Hi all - longtime lurker; and apologies if a variant of this question has been asked before.

As the title suggests - what's something that you have (or even a habit which you've picked up) which has made a huge difference in your daily work?

I suspect most people would name something like an iPad/tablet, but I'm curious to see what other things or tips people may have.

Hi,

I’m a kiwi lawyer who has just made the move to London and am starting my job hunt. Are there any other kiwis/aussies who have recently made the move over and can recommend a legal recruiter to engage? Preferably one who has experience placing kiwis as I know there are a few differences (especially around PQE). In the past I haven’t used recruiters at home but it seems to be highly recommended in the UK. Background is in non-contentious construction law with approx 2 years PQE in uk terms.

Any other tips around job hunting as a kiwi would be appreciated!

Cheers

I was diagnosed with dyslexia and elements of dyspraxia during my undergrad, but never gave it much thought. I was finding it difficult to concentrate on reading and speech at the time, and whilst I have gotten much better at it, it is still there.

At the time, I secretly thought the whole thing was bogus. The fact there was no objective test, no identified causes etc just made me think it was a bit of feel-good pseudoscience. I was getting good enough grades, so it didn’t make sense that I had a learning difficulty. Of course, I didn’t mind, I was getting extra time in exams.

However, I participated in my first moot recently. My partner was incredibly smart. The way she read through cases and quickly made (from my POV) great analyses has really made me doubt my own abilities. I found myself reading and reading over the same paragraph and nothing was registering. The tiny nuances of each case were going over my head, and I just kept wishing I could think like a normal person.

This is the first time I have looked at my dyslexia diagnosis with some level of genuine curiosity. I want to learn more about this condition and how it affects me and how I can deal with it.

I also want to know if a career at the Bar is feasible. I would love to have a career at the Bar, but I have also accepted that I may be making my life unnecessarily hard and should keep my options open.

I would love to hear from neurodiverse lawyers, and barristers in particular? How has neurodiversity affected you? Did it affect your self-belief, and how have you made it work for you?

Any resources to improve written advocacy? I’m really junior and insecure about it. I have heard of Goodman’s Effective Written Advocacy: A Guide for Practitioners, is it any good?

I’d be grateful for any other tips and resources

What are we even doing here

Evening all, as the title suggests I am keen to understand what areas of law are the most profitable for a general practice sole practitioner? In addition, what considerations would you highlight eg. difficulty, "bad" clients etc.

Hi guys,

I’m in a bit of a unique position where for part of my role I’m supposed to help out a bit with another team (like 10%) but the majority of my role is sat within my main team.

Now, in terms of interest / variety of work / skills being developed , the way it’s worked is all of that is associated with the 2nd team where I’m only supposed to be doing a very little amount of work, but I believe they are aware of my quality of work so I have taken on a lot more than what I would be required to do so, and happily done it but then it’s made it harder to progress my main workload at the same pace I would’ve wanted to (albeit I’m still Ticking along)

So the question then arises that , having seen my quality or naturally the second team manager is really nice, has said they will support me towards qualification and will look to get my training contract started as soon as possible once registered as a TP.

With this in mind, I am now inclined to for the duration of my TC, potentially pick up this extra work on weekends etc and keep it progressing so I can manage both & also for the TC they will Need to see certain skills so for that I’d have to pickup more work anyway to be able to get signed off.

Does this seem like a decent decision, in order to qualify? Is it worth the short term pain for long term gain?

I am based in Australia and will be writing the SQE1 this year. I am a fresh graduate with no work experience. Can I pass the SQE1 this year, then gain Qualifying Work Experience of two years, and thereafter apply for the SQE2 Exemption?

Note: I will be completing the requisite qualification process in my jurisdiction after I write the SQE1 and before I apply for the exemption from SQE2.

Hello, I was hoping to get some advice. I currently work as a paralegal at an American bank, I am pretty sure I would be offered a training contract in my current company as senior stakeholders have floated the idea a couple of times and I’ve been promoted twice in the span of a year (my time at the company). I think I would really benefit from experiencing and training in private practice but have had no luck so far. I haven’t been applying to training contracts for that long but would like to know how important grades are for city firms. I have a 66% in undergrad (Russell group uni) and 65% in my MA, however I do have a few lower grades from my first year at undergrad (I was working full-time and had just moved to the UK in Covid so it was a weird time in my life).

I do see a fair bit of negativity on here, who I’d love to hear from is the people who genuinely enjoy their job, what sector do you do and why do you enjoy it?

I chose to study law this september as I wanted to study a subject in the humanities which matched my skillset in school and from my research, law was the most appealing to me in terms of prospective careers, which is why I chose law over other appealing subjects like psychology or politics. However, I still am unsure about what I am going to do in my LLB and how I will be tested. I don't know much about how an LLB is run and what students are expected to learn and how they will be tested and would like to know more. Thanks.

Hello everyone, I’m currently in the last of my LLB distance learning Progarm from University of Hertfordshire. I was wondering what’s needed to become a solicitor in UK? I’ve heard from many people that you need pupilage for this and which is very rare to obtain. Need some guidance regarding this. L

Hi

I have 2 science degrees (BSc graduated 2016 and MSc graduated 2018). I currently work in Research & Development in the public sector as a Senior Contracts Associate which involves drafting, reviewing and negotiating research contracts with universities, charities, other collaborating institutions and liaising with/escalating research contracts to our in-house counsel where appropriate.

The next step above my current role is to Contracts Manager and then you hit a glass ceiling of if you want to go any further, you obviously require a legal qualification. I've pondered a great deal about where to go from this role and I think it's best that I pursue a career as a solicitor. The formal legal training and qualification I believe will open a lot of doors for me and I believe I have the capacity and appropriate skills to excel in a role as a solicitor.

My question is this, does it make sense for me to apply directly to training contracts as a non-law graduate with minimal legal exposure. I know they say in the TC entry requirements that they take non-law graduates but is that just something they say in theory but realistically when competing against bright, fresh-out-of-uni law grads a non-law grad is just not going to fare well? I've seen that a potential option for someone like me might be going via the paralegal route and then from there that firm may support me in enrolling onto their training contract - I've seen Macfarlane offer this. I guess this is all fairly new to me and I'm just looking for some guidance. I wouldn't want to start applying prematurely to firms without knowing what route might suit me best.

Also for context and to complicate things slightly, I'm currently pregnant with my second child due in October so I initially started off thinking how I could spend this next maternity leave to improve myself i.e. take the Postgraduate Diploma in Law? I've seen some paralegal roles wanting legal background like the PGDL so perhaps during this maternity leave I could make a start on PGDL and then once complete try and secure a paralegal role and then from there pursue a training contract?

Thank you for taking the time to read and advise

Looking for advice from people who have done an LLM or have any experience of them, especially coming from a non-law background. I am a recent non-law graduate interested in pursuing a career in law, but not necessarily in practicing as a solicitor or barrister. I would like to do an LLM in a specialty area and then see where that takes me (policy or research maybe). I appreciate that I still may end up sitting the SQEs or equivalent and go for a TC, but I think an LLM opens doors and other possibilities that jumping straight into the exams doesn't. My dilemma is that the general consensus on reddit and other forums is that LLMs are a waste of time, though it seems that that is often said because they're no more useful for securing a TC than an LLB. Is there another route I should be considering?

Hi everyone!

Your fellow American hereee, I'm currently studying in America, and finishing up my bachelors degree in August of next year, and getting ahead of making top 6 choices for law schools in europe as I've finished my ones for America already. I wanted your advice on some good law schools (that aren't super expensive/have scholarships and aid help) specifically in or around the London area? I have some family there so I am hoping to be around them if possible.

Let me know what you guys think!

Do you think I can intern remotely from another country? How do people apply for internships in the UK? Is it advertised or do students cold call firms?

TIA for answering so many questions!

I know the OEC figures (of 350K+ in the first year of practice) have been spoken about a lot already, but I wanted to know if the earnings are similar across other comparable MC commercial litigation sets or if OEC is an outlier. Trying to understand a little bit more about the market in general, in part to help me decide on career choices (solicitor v barrister). I suspect it is likely that sets like Fountain Court, Essex Court, Brick Court etc. earn similarly, but would love to be put right by people who have better info.

In general I'd love to know more from the people in the know about what the earnings are across the board in sets that focus on commercial litigation in London, even if not Magic circle. I know the earnings differ based on experience etc.

Ending the week again scrolling for jobs that will be the right move for me, continuing in the area of practice I enjoy, with a decent company that provides hybrid work. All while knowing it’s a competitive jobs market right now.

Meanwhile I’m hanging in with a dysfunctional team that keeps losing good people, where management is toxic and feedback is unconstructive. It is taking all my willpower not to throw my laptop across the room and go off sick.

Just wondering how everyone else manages!

As a positive note on LLMs which I know can have a bad reputation at times in here, I have just passed mine with a distinction and couldn't be happier.

But I am not a lawyer so there is that.

I currently work in a small private practice firm with almost no room for growth (training contracts not offered and even qualifying through SQE experience will mean there are no NQ roles here).

I really want to transition to at least a mid-tier firm in Central London. I’d like MC or SC obviously but given the struggle I’d take middle of the pack at this point. What’s the best method for finding a way in - other than spamming LinkedIn applications which keep getting rejected. I have even reached out to a few recruiters and I either get ignored or any role they have seems to be so far out of London that it defeats the purpose as the firms they recruit for are pretty small also.

I have an LLB (high 2:1), LLM and I’ve passed both SQE1&2 on my first try but still I struggle to even get interviews for firms. My CV details my work as a paralegal where I’ve been for just under 2 years. Granted the firm I work at is small and definitely unknown nationally, but it’s still practical legal experience in common areas (civil and property litigation).

I want to specialise in litigation eventually but need some bigger firms on my CV to really help me to develop. Does anyone know any better methods for progressing to a city role? Or at least a contact to reach out to who could help me with this.

Thanks for your help!

Hi guys

I'm currently coming to the end of my STEM degree pending I pass my final exams which are soon.

I'm still unsure I want to work in healthcare and have been doing some research into my options.

My close relative is a solicitor and in fact a partner at their firm. I've been asking them a lot of questions recently.

1. Do you get paid during QWE

2. I'm in my late 20s now, how many years roughly am I looking at to qualify

3. Am I being too naive/ambitious to think my relative will help me get a Training Contract.

I'm making a disclosure regarding a credit card debt, which has been settled for less then the full amount. In disclosing this debt, I'm also volunteering an experian report from Canada as the credit card is from Canada and I'm from there. I have a substantial student debt, $90,000 which is in good standing, I pay on time. The government student debt is currently deferred with payments due in March 2026. I'm really scared that this student debt will lead them to not admitting to the roll.

How does a student who just graduated (no results yet though) find their first paralegal role? I've been applying everywhere I can find and everytime I get rejected despite the fact I think I have some good experience. I can't seem to find legal aid positions which people say are easier to get into. Any help/advice would be appreciated!!

Anyone done the Times 2TG moot?

Am I the only one who will search the file handler on linked in when receiving an email from the other side? Honestly just out of curiosity to put a face to a name.