Studying law vs working in law

Personally I think practising in the law is significantly more interesting than studying it, but that's obviously going to be subjective. What I can say for certain is that the two are quite different. Practising in the law is also a very different experience depending on your role and your area of law, so there's no one answer to what that is actually like. You can broadly define the roles of a solicitor and barrister, but again the day to day working life of a criminal barrister in Newcastle is going to be different to the day to day working life of a commercial barrister in London.

My advice to you would be to do some research into the individual roles of a solicitor and barrister, and then find some work experience to see what those roles entail in practice. That first hand experience will give you a much better idea of whether working in the law is right for you or not.

Do you work in the field, if I may ask?

I do. I'm a barrister.

Ah that's interesting.. I have a few questions. I hope I don't sound nosey or annoying

How long have you been a barrister?
What area of law are you working in? Was this the area you wanted to get into or just kind of went with the flow

It's alright; I very much come onto these forums to answer questions so I don't mind. I've been a barrister for about ten years, and whilst I practise in a range of areas I predominantly practise in employment law. I experienced a range of different practice areas early on in my career and decided to focus on employment law a few years in.

Do you enjoy it or does it now feel like a routine? I feel like maybe doing anything for a long period just ends up feeling like a routine that you just do. So I'm wondering if that is the case or do you still find it to be mentally stimulating, enjoyable and engaging

Just to add another perspective - I started out as a trainee solicitor in a City firm, and ended up as a criminal barrister. I definitely felt what you said about the boredom that comes with a corporate job. I hated it, and it made me think I hated law. Turns out I didn’t, because I absolutely love being a criminal barrister, and can’t now imagine doing anything else. So the limited wisdom I have to contribute is that legal practice is a broad spectrum. The area you choose, and whether you decide to be a solicitor or go to the bar, will have a significant impact on your day-to-day experience of life as a lawyer. Another piece of advice I suppose is don’t be afraid to switch things up if you’re not happy!

For me probably the best thing about this job is that it cannot ever really feel like a routine. As a barrister that's partly because you literally don't have a routine. You're self employed and your diary is different every week. You will deal with similar types of hearings, such as preliminary/case management hearings and trials, but the cases are different and you can't just drift through any particular case on auto pilot. The advice you give, the documents you draft and the way that you run a trial all have to be tailored to that specific case. In every case you'll be instructed by a solicitor who may want things dealt with a certain way, a client who will have individual needs, and a case that will be different in terms of its facts, strengths and weaknesses to any other case you have done before. That's not to say that there isn't a degree of repetition in what I do, or that every case is interesting. I deal with cases that I don't enjoy, and I have bad days or weeks just like anyone else. But fundamentally I find this job to be engaging and satisfying. It is hard work and very stressful at times, but if it wasn't I don't think it would be as satisfying as it is.

I will say a couple of things for completeness. First, there are certain types of hearings in certain areas of law that are monotonous. In personal injury law, for example, there are hearings called Stage 3 hearings where essentially liability is accepted and the two sides are just arguing about what the injury is worth. They are short hearings and courts will have entire lists of them to get through in a single day. At least when they were in person, you'd have a waiting room full of barristers, the majority of whom would have multiple cases in the list. Often it's mostly the same barristers and the same judges dealing with it, with the same arguments being deployed in case after case, and decisions that can usually be pretty accurately predicted by barristers who have experience of the hearings and the judge. They are a good way to earn money with relatively little effort, but they are monotonous and uninspiring. There are examples of hearings like that in various areas of law, but it is worth saying that no one practises in those areas to do those hearings. If you practise in personal injury law you will do stage 3 hearings (if they still exist at that time; government reforms are on the way), but most of your time will be taken up doing other, far more interesting cases. It is also obviously worth noting that you simply not enjoy an particular area of law. I stopped doing personal injury law because I didn't enjoy it, whereas I do enjoy employment law. Many personal injury barristers wouldn't want to do employment law; it does come down to personal preference.

The second thing is that the role of a solicitor is different. Some things are similar, such as always dealing with new cases and clients individually. But I don't think it's controversial to say that there is more of a routine as a solicitor, specifically in terms of where you work and specific steps that you make take in things like case management and general file handling. It's a very different job to being a barrister, and I have very much always wanted to be a barrister and not a solicitor. Equally, most solicitors do not want to be barristers. Again, it's personal preference.

This is very insightful thank you. I always thought barrister work is quite unstable and also getting pupilage is extremley hard and then to be called to the bar is even harder and most times one will have to self-fund the studies and journey.

In theory it's unstable because you're self employed. In practice it isn't. I can't immediately think of any example I'm aware of where a barrister has moved away from the profession due to not having enough work. There are issues with the level of earnings in some areas (well, predominantly the junior end of the Criminal Bar), but not with volume. There are challenges that come along from time to time in different areas of law, but really any employment in any industry is susceptible to that sort of thing. So whilst the lack of routine would certainly be an issue for some people, instability isn't really an issue to be concerned about. Securing pupillage is, however, because it's extremely competitive. The decision to attempt to become a barrister isn't one to be made lightly. You're confused about being called to the Bar. That's a formality; it's securing pupillage that is the difficult part of the process.