become solicitor first.....

Anisah786

Hi All,

Is it better to become a solicitor and then qualify as a barrister?

Any thoughts.... what are the pros and cons?

Cheers..
:smile:

Yes because you can always fall back on the solicitor career route if things dont go well on the barrister choice :smile:

You can always become a barrister after being a solicitor.

But barristers can make a ****** load of money! :biggrin:

Reply 3

naelse

15

I was under the impression that to cross-qualify you'd have to start completely from scratch (apart from the degree, of course). I met a barrister at the firm I was at over Christmas who was working as a paralegal pending a training contract having done an LPC. Not an ideal position for a guy in his thirties with a baby on the way to be in...

Reply 4

Dolly78660

OP

Thank you for the replies. I understand it is possible but what I would really like to know is whether it's advisable. I really want to become a barrister but considering the financial burden of following the bar route. I am considering whether it's advisable for me to become a solicitor first and then later study BVC alongside it to become a barrister as I should then be able to pay the fees instead of having another loan...

Thank you for the responses. :smile:

Cheers.

Reply 5

Anisah786

I understand it is possible but what I would really like to know is whether it's advisable. I really want to become a barrister but considering the financial burden of following the bar route. I am considering whether it's advisable for me to become a solicitor first and then later study BVC alongside it to become a barrister as I should then be able to pay the fees instead of having another loan...

Thank you for the responses. :smile:

Cheers.

Well this makes the most sense to me but if you are confident you will succeed as a barrister then you will pay your loan(s) back in no time! :biggrin:

how long do you have to think the decision over???

Reply 6

Dolly78660

OP

decky1989

Well this makes the most sense to me but if you are confident you will succeed as a barrister then you will pay your loan(s) back in no time! :biggrin:

how long do you have to think the decision over???

I still have a lot of time to think about this yet.

Anyway- thank you very much for the response.

regards,
Anisah :smile:

Reply 7

Anisah786

I still have a lot of time to think about this yet.

Anyway- thank you very much for the response.

regards,
Anisah :smile:

Well it could only be a good thing to have time on your side! :smile:

try chatting to some solicitors and barristers to get their opinions perhaps??

Reply 8

dragon_1706

Anisah786

Thank you for the replies. I understand it is possible but what I would really like to know is whether it's advisable. I really want to become a barrister but considering the financial burden of following the bar route. I am considering whether it's advisable for me to become a solicitor first and then later study BVC alongside it to become a barrister as I should then be able to pay the fees instead of having another loan...

Thank you for the responses. :smile:

Cheers.

Bear in mind that the LPC fees are almost as high as those for the BVC. And while finding pupillage is undoubtedly harder than finding a TC, that doesn't mean TCs are easy to come by - if it comes across in your applications that you being a solicitor isn't what you really want to do, it might not be as easy as you think. Also, from what I hear, the BVC is incredibly hard work, so I shouldn't think you'd be able to work as a solicitor while studying. If you really want to be a barrister, go for it if you think you have a decent chance of making it.

Reply 9

dragon_1706

Bear in mind that the LPC fees are almost as high as those for the BVC. And while finding pupillage is undoubtedly harder than finding a TC, that doesn't mean TCs are easy to come by - if it comes across in your applications that you being a solicitor isn't what you really want to do, it might not be as easy as you think. Also, from what I hear, the BVC is incredibly hard work, so I shouldn't think you'd be able to work as a solicitor while studying. If you really want to be a barrister, go for it if you think you have a decent chance of making it.

Hmm, I probably shouldn't say this in case one of my tutors starts spying on me and fails me out of spite, but I have found the BVC to be the most relaxing year I have had since I was about five years old, not incredibly hard work :smile:

Some people do moan about it but I don't see where they are coming from, I think if I felt overwhelmed by the work this year there is no way I could handle the Bar. I think I could get through the BVC while working full-time (on the part-time BVC, obviously) but this would leave you with no free time and you'd have to get a TC somewhere that lets you out by 6pm without fail (good luck!)! Also the part-time BVC takes two years and working at the same time might result in a worse grade which might hamper your chances of pupillage. Hmm, I don't really think being a solicitor first is the solution...

Reply 10

decky1989

if you are confident you will succeed as a barrister then you will pay your loan(s) back in no time! :biggrin:

No offence Decky but I don't think you really know what you are talking about, if everyone who was confident of success as a barrister succeeded then there would be about ten times as many barristers as there are...rough stats are that of 16 people who have enough confidence in their abilities to apply for the BVC (which isn't cheap, so you would expect them to have thought long and hard about it!), 8 will get onto the BVC, 6 will pass the BVC and 2 will get a pupillage! And, on last year's shocking statistics, ONE will get a tenancy! :eek:

Reply 11

I thought you may find this useful its a link were you can contact barristers by specislism or region! i know they can be very busy but there's 1000's so you should get a chat with one of them and get some advice?

http://www.legalhub.co.uk/legalhub/app/main?ao=o.Id6edd5a002c711db85b9d734e660a063&ndd=2&rs=BOL1.0&vr=1.0&bctocguid=Id6e745f002c711db85b9d734e660a063&ststate=S&linktype=toc

Reply 12

Dolly78660

OP

Thank you all very much for the detailed responses.

Nana_Julia, decky1989 and dragon_1706, thank you all for your time and contribution. The responses have been very informative. :wink:

Nana_Julia, I understand what your saying and respectively agree with you, Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get tenancy and pupillage and that is why I was considering becoming a solicitor first hoping that perhaps that may make me a stronger candidate amongst the many others that apply.

I think I need to think hard about whether the bar is for me taking all the issues involved into consideration. For some reason though I have always wanted to be a prosecution barrister since a child.... but perhaps becoming a solicitor is just as good... :p:

Thanks again! :smile:

Kind Regards,
Anisah

Reply 13

dragon_1706

Nana_Julia

Hmm, I probably shouldn't say this in case one of my tutors starts spying on me and fails me out of spite, but I have found the BVC to be the most relaxing year I have had since I was about five years old, not incredibly hard work :smile:

Some people do moan about it but I don't see where they are coming from, I think if I felt overwhelmed by the work this year there is no way I could handle the Bar.

Interesting... maybe it depends where you study. Everyone I know has found it really hard going, including the high-flyers, so maybe they just have a different system here.

Reply 14

Kerrigan

Solicitor to barrister is rarer than barrister to solicitor. Becoming a solicitor is getting much trickier these days; becoming a barrister is very hard indeed. I have worked with several barristers who have converted to solicitors after struggling to make it at the Bar. There is one guy who couldn't get pupillage and so converted and ending up working at a top City firm - he got a place there reasonably easily, but the Bar had been much too difficult.

Reply 15

decky1989

I thought you may find this useful its a link were you can contact barristers by specislism or region! i know they can be very busy but there's 1000's so you should get a chat with one of them and get some advice?

http://www.legalhub.co.uk/legalhub/app/main?ao=o.Id6edd5a002c711db85b9d734e660a063&ndd=2&rs=BOL1.0&vr=1.0&bctocguid=Id6e745f002c711db85b9d734e660a063&ststate=S&linktype=toc

I wouldn't recommend this unless you want your head bitten off. The point of that site is so that you can contact barristers for work, not for a chat!! Can you imagine how pissed off you'd be if you finally made it as a barrister only to be inundated with student queries?! Decky I think Anisah is trying to get views from the Bar/solicitors insofar as possible without annoying people who are at work by posting here! Personally I don't think being a solicitor would especially improve your chances unless you had somehow excelled in it - it all still comes down to skills and academics more than work experience...

Reply 16

Nana_Julia

I wouldn't recommend this unless you want your head bitten off. The point of that site is so that you can contact barristers for work, not for a chat!! Can you imagine how pissed off you'd be if you finally made it as a barrister only to be inundated with student queries?! Decky I think Anisah is trying to get views from the Bar/solicitors insofar as possible without annoying people who are at work by posting here! Personally I don't think being a solicitor would especially improve your chances unless you had somehow excelled in it - it all still comes down to skills and academics more than work experience...

sure she doesnt have to give away her identity its not as if the same barrister gets hassled by students everyday there are loads of them and they would understand that she is just keen like they once were. they prob had the same fire in their belly as Anisah whenever they were ambitious to get a job as a barister so they would be very undersanding and most would only be too happy to help I'm sure.

Reply 17

decky1989

sure she doesnt have to give away her identity its not as if the same barrister gets hassled by students everyday there are loads of them and they would understand that she is just keen like they once were. they prob had the same fire in their belly as Anisah whenever they were ambitious to get a job as a barister so they would be very undersanding and most would only be too happy to help I'm sure.

Let's agree to disagree - I don't think it's appropriate or advisable. Quite apart from anything else, getting one random barrister's opinion (assuming they will even talk to you) is unlikely to be especially helpful. Having already gone through the pupillage application process and having been to several talks/lectures etc on what chambers are looking for on hiring pupils, I really don't think my view will have changed much in a year when I am officially a practising barrister (fingers crossed) from what it is now. The only thing that will have changed will be my level of irritation at being called at work with a student query.

Reply 18

Kerrigan

I agree on both counts. Re being a solicitor, I can't see how this would improve your chances of becoming a barrister, at all. If anything, people would query the career switch and how certain you were re what you wanted to do. To be a barrister, a first-class degree from a top university, as well as contacts in the field, would certainly help. A qualification in basically another profession, would not.

Reply 19