Thinking of studying to be a solicitor - any advice?

Hi there,

I'm almost 40 and have worked as a law librarian in various firms over the past 10 years. However, I have decided that I don't want to continue doing this for the rest of my working life. I'm currently temping as a legal secretary, while I decide what my next step should be. I've been thinking of doing the FE1 exams and becoming a solicitor.

Am I too old to go down this road? Would there be an age bias against me if I passed the exams and tried to get a traineeship?

Has anyone got any advice, or similar experience to me? I'd love to hear some ideas on this!

Hi MTouhey - I hope you get some answers from some of the legal people that visit this site. Have you tried asking any solicitors with whom you work?

Hi, why not dip your foot in the water (so to speak ) and contact the DIT,they run a course in Legal Studies which was a Diploma and has now become a degree programme.It would give you a very good insight into further study in the area.Having completed this degree you would be in a good position to apply for the Kings Inn. Its a fantastic course but you have to love it to stay with the programme.You are not too old ,far from it,I believe this will be to your advantage as at that age you are more mature ( maybe) are more dedicated and can have more time to study.Go for it.A friend of mine went to TCD at the tender age of 39 and is now a full time French teacher!!Never too late...Deew

Am I too old to go down this road?

Most definitely not

Would there be an age bias against me if I passed the exams and tried to get a traineeship?

Hard to say; certainly it could happen - but I would not expect it to be pervasive, or even common. It is mostly a matter of finding an employer whose needs you meet: Some firms will want to hire trainees with a view to keeping them on. Some firms use trainees as cheap labour and don't expect to keep them (though this is much less common than it used to be).

I did the post-grad in legal studies in DIT which was fantastic. 95% of the class were using the course as prep for the FE1s (entrance exams to Blackhall Place - where you study to become a solicitor). Would really recommend it

I wouldn't do a law degree first - it's irrelevant cos you'll still have to do the FE1s anyway. You will either have to get a degree or pass the Preliminary Examination before you can do your FE1s.

Stanhope Street is great, but the FE1s take a lot of effort. If you can, take off as much time from work as possible, and treat your studies like a job. Otherwise, don't do all 8 together - it's too much for most people to take while they are working.

As for being too old - since when is 40 old? I just finished PPC1 and about 15% of the students were in their 40s or 50s. Go for it!!!

Firms have many reasons upon which they grade applicants for traineeship. Age may just be one of them, but personality and experience usually matter more. The big firms usually prefer young trainees that they can "mould". There's nothing wrong with that - it suits their traineeship programme better, so you might find that a small or medium firm suits you better. Just think of all that experience you can sell in your application!

Best of luck!

Hi,
I'll be qualified by next year but I really don't think I will have a job then. There are five hundred people on my course. There are twice that on the year behind me. If I were you, I would think twice about qualifying as a solicitor. It's the same situation at the bar - far too many people.
You have to pay for the exams, your indentures. The PPC1 and 2 fees are about six to eight thousand. When you qualify, you will have to pay one and half k for your practising certificate.

If you have the time and money to waste, go right ahead!!

Yes there are more traineeships running at the same time, but the industry makes up for it in other ways. It is becoming more common for qualified solicitors to go into areas other than private practice. In house legal for example, recruitment / finance are other options. I am not saying that you go into law with the intention of ending up working for eg., a bank, but its an option, and similar options are being taken up by solicitors.

Remember, people usually only come to us with problems, and there will always be problems!

Lots of firms are looking to take on trainees and retain them after their traineeship because it is cheaper than paying a recruitment company to get a qualified solicitor.

Also, lots of firms will pay your Blackhall fees for you. If they don't, you can give your firm the money for the fees, ask them to pay it for you. They will get the higher rate of tax back on it which they then give to you.

Even if your firm still won't do this, Blackhall have a bursary scheme that students can apply for. You can also apply for a maintenance grant off your local council.

There are plenty of options.

At the end of the day, you have to think about what type of work you want to do to make your living. If you think it would be a solicitor, then only you can stop yourself.

The maintenance grants don't cover the entirety of the Blackhall fees and you will have to support yourself at Blackhall while you are there. Your firm may pay your fees and may even pay you while you are at Blackhall but this isn't as common as December would have you think.

My point is, everyone is doing a law degree, it's the new arts degree and the industry can't absorb all these people coming into the profession. Firms are majorly dependent on conveyancing and once the property market crashes (which is inevitable as interest rates are on the rise) guess whose jobs will be the first to go. It's true that you can get jobs in banks and things once you qualify but why bother qualifying as a solicitor in order to get a job in the bank?

Ralphie said:

My point is, everyone is doing a law degree, it's the new arts degree and the industry can't absorb all these people coming into the profession. Firms are majorly dependent on conveyancing and once the property market crashes (which is inevitable as interest rates are on the rise) guess whose jobs will be the first to go. It's true that you can get jobs in banks and things once you qualify but why bother qualifying as a solicitor in order to get a job in the bank?

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I know what you're saying Ralphie and its not without its risks, but neither is any career. My point about the other careers is that because other solicitors might move out of private practice, that leaves more room for those who want to work there.

Firms are taking on a more family/work - life balance these days. As the demand for the four-day week, etc., increases firms are taking on more staff.

Also, if the property market goes bust and people have problems keeping their houses, what do they do - they re-mortgage and they need solicitors. If they can't afford to pay and the bank re-possess the house, the bank needs solicitors. The industry is constantly evolving. 10 years ago there were very few solicitors that did family law. Now it is an everyday occurence. It's the same with commercial practice.

Thanks for the replies so far. Interestingly enough, I'm temping at the moment in the legal department of a major bank. One of my colleagues is a newly qualified solicitor, and according to her, she doesn't know any of her group out of work. They've all been fixed up, though not necessarily in the area of law they'd like, but they just want to get whatever experience they can for the moment. There seems to be quite a lot of in-house opportunities, which I would find preferable to some of the larger law firms, where the pace can be manic at times.

I would agree that the profession is evolving, like most areas. Judging by peoples spending behaviour at present, debt collection and insolvency are potentially major growth areas in the near future!!

I'm going to give myself the summer months to decide what to do, and I'll try to talk to more people about it as well.

Hi there,
I just wanted to comment on your original question.
To begin with, a friend of mine did interviews with almost all of the top ten firms this autumn for an apprenticeship. One of the most constructive pieces of feedback she got was that firms are looking for people who they feel they can present to their clients as being mature, professional and capable. This was deemed to be more important than having a "big personality" etc. In this regard I think your age would actually be an asset to you!
Secondly I just wanted to say that I also did the Postgrad course in DIT and it was really great! I had never studied law before and the course really helped me with the basics as well as covering a huge amount of material in lectures. You don't have to choose any subjects until close to exam time so in theory you can study all ten subjects they offer! After this course I was able to get a legal research job, I have passed all 8 FE1s and I did not need to do any further courses or grinds and I was able to get into an LLM program. I would highly recommend it!
Best of Luck with your career change! I hope it works out for you!