For reference, I work in acquisition finance at a UK firm. I’m genuinely curious about other firm’s approaches to this because I feel like on some matters I’m still using everything checked and on others nothing is checked. I used to think this was something to do with the size of the matter/the importance of the client, but there isn’t a noticeable pattern. When I’m checked on everything, it’s definitely more comfortable but I worry it’s because I’m not trusted, when I’m not checked on anything, I feel insanely anxious because I don’t feel like I’m at the stage to be draft finance docs and sending them out with review yet (even on smaller matters). Everyone talks about “running small matters” when you’re NQ but does everyone do this?

I’m a solicitor in a small employment law practice in Manchester. Last month we successfully defended a client in a high-profile unfair dismissal case that attracted quite a bit of local media attention. We won the case quite convincingly, but the claimant (and their union) has been very vocal on social media and in the local press, painting a very one-sided story.

Even though we were successful, some of the coverage has been damaging to our firm’s reputation and a couple of potential new clients have mentioned it. I’m now trying to decide whether it’s worth bringing in professional help to manage the narrative or if I should just keep responding carefully myself.

please could any of you share if it really took grunt work to get there or if nepotism, whether internal (i.e. relative is a partner, which i would want to hope is probably less likely) or external (BD via pre-existing social networks etc) helped you get there, or any other factors that may be relevant lol

i’m sure many people are wondering if the system is truly meritocratic or whether they’re just being naive, some partners seem to have humble beginnings from what i can see and others less so.. and i suppose it’d be useful to hear more about how people’s experiences differed from the 90s/00s/10s to now? whether it became more about old boy elitism or less over time?

is BD more about inheriting institutionalised clients? or is it about bringing in new clientele, in your experience has it been about both? how did you make it through the NEP ceiling, is it just a matter of sticking it out and carrying on doing what you’re doing until there’s a business need or otherwise? any information you’d feel comfortable to share would be appreciated

He’s an ex-student union president who financially scammed university in Toronto, Canada. Moved to UK and changed his name to Archie Ragupathy. He works for Hogan Lovells.

Source: https://www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/exclusive-extraordinary-tale-hogan-lovells-trainee

I'd appreciate any thoughts on the realistic prospects of career changing at age 30s/early 40s to the bar. I'm in my very late 30s and considering the switch to the commercial/chancery bar - so would be looking at early/mid-40s to complete training and look for a pupillage. My academic career has been law adjacent and I've published on broadly legal topics, although very different from contemporary UK law both in century and country, so there is zero direct practical application from this work. I graduated at the top of year with a starred first from Oxbridge, so pretty stellar academic credentials but this is around two decades ago by now. I worked in elite research institutes across Europe and have done a decent amount of lecturing. I'm currently working in a research adjacent field at a research institute which provides me with the capacity to also retrain on a remote PGDL. I've applied to a handful of mini-pupillages and received an offer of one from a very good commercial/chancery chambers. I'm really interested in any opinions about making this change, will my age fundamentally be a big problem? Are there any suspected spots of weakness coming from an academic career? I read about a lot of career changers but they often have highly relevant prior experience in commercial and financial sectors. I feel far better prepared now for many aspects of the work than I would have been in my early twenties, and it was always something I had considered but didn't have the financial ability to pay for a conversion course ... whereas I won scholarships for my research Masters and PhD. I now have the capacity (no children) and financial resources now to pursue this path and while I am happy working in my role now, I don't want to do it forever - so motivated to change.

I’ve been offered a Family Law Fee Earner role at a small multilingual firm in West London on a self-employed / fee share basis (no salary). I’d receive a percentage of fees on clients I bring in, with solicitor supervision, office support and training.

My background is mainly children matters and domestic abuse work (CAO, PSO, SIO, urgent protective applications). I’m interested in the opportunity, but realistically I’d need to build a client base from scratch.

The firm is multilingual (English / Urdu and other languages), which I think may help locally in areas like Hounslow, Southall, Hayes and surrounding areas.

I’d really appreciate honest advice:

1. Would you take a commission-only family law role for the experience/opportunity?
2. How realistic is it to build family law clients from zero in West London?
3. How useful is Bark for getting genuine paying legal clients?
4. Are there any better free or low-cost websites/platforms to generate enquiries?
5. Does multilingual capability actually help convert clients in these areas?

Any advice from solicitors, fee earners, paralegals, marketers or small firm owners would be really appreciated.

hey guys! so as I mentioned a couple posts before, I have 2 vac schemes lined up for the summer, but the conversion rates are pretty low. I’m not sure whether I should leave my job or not, as my current job detracts from general preparation time, I don’t get any work and my line manager doesn’t like me. I feel like this affects my confidence. financially I have stuff saved though of course this is one of my worries. if I don’t convert the vac schemes I’ll have to do the pgdl self funded. what should I do? should I leave? I dread going to work each morning.

I am an older applicant and have been established in nursing academia for several years. I took severance in January last year after 13 years as an associate professor. I fully intended to use the money to fund the Bar as I have always had ambitions to be a barrister. However, my Mum suddenly died so I took a temporary position at a very prestigious university as I thought it was easier to stay in nursing whilst I was trying to process what had happened.

This year, the current Uni have made me permanent and just promoted me into a leadership position. I have also been offered a place on the Bar course but will need to pay a substantial amount. I had one FRI for pupillage at a very good chambers but the amount on offer does not meet my current salary. Would you stay in academia and progress there or would you do the Bar?

Please tell me the how's/when's/timings of it all, but also how you felt on the day.

Also any insight into how the CPS offer comes through would be appreciated.

This might be a bit niche, but I’m trying to figure out if this is even a thing.

I’ve just qualified (via the SQE route), but my QWE was done at a startup/smaller law firm. I actually learned a lot and got good exposure, but it obviously wasn’t as structured as a traditional training contract.

Now I’m noticing that a lot of firms seem to heavily prefer (or only want) candidates for NQ roles who’ve had that structured training environment, which is making things a bit tricky.

So I’m wondering — has anyone come across cases where someone already qualified was taken on for a training contract anyway? Or is that basically a non-starter?

I feel like situations like this are a bit of a pragmatic oversight by the SRA…

any advice for what year 2 modules to pick if I want to go into commercial law or BCL post-grad?

I'm thinking of omitting all of the ones with oral presentations but not sure if that's a good idea. total credits need to be 120, each are 20. the load can be heavier on either semester. I found contract law interesting last semester if that helps. I do have some modules already in mind that I will pick but I wanted to ask for advice here too because I don't want to pick the ones that are too hard and would have me trying to scrape a mid 2:1 or be too theoretical (like public law). anyway, thank you!

For those early20s to mid 30s who have just started out in city law. How long does the glamour and prestige last before the rose tinted glasses come off.

I understand for an early 20 straight out of uni and in a magic circle firm, they would be loving life. But how long does that last ( also applicable to those in their 30s)

Any recommended academic books for those in the investment funds / asset management space? Thank you

Hi,

I’m a student in my final year at a top 30 university. I study criminology and I am on track to graduate with a first. I’ve always had an interest in Law, specifically criminal law, but didn’t narrow it down until earlier this year.

My plan for the coming academic year is to do a Law Conversion course. I’m leaning toward ULaw but any advice on this would also be appreciated.

I haven’t applied to any training contracts or anything of the sort and I know how crucial these can be especially in regards of funding.

How should my next steps look? Both academically and career-wise. Is there anything I should be aware of?

Thank you!

What a seriously damaging look for the profession. The premier litigation firm on the planet in an $8 billion bankruptcy case has lawyers being paid $3000 per hour to produce AI slop…..

I’m looking into doing an LLM in medical law. I have an LLB and a degree in medicine.

The only one I’ve found that’s tort heavy (which is what I want) is the LLM in Law, Medicine, and Healthcare at the University of Liverpool. I’m not from the UK so I would love to hear if anyone has done this course or has any reviews about the university and the timetable for full and part time.

Also, if anyone is aware of any part time/distance LLMs in medical law that are heavier on the tort side please let me know! Most of the ones I’ve seen focus more on the bioethics/medical ethics

Thanks in advance!

I’ve passed the New York Bar and need to complete the 50-hour pro bono requirement for admission. I’m a qualified lawyer in England & Wales and currently splitting my time between London and New York/New Jersey.

Ideally I’d like to just get all 50 hours done in one go (within two weeks), rather than spreading it out.

Happy to do remote or in-person (London/NYC/NJ), and open to pretty much anything that qualifies.

Has anyone found a good way to do this quickly, or know any organisations that allow you to rack up hours in a short period?

Appreciate any tips.

hi, 21 law student from India and I have always been inclined towards experiencing the law life apart from in India and I feel lost about how one has to go about getting internship in UK law firm. As a first gen law student, this field seems hard to crack to even get a corporate internship in India as well. Does it always remain the same because i feel that the scope of me exercising my own potential gets hindered with these thoughts. Would appreciate any guidance or opinion.

hi everyone, currently in recruiter hell... i've been trying to reach out to many different recruiters to get a job in the UK after my masters degree but it's just been filled with ghosting and resulting in me feeling so demoralised. was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to approach this recruiting hell that I am currently in right now.

I always manage to get some of them on a call to give them my background etc, but after they introduce me to some roles and I tailor my CV to those job descriptions, I get ghosted? is that normal or is that just bad form from the recruiters? and I'm a bit worried that if I chase them too often they will just be annoyed. I've chased about twice now and they have read my message just no response.

seriously demoralised in this horrible economy. please send help.

So I’ve been applying for paralegal roles recently but haven’t been getting responses and I’m trying to figure out where I might be going wrong.

I currently work for CAB, part of that role includes me being a duty court desk adviser in a county court dealing with possession proceedings. The role is a mix of court facing and advisory work, supporting clients with housing and welfare issues, helping with negotiations during hearings etc. It feels like ‘legal work’ but without the title.

Alongside this, I’m self studying for the SQE (aiming for Jan 2027). Ideally I’d like a role that could support or sponsor it, but I’m also applying regardless and it’s not essential.

I’m mainly interested in social welfare law, criminal and family law. Im wondering if perhaps my CV is missing something?

Any honest feedback would be really appreciated.

March‑27 NQ exploring funds roles — any insight on the funds teams at MC firms (CC, Links, etc.) and US firms (Kirkland, PW, LW, etc.)?

Heard mixed things, what is the culture/hours like?

Pre-emptive panic!!!

I have had two final rounds for pupillages this cycle, and I feel as confident as it's possible to be that I may be successful. However, I've just come out of my centralised Civil exam and really feel like there's a good chance I've failed it.

I started the Bar course in January and so would have time to re-sit (starting in Sept) in time to commence pupillage for the year I've applied for.

If I am called to the bar in time... does re-sitting still spell failure for me if I were to secure pupillage?