can i get a job at a top law firm as a barrister with sh*t grades??

As has already been said, you are generally going to be self employed as a barrister, so the amount of money that you make that the number of clients that you have can vary significantly from barrister to barrister even within the same practice area.

There are a lot of different areas of law that you can practise in as a barrister. Very broadly the three main practice areas are crime (the state wanting to prosecute a person), family (disputes in family settings) and civil (any other dispute between private individuals or entities). Within family law you have private children (where couples split up and need to make arrangements for their children), public children (where local authorities want to take children away from parents), and matrimonial finance (where couples divorce and need to determine where their assets go). Civil is basically 'everything else' and is incredibly broad, to the point where it's not really accurate to put it in just its own category. There are also practice areas that don't neatly fit into one of those three. Regulatory, for example, is where regulatory bodies in certain industries bring proceedings against individuals or companies for breaking rules within that industry. It is often done by criminal barristers, but by no means always. Immigration is also another example that is somewhat separate. In terms of areas that aren't crime or family, you've got the likes of public law, personal injury law, employment law, sports law, and commercial law. Even within those individual practice areas there's a lot of scope to specialise further. Some personal injury barristers do a lot of inquests, for example, which have their own rules. In employment law you have those who specialise in discrimination cases, and may do those in areas outside employment as well. Commercial law is one of the most broad individual areas, and you can find yourself dealing with contract cases, property cases, company disputes, and an awful lot more besides. There are many more areas that I haven't touched upon, but your practice can also span different areas. I'm predominantly an employment barrister, but I also practice in other distinct and niche areas as well. To give one other example, a very good friend of mine is a criminal barrister, but also does quite a lot of sports disciplinary work, that is to say mostly representing professional sports players when they face disciplinary action by their governing body (he has a particular interest in doping offences, but does a range of others too).

Basically, there are a lot of different areas that you can practise in as a barrister, and as a lawyer generally, to the point sometimes where the job is very different depending on what you practise in. My day to day work life is very different to that friend of mine who is a criminal barrister, for example, and we certainly couldn't just do each other's jobs at this stage of our careers. You develop your own practice and specialisms as time goes on, which is a feature of being self employed.

In terms of money, it very much depends what you think a lot of money is. Crime is generally the lowest paid area, but in the right situation you can still make plenty of money from it (I know criminal barristers who were comfortably making over £100,000 around 7-10 years in). Equally, there are some other practice areas where in more challenging situations you won't make as much money as some criminal barristers. But broadly, most areas other than crime will allow you to make enough money to live comfortably on fairly quickly. It is a profession where you should be financially secure assuming you can manage your money even half competently (which, it is worth saying, a lot of barristers don't, just as a lot of people don't generally). I do echo what others have said though that it is not a profession you want to go into with money as your main motivator. It is a difficult job. And yes, lots of other jobs are difficult too, but personally I think you'll struggle if it isn't a role that you find satisfying.

You know the pupilage, is it hard to get one after your degree and do you do it after your BAR practice course or before it.

You can apply for pupillages before you do your Bar course, but only a small minority of candidates secure pupillage before they do their Bar course. The vast majority secure it during the year that they're doing the Bar course, or in the years afterwards. Either way you do your pupillage after you have finished the Bar course. Securing pupillage is very difficult and it is not a decision that you should take lightly. I appreciate what you say about working hard and seeing how things go, but you will waste a lot of time and money if you aim for pupillage and it isn't realistic for you. You need a lot more than hard work. You need to objectively be a good candidate with the right skills and ability. As a starting point, your A-Level grades are not a good sign, and whilst you can mitigate those, you really do need a First to do it. So by all means study law, but I would do a lot more research into the career paths that are open to you with a law degree, including the Bar, and then as time goes on you can focus on the one that is right for you. With the best will in the world, being a barrister may not be.

can you get a pupillage through like knowing someone like if someone puts in a good word or something or does that not matter.

Not anymore, no. Once upon a time this sort of thing happened quite a lot at the Bar, but it hasn't done for a while now.

hahahahha thought so🤣 had to ask anyways thanks for ur help, can i ask like some questions during my llb, i mean like later on if i need some help or anything?

Hi, i m going to be starting university this coming monday. I m going to do law LLB with foundation year at uni of law Manchester and am a bit puzzled. can i get a job at a top firm or even a good firm that pays well if i get like a 2:1 or a 1st in uni, would my a level results hurt my chances of getting into a good pupillage or do they not matter?? i need help immediately 🫥🫥🫥

If you have career questions you can always come back to this forum. If you have questions on topics that you cover during your LLB, there is a different forum for that. I don't tend to get involved in those questions. Have plenty from my own clients to deal with.

hopefully a barrister with idk like maybe corporate or criminal