If you are a South African qualified lawyer who has decided to come to the UK to experience our high quality weather, our stable political system and our well functioning courts, congratulations! You may have spent 20 years practising in a good quality South African law firm undertaking high quality legal cases and you may…
We have written about this before some years ago, but it seems that there are solicitors firms out there who are trying to rip off duty solicitors and this is advice on how not to get scammed by crime firms recruiting duty solicitors. It seems that there are a couple of firms in England who…
There are a lot of different terms used for the work of a childcare solicitor. You will often see them described as solicitors with care proceedings experience, solicitors who do publicly funded family law work (just about the only thing left now that is publicly funded is care work), social services family lawyer, local authority…
When you locum it is sometimes the case that the assignment you thought you were working on changes and the client shifts the goalposts quite dramatically. This doesn’t happen that often, particularly where a client has spoken directly to the locum to discuss the role beforehand, but it does happen. Recently we have come across…
Here are the Ten Percent Legal Recruitment top tips for becoming a lawyer in the UK. Firstly, bear in mind that there are quite a few different types of lawyer working in the UK, including barristers, solicitors, “non-qualified fee earners”, legal executive, licensed conveyancer, will writers and paralegals. In case it assists, a “non-qualified fee…
The first thing to say in relation to interviews for in-house roles is to expect the unexpected, because every company is governed by its HR department. If you have never worked in house before you will find that some HR departments seem to govern just about everything and come up with the most complex recruitment…
“I don’t want to do that type of law, it’s boring” Unnamed Mental Health Law Paralegal, December 2018. This topic of conversation could keep law students and lawyers going for years to come, but today we had an email from a paralegal who was enquiring about a job. He asked what specific area of law…
A recruitment consultant is, at base level, someone who a potential employer consults to go through the process of recruitment a new employee or member of staff. A recruitment consultant will assist the employer, source, select and employ the right member of staff and in doing so, receives a fee. Over 99% of all recruitment…
We have recently been approached by a law firm based in Abu Dhabi asking us to assist them in the provision of barristers or solicitors to work in their law firm. The tone of the email is very straightforward, the firm sound a very nice practice to work for, and the person who has emailed…
I don’t know about your business, but in ours on a daily basis we have to deal with some really pompous arses. I don’t like using bad language when writing articles, but there really is no other way of describing some of the people we come across each day. The definition of a pompous arse…
We took a call yesterday from a solicitors firm somewhere in England and Wales, and the conversation went as follows: “Hello I wonder if you can help, we’re looking for a family paralegal.” “Yes sure, can you give me a bit more information please?” “Yes, we would like a paralegal who’s able to assist with…
We have had a query this week from a Year 13 student awaiting A level grades – can poor A Level Results affect any chances of a legal career? The quick and honest answer, and something perhaps relevant to qualified solicitors with many years PQE even, and an answer you will rarely hear from HR…
Extracting yourself from the business We are involved in the buying and selling of solicitors’ firms and accountancy practices across the UK and further afield. Sellers can be anybody from a sole practitioner through to a very large partnership or company, but the usual aim of owners selling up is to get out of the…
Today is the day when the LAA have issued a whole new load of contract awards after recent tenders by law firms across the UK. So far we have had telephone calls from law firms asking about Family Law Supervisors and Mental Health Law Supervisors. Any more? I can’t remember if Housing or Immigration are…
Ask a Recruitment Consultant – questions this month on our chat bot Questions sent to us via our Chat service online, together with general career questions emailed across. We do our best to answer all queries, sometimes after a fairly lengthy delay if we are busy! Q: I am currently studying to become a solicitor…
Minutes from HMRC’s latest IR35 forum indicate that similar reform could hit the private sector soon. This could be a worry to a good number of law firms who regularly use locums. Our own thoughts on it are that provided the contractual position is clear and the locum is a senior lawyer who is able…
I write this article from a personal perspective and it is an expression of opinion only. I often get asked by candidates if they think firms discriminate against them and this article is about our experiences of behaviour that is both overt and implied. Discrimination against Law Firms Law firms often think that as recruiters…
Out of 5 job interviews arranged for paralegals and junior fee earners, we estimate that 1 candidate will not turn up. For solicitors and legal executives we think the figure is closer to 1 in 20. Why? Here are our top reasons. 1. It is much easier to apply for a job than it is…
Q: I wonder if you have any advice or comment on the following. a sole practitioner has been asked by a lender panel to give details of a locum who the principal would have on call if the worst happened and the firm was left without a solicitor at short notice. Do you have any…
A recent law graduate has asked an extremely pertinent question regarding future career plans: “In your professional opinion, how much do sole practitioners (on the high street working in family/conveyancing) tend to make annually? Also more generally, would you say, despite the over supply of law graduates and the SRA’s soon to be new route…
The Legal Profession, Flexible Hours and Working from Home Many years ago, when I started out in law, flexible hours were something women benefited from when they had given birth and returned to work for a few years. Otherwise hours were strictly 9am to 5pm with an hour for lunch. These days however law firms…
Ask a Recruitment Consultant – questions this month on our chat bot Questions sent to us via our new Chat service online, together with general career questions emailed across. We do our best to answer all queries, sometimes after a fairly lengthy delay if we are busy! Our New Chatbot Hi. My Australian degree has…
Thinking of Retraining in Wills & Probate after years out of the profession and coming from a Commercial background. Is it possible? We have recently received a request for advice from a solicitor coming from a Legal 500 commercial background and after over 10 years out now seeking to return to the profession but not…
Ask a Recruitment Consultant – questions this month on our chat bot Questions sent to us via our new Chat service online, together with general career questions emailed across. We do our best to answer all queries, sometimes after a fairly lengthy delay if we are busy! Do you think it is still worth becoming…
Candidate Shortages in Wills & Probate and Conveyancing – myths and legends As I write this brief article, I can reflect that I could probably have written the same article in any year between 2011 and 2017. In fact if you are reading this in 20 years’ time, and Donald Trump hasn’t ended the world…
Ask a Recruitment Consultant – questions this month on our chat bot Questions sent to us via our new Chat service online, together with general career questions emailed across. We do our best to answer all queries, sometimes after a fairly lengthy delay if we are busy! Why is there a shortage of private client…
Etiquette Guide for Locums Occasionally we get queries from law firms and locums as to what constitutes good practice by a locum when on assignment. Here are our answers to recent queries: Should locums take phone calls during the day from their own clients? No definitely not. Why would they? They are paid by the…
If you have a third class law degree, is it the end of your career? Hi, I am writing to seek some advice with regards to my current career situation. I have achieved 3 A-Levels at BBC. I have completed my LLB Law degree but achieved a third due to unforeseen and unfortunate personal and…
What is a QBE lawyer? The term QBE comes from the financial sector and is increasingly applied to lawyers as well. A number of conveyancers are QBE and so are in house Counsel. It is rare for anyone to practice in law without at least an LLB or LLM, but they do exist, particularly in…
Should I Stay or Should I Go? In April every year we are regularly contacted by newly qualified and 1 year PQE (post-qualification experience) solicitors who ask the following questions: 1. Should I stay with my training law firm for at least 2 years when I qualify? 2. How much should I get paid? 3.…