Flexibility of Barrister Qual

rrocksy9

Hey,

i'm pondering doing the above, i think i have a hang on most aspects, I have a degree so it'll be the Dip route for two years followed by the degree for two more years and deviling.
I'm also aware of the difficulty in getting to the stage where I wont be surviving on bread and water......

SO! to get to the question.....

How useful is a Qual as a barrister outside of the Courts and work in the Civil Service?

I.e in legal practice whats the situation? ETC


Cheers

R

Tom Young

Most useful - more useful than many of the current practitioners realise.

Speaking, Drinking, Eating, Socialising - Reading, Writing, Opining, adjudicating.

In Companies Barristers are very useful at board level, this is for numerous reasons.

Tom

Tom Young

I've recently looked at the Blackhall syllabus - The Inns degree course is far more focussed and in my own opinion far better to give candidates a good grounding in where you need to be skills-wise approaching practice.

I am not looking to start a row here of course!

Rhonda9000

Tom Young wrote: »

I've recently looked at the Blackhall syllabus - The Inns degree course is far more focussed and in my own opinion far better to give candidates a good grounding in where you need to be skills-wise approaching practice.

I am not looking to start a row here of course!

Danger! lol

impr0v

Many people don't realise it but you can also be taken on by solicitor firms to work effectively as a solicitor, though it is fairly unusual. The only obstacle you'll face is that you'll have to cross-qualify, i.e. convert to a solicitor, to get to partnership level.

ronnie3585

impr0v wrote: »

Many people don't realise it but you can also be taken on by solicitor firms to work effectively as a solicitor, though it is fairly unusual. The only obstacle you'll face is that you'll have to cross-qualify, i.e. convert to a solicitor, to get to partnership level.

You can't do both. You can't have a practising cert and be a memeber of the Bar at the same time, and vice versa.

impr0v

I mean with the BL degree, without being called to the bar.

dK1NG

Tom Young wrote: »

I've recently looked at the Blackhall syllabus - The Inns degree course is far more focussed and in my own opinion far better to give candidates a good grounding in where you need to be skills-wise approaching practice.

I am not looking to start a row here of course!

Tom, could you expand a bit on this?

I have the FE1s behind me a few yrs and am stil undecided what to do next. I am completing a PhD in criminal justice and the lack of practical knowledge is playing on my mind - have been considering either Kings Inn or Blackhall for a while but still unsure what would be the most beneficial route for me to take (ie stay in academia w/o practical experience; get practical experience as either BL/solr; or go down the practice route altogether).

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

johnnyskeleton

dK1NG wrote: »

I have the FE1s behind me a few yrs and am stil undecided what to do next. I am completing a PhD in criminal justice and the lack of practical knowledge is playing on my mind - have been considering either Kings Inn or Blackhall for a while but still unsure what would be the most beneficial route for me to take (ie stay in academia w/o practical experience; get practical experience as either BL/solr; or go down the practice route altogether).

Do some legal exec work for a criminal solicitors firm for a year or two, ask them if you can do an apprenticeship and take it from there. That will give you:

1) experience of clients, papers etc in the first year or so
2) lots of court experience if you get an apprenticeship
3) money while you're doing this.

The disadvantage of the bar in your case is that it takes a long time to build up a practice, but the advantage is that you can try to juggle a small practice with a full time lecturing position. However, a lot of colleges are requiring their lecturers to be full time academics nowadays.

That phd in Criminal Justice is in UCC isn't it? Give Frank Buttimer a ring and see if he'll take you on for a bit.

legalmillie

I am a barrister - trying to go in-house. I am being completely honest here, you are better off qualifying as a Solicitor. A lot of Barristers in their junior years are leaving the library. The work is just not there anymore unfortunately - I love it but unless you have a good sideline job or parents who don't mind supporting you for another 8 years then...

rrocksy9

legalmillie wrote: »

I am a barrister - trying to go in-house. I am being completely honest here, you are better off qualifying as a Solicitor. A lot of Barristers in their junior years are leaving the library. The work is just not there anymore unfortunately - I love it but unless you have a good sideline job or parents who don't mind supporting you for another 8 years then...

Thanks Legalmillie and everyone else!!!