Getting Pigeonholed within the Law

TheDemiurge

Here's a question for qualified and NQ'd. I'm ten years qualified and have worked in that time in general practice, plus excellent commercial experience focusing on telecommunications and media. However, now that my business has dried up so much I've been seeking any other opportunities here and overseas.

Apart from the obvious answer that times are tough and recruitment is being cut back on, I'm being told that my experience isn't "specific" enough. This is a suspicion I had many years ago when I started my apprenticeship - it seems whatever rut you get put into way back then is what you have to stick with otherwise you become potentially unemployable or into the significantly less secure realm of general practice (as opposed to corporate). Particularly in London, they seem to operate on a perfect slide rule basis, with no creativity or all round view of an individual. Here in Dublin, I asked some recruiters and personnel in mid tier firms would they be willing to train in someone like myself in banking/funds/derivatives/securitisation (my primary degree is finance) and they said no - I'm too long in the tooth within the profession to diversify now (age 34).

Law has just become so bloody tiresome these days. I'd rather work in a shop - except I'd be told I'm overqualified and too old.

Has anyone else found this? Particularly interested in hearing from those working in the big firms about to qualify.

Tom Young

There are plenty of jobs out there and you're relatively young in the grand scheme of things.

There is a massive lack of good IP lawyers in-house and indeed at the courts.

Jobs are there but you really need to search. Take a look at the legal panel site and some others, but if you really want to get out you may need to plunge into a MBA or something to buffer the CV slightly.

Why not start your own practice?

Tom

johnnyskeleton

Tom Young wrote: »

Why not start your own practice?

Don't mention the war Tom.

TheDemiurge

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Don't mention the war Tom.

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the well intentioned post, but as Johnny Skeleton says, have a look at my post history.

dats_right

The bigger firms are letting people go left, right and centre at the moment so, with the greatest respect, I don't see why they would want to take a chance on somebody as "long in the tooth" as yourself and I don't think MBA's or the like will make a blind bit of difference. And besides, would you really be happy being at such a junior level that you have very little responsibility and input into files? I know it sounds like a great idea to diversify into a new area, but given that you're probably used to running and managing your own files it might be difficult to adapt to such relatively low-level responsibility. Okay, I know there's a bigger picture, but it would take quite a bit of time to get used to and evn longer to get to any sort of meaningful role in a big firm. And it might well be difficult for you to accept that, in all likelihood, the apprentices know more about this type of work than you with X amount of PQE.

Having said all that, there are always 'more than one way to skin a cat'. As far as I know, you have your own firm, presumably you are a sole practitioner? Have you thought of trying to entice one or more of some disenchanted, unemployed or about to be unemployed commercial lawyers (of which there is currently no shortgage) away from the big firms by lure of partnership and selling them the idea of trying to develop a niche or boutique commercial practice? It isn't necessarily as fanciful as you might first think, afterall, many of the nouvelle large commercial firms (i.e. the one's where the chap whose name is on the brass plate is still very much alive and kicking and either still practising or now spending their time split between the villa and maintaining a single digit handicap) started life as general practitioners.

Okay, you might never challenge the top-5, top-20 or even top 100 firms in the country size wise but you could perhaps develop it into a prosperous little firm with strong a strong client base. You yourself could learn as you go along (the same way many have done before you) from the commercialy trained partner(s) and they themselves could learn from you the realities of working/managing a small practice. I would have said 18 or even 12 months ago that it might be difficult to get somebody of sufficient calibre to make such a plan work, but with firms now just letting some of their best young lawyers go in order to protect the drawings of the partners, I think there is undoubtedly the talent out there to make such a plan work. Not only that, I think that there are plenty of people out there who would be more than willing to give such a plan a go.

Gangu

Sounds like you would be well positioned to go in-house - with general practice and some specific commercial experience. There are still jobs in that area. I still get a call or two every month or so from recruiters asking me to consider going in-house.