career in law when heart isn't in it

Before uni I always wanted to become a solicitor. However , studying law at Uni has put me off law and I'm not really liking it . I found work experience okay . However , it's always been expected by family/ friends that I will become a solicitor. I talked about this to my dad the other day and he thinks I'll grow to like my career.

Even though I'm not too interested in law at least it seems like a good plan , LPC then TC. Otherwise , I haven't really thought about a career and there is a danger I will have graduated with no clear direction of what to go in.

Is it a bad idea to go in with the LPC / TC with hope that I'll start liking law ?

Reply 1

myfyriwr

Working as a solicitor in practice is completely different to an academic study of law. The first involves practical, problem-solving tasks and the latter is a more hazy theoretical discussion. I think it's fair to say you'll use very little of the legal knowledge you picked up in a LLB law degree in practice, but it does provide you with analytical soft skills that are vital to the profession. Don't let your dislike/frustration for your course dissuade you from becoming a solicitor as the two things are very different. Everyone takes a bit of a jump into the unknown when taking up the offer of a training contract, but try to get as many vacation schemes/internships as possible to see for yourself. Of course, it might also be worth pointing out that a two-year training contract doesn't tie you to the profession for life - a number of trainees choose to move on to other careers following qualification.

Reply 2

username120877

Original post by suby123

Do some legal work experience - you will definitely know then if it is for you!

Reply 3

Pariah

If you have a TC place/LPC funding then unless you have a burning desire to do something else I would see it through (check the position re funding if you leave on qualification though). Actual practice is very different from academic law and you may quite like it. If not you will have two years of earnings/work experience under your belt as you look for something else.

Reply 4

a_t

Law as a profession is massively oversubscribed as it is, go into something else if you're not willing to compete with a few dozen people who would literally kill for one training contract place

Reply 5

hajinator

Don't waste life on something you don't love. You'll end up depressed and suicidal, and if not, you'll end up hating yourself and others around you. Look inside yourself and ask yourself "What do I want before I die?" If a degree in Law gets you what you want, and you will genuinely love what you are doing after you have researched it thoroughly, do it. If you think of something else, do that instead. Life is too short to be wasted doing what you hate. Reach for what YOU want, and don't live under someone else's dogma. If you're honest and hardworking doing something you love, you will succeed.

Reply 6

MissBlackstar

I can honestly say from personal experience- don't do it.

Law is so competitive that you really need to be passionate and 100% about it!

I went to law school after my degree thinking I could learn to love law- but it made me hate it even more!

Now I'm in debt and working for an accountancy firm doing nothing related to law lol!

Take your time to think about what it is you REALLY want to do- law is not easy and a decision to go into it shouldn't be taken lightly.

Hope this helps

Reply 7

CurlyWurlyRach

I didn't love my degree but I knew I enjoyed practise from doing work experience so I treated my degree as a means to an end, thoroughly enjoyed law school (as it was far more practical than uni) and am very happy in my TC now. Work experience is probably the way forward for you to make your mind up.

Reply 8

Starry_eyes84

Practising law is very different to studying it. If you get a training contract that funds your plc then do it and see how you feel. I had the opposite issue to you in that I quite liked my degree but I've found that being a solicitor doesn't involve as much law as I would like! There are plenty of transactional areas of practice that involve no law really! I think if you enjoy talking to people, networking and business development then you might enjoy it.

Reply 9

advent2

Original post by suby123

Before uni I always wanted to become a solicitor. However , studying law at Uni has put me off law and I'm not really liking it . I found work experience okay . However , it's always been expected by family/ friends that I will become a solicitor. I talked about this to my dad the other day and he thinks I'll grow to like my career.h

Even though I'm not too interested in law at least it seems like a good plan , LPC then TC. Otherwise , I haven't really thought about a career and there is a danger I will have graduated with no clear direction of what to go in.

Is it a bad idea to go in with the LPC / TC with hope that I'll start liking law ?

I studied law at university after one of my college tutors persuaded me to study it instead of the degree I originally intended to do (Criminology.) I applied to join the police in the final year of my degree but failed my final interview. As I didn't know what to do with myself I decided to do the LPC as that seemed to be the natural progression from a law degree.

I had to fund the LPC myself using a career development loan which I'm still paying back at the rate of £157.12 per month. I applied to about 50 different firms for a traning contract and after not getting a single interview, I realised my heart wasn't in it and I'm currently working at Citizens Advice Bureau in a job which required no qualifications.

If you don't have a training contract and a firm willing to pay the LPC costs for you, I would think long and hard about doing the LPC as you don't want to be saddled with extra debt and then realise it's not the route you wish to go down. To hell with friends and family, this is your life, you do what you want. I took the advice of someone else and look where that got me-30 grand in debt and I ended up in a job I could have entered straight from school.

I recommend reading 'What color is your parachute' by Richard Bolles, it's a manual for job hunters and career changers which is updated annually. I've just finished reading it and I wish I had read it years ago. The book contains exercises which teach you how to figure out what you are really interested in and what you really want to do with your life. It's sold over ten million copies and I can see why, it's life-changing advice.