Criminal Law vs Family Law

I am currently conflicted on whether I want to pursue a career in family law or criminal law. My passion lies within criminology and I’ve wanted to be a criminal lawyer for a long time. However, I do not want to defend a guilty criminal. I know that I could be a prosecutor instead and work with the police but I was informed that apparently this makes very little money. On the other hand, I have family law which does seem intriguing but I think it would be emotionally challenging.

Would anyone be able to provide insight on both sectors and the different career paths within them please?

Reply 1

Stiffy Byng

If you could never countenance acting for the wrong side in a legal dispute, you may find the law a difficult profession. It is not the role of a lawyer to judge which party is right or wrong. That is the role of the Court. Even the worst people have the right to be represented. The lawyer's duty is to do the best he or she can for a client within the limits of the law and professional ethics.

Family law involving wealthy people is about property and children. Family law involving non-wealthy people is about children.

The former is well paid. The latter is badly paid. Any case about children can be emotionally demanding.

Firms doing family law tend to do either rich people stuff or poor people stuff, not both.

Most criminal practice is not very well paid, whether prosecuting or defending. Defence work in business crime can be well paid. Criminal law is interesting to study but can be humdrum and/or depressing in practice. It can be emotionally intense.

Litigation of every kind is an intellectual contact sport. Being any kind of disputes lawyer requires personal resilience.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

Trinculo

Original post by sophiew555

I am currently conflicted on whether I want to pursue a career in family law or criminal law. My passion lies within criminology and I’ve wanted to be a criminal lawyer for a long time. However, I do not want to defend a guilty criminal. I know that I could be a prosecutor instead and work with the police but I was informed that apparently this makes very little money. On the other hand, I have family law which does seem intriguing but I think it would be emotionally challenging.
Would anyone be able to provide insight on both sectors and the different career paths within them please?

The practise of contentious high street law whether it be family, criminal or civil goes like this:

Someone comes in and you give them 12 minutes to tell you a pack of lies. You then have 48 minutes to work out how to turn those lies into fees.

For criminal, you turn up to a police station in the middle of the night, and you sit in a locked room with a domestic abuser and tell him to answer no comment to all questions put to him by the police as to how and why his girlfriends nose got broken, and that the medium term plan is to hope that the CPS can't be bothered with the case.

For most high street family law, one family member hates another family member (spouse / mother / brother- doesn't matter) and wants as much out of them as possible and/or to damage them as much as possible. They will tell you their story and you have to work out how to get them at least some of what they want for what they are willing to pay you.

And mediation. Yeah, that's not a thing.

For civil litigation, your client phones up and tells you that she wants to sue over damage caused to her shop by the neighbours AirBnB. You tell her that her initial meeting (including this phonecall) will cost more than her best case remedy. She hangs up.

She phones back and says do you do "no win no fee". You say no. She hangs up again.

On the other side of things, you could work for the CPS where you will use completely unsuitable 1990s computer systems to receive police charge bundles that were written in half the time they should have been, by someone who only left school last month. You will then look at the serious crimes alleged and decide as the crime is not captured on full colour HD CCTV and the suspect did not make a full and unequivocal confession, that the CPS does not have a 110% chance of winning, therefore the guy who broke his girlfriend's nose will now have no further action taken, which doesn't matter anyway because she withdrew support 12 hours ago and now says she made it all up.

=====

Now, of course you could try and work for some boutique law firm in Holborn doing IP cases for Jay-Z on big money. But there's not many of those jobs and they're nothing to do with criminal law or family law.

Reply 3

Trinculo

I should add. I'm not saying don't do law. Law is wicked. I'm saying don't go into it as an idealist. Be a solicitor to practise law and earn a living, not to change the world.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 4

sophiew555

Original post by Trinculo

I should add. I'm not saying don't do law. Law is wicked. I'm saying don't go into it as an idealist. Be a solicitor to practise law and earn a living, not to change the world.

As a barrister is the money worth it for criminal law. I’ve seen many people saying they don’t make much

Reply 5

Stiffy Byng

You can be a lawyer and change the World. You can do this in a variety of ways. Human rights law, anti-discrimination law, and environmental law afford the chance to do this. Even a commercial lawyer can make the World better. For example, teams of commercal lawyers recently won the 1MDB case for Malaysia. Last year the economy of Nigeria was rescued by a big win in the Commercial Court in London.

Reply 6

Stiffy Byng

Original post by sophiew555

As a barrister is the money worth it for criminal law. I’ve seen many people saying they don’t make much

Entry level publicly funded criminal work pays poorly, and Crown Prosecutors are also underpaid. If you get into privately paid business crime that can pay well. It's not uncommon for junior barristers practising criminal law to have private incomes which supplement the small amounts they are paid by the State.

My recently qualified nephew does mixed criminal and civil work, but it's the civil work that pays his rent. I do a version of business crime, but in the civil courts (lower standard of proof, yippee!), seeking to recover money from fraudsters via legal and equitable remedies. That is well paid work. I act for deep pocket victims (such as Governments) against deep pocket organised criminals (some of which are well known companies). I'm very senior, but I've brought the junior tenant in my chambers into my biggest case, so he is learning how to do what I do.

The criminal justice system has been starved of funding for years. There are not enough courts, not enough police, not enough judges, not enough probation officers, and not enough prison spaces. Many criminal courts are literally falling to pieces. Baroness Sue Carr, Lady Chief Justice, recently lambasted the Government for the wretched state of the criminal courts. She was right to do so.

Reply 7

sophiew555

Original post by Stiffy Byng

Entry level publicly funded criminal work pays poorly, and Crown Prosecutors are also underpaid. If you get into privately paid business crime that can pay well. It's not uncommon for junior barristers practising criminal law to have private incomes which supplement the small amounts they are paid by the State.
My recently qualified nephew does mixed criminal and civil work, but it's the civil work that pays his rent. I do a version of business crime, but in the civil courts (lower standard of proof, yippee!), seeking to recover money from fraudsters via legal and equitable remedies. That is well paid work. I act for deep pocket victims (such as Governments) against deep pocket organised criminals (some of which are well known companies). I'm very senior, but I've brought the junior tenant in my chambers into my biggest case, so he is learning how to do what I do.
The criminal justice system has been starved of funding for years. There are not enough courts, not enough police, not enough judges, not enough probation officers, and not enough prison spaces. Many criminal courts are literally falling to pieces. Baroness Sue Carr, Lady Chief Justice, recently lambasted the Government for the wretched state of the criminal courts. She was right to do so.

If I went to a big chamber such as Doughtystreet and did law there would it still be poorly paid or are some chambers better than others . Can criminal law pay well if it is privately done and how do you get into a private path

Reply 8

Stiffy Byng

Doughty Street does a variety of work with an emphasis on civil liberties and human rights. It has very competitive recruitment standards. Most if not all of the barristers who practise there are not primarily motivated by money.

In general, money is not a good reason to become a lawyer, and in particular a criminal lawyer. It is possible to do well financially as a lawyer, but if you only do the work for money you will not have a happy time.

Most criminal work is publicly funded. Privately paid criminal work tends to go to experienced lawyers. There are boutique law firms in London which focus on business crime.

Reply 9

sophiew555

Original post by Stiffy Byng

Doughty Street does a variety of work with an emphasis on civil liberties and human rights. It has very competitive recruitment standards. Most if not all of the barristers who practise there are not primarily motivated by money.
In general, money is not a good reason to become a lawyer, and in particular a criminal lawyer. It is possible to do well financially as a lawyer, but if you only do the work for money you will not have a happy time.
Most criminal work is publicly funded. Privately paid criminal work tends to go to experienced lawyers. There are boutique law firms in London which focus on business crime.

I’m really passionate for criminal law and I’m really interested in criminology but im scared that I won’t get in or if I do I won’t be able to make a living off it if they are paid minimally like you said and then end up having to find a new job or a job on the side