came around, ‘everything would be fine.’ As trainees and soon-to-be NQs continue to battle against unprecedented events in the sector, it is obvious that I was being far too optimistic.

So as I approached qualification, with approximately six weeks left before the magical date, the prospect of unemployment became more of a reality with each day. My friends in the larger firms had known for weeks, if not months, that they had a job secured at the end of their training, yet my firm, although a medium-sized commercial firm in one of the North’s biggest legal centres, was extremely quiet on the job front.

It wasn’t like I wasn’t trying either; I was well prepared. I had signed up with three different recruitment agencies, letting them know that I was open to working in two disciplines in at least three different locations. I think in total only five positions were mentioned to me between these three agencies. Daily trawls of the legal recruitment websites in general didn’t provide much more hope either.

Luckily for me, with about four weeks to go I was offered a position at my firm. The early training contract start did, however, come back to haunt me, as the department’s budget would only allow me to start as an NQ from September. They were prepared to keep me in another department for an extra month, but the principle, the goal, the deadline of being able to qualify after two years just wasn’t going to happen as I’d imagined.

In the meantime, I had applied directly to two other firms, one of which called me in for an interview just a week after being offered a position at my own firm. 36 hours and two interviews with three different partners later, I had another job offer. Amazingly, my position had changed from having four weeks of training left and no job offers to having two weeks left and needing to decide between two firms. In the end, I decided to take the leap and join the latter, which is regarded as one of the best firms in the region.

So I start my new role on the mid-August admission date, but still won’t be a ‘solicitor’ until 1 September 2010. Due to the late point at which my offers came through, I was unable to meet the roll application deadline for mid-August. As a result, for 12 working days I’ll have to call myself something along the lines of ‘legal advisor’. I know I’m one of the extremely fortunate ones and therefore, am happy to wait.

For those reading who have just started their training, hopefully my optimism of everything being fine by the time I qualified will ring true for you. For those who are yet to secure an NQ position, September is still several weeks away and my experience proves that all hope is not lost even when qualification is a matter of days away. The majority of trainees that I know have secured positions at either their own firm, another firm, or in recruitment, with only a handful left to fend for themselves. Even if you do have to wait, the good news is that firms are hiring externally, and there are positions out there.

For me, I guess the real work starts in a few days time, as if it doesn’t feel like I’ve worked hard enough already to get to this point. Oh well, just the 40 years to go…

Hi!
Despite being a humble new-user, please allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your recent success.
It must be an incredible feeling to have finally achieved what you set out to do over 6 years ago. Well done to you Sir!

As an aspiring lawyer, due to start my LLB in the next 2 weeks, you are truly an inspiration that with hard work & determination you CAN make it in the end. Hopefully, by the time I have qualified, the economy & jobs market will have fully-recovered.

I would also like to thank you for creating such a superb website for aspiring lawyers. It has already proven to be an invaluable sounding board for helpful advice & information. I will be returning on a regular basis & will certainly recommend it to the law students at my University.

I wish you all the best for a successful career as a solicitor.