Career Clinic: Can a long-term paralegal make it as a lawyer?

Does the LPC 'expire' at all? I know a degree will be considered 'stale' after seven years.You really should have been making applications long before now but you should be in a fairly good position to gain a training contract given that you've gained around six years and fifty one weeks more experience than most potential trainees.

Bap -18 May 2009 | 09:57

First of all, congrats on achieving a distinction. BUT what on earth have you been doing regarding training contract applications for 7 years+?!?! Subject to your LPC not being "out of date", you can get a training contract if...and only IF you get your story straight as to why you haven't got a training contract in years after your LPC. It sounds harsh, but that is what HR will ask. It has to be plausible and show you in a good light. Now, ask the Law Society about your LPC status and if they say it's still good, get your backside into gear and formulate a strategy regarding your applications. Good luck.

Metallica -18 May 2009 | 11:25

The LPC doesn't expire, but a law degree does (so if you want to do the LPC, you need to make sure you do in time - I think it is 6 or 7 years). Once you have the LPC, you can wait as long as you like to get a training contract, assuming you can get one when you start applying. I would have said your experience would be more important than when you did the LPC.

Helen -18 May 2009 | 16:35

With your experience it sounds like you will be able to offer a great deal more than the usual trainee. Before looking externally, have you considered trying to train where you are? As you have passed the LPC and have gained practical legal experience you could, if finding a training contract proves problematical, consider qualification without following a training contract by following the ILEX route (from memory this is discretionary so should not be your preferred method).

Anonymous -18 May 2009 | 17:28

Your in-house media connection will be of greatest interest to any firm that you apply to - make the most of this and what you have been doing whilst there and the question "why has it taken you so long" will be easily answered. Best of luck

Minnie -18 May 2009 | 17:37

If I was you... I would seriously consider the ILEX route. ILEX are currently restructuring their membership grades. Having the LPC you would be a Graduate Member. You will then have to satisfy the 5 years legal employment, 2 of which must be after Membership qualification before you could upgrade to Fellowship. However, you can apply for a waiver of the 2 years post membership legal employment. Over a period of 10 years I worked at various levels (legal secretary/paralegal/fee earner) and I was granted the waiver without any issue on applying for Fellowship.I then went on to do both the GDL and LPC and recently dual qualified as a Solicitor at age 31.Good Luck!

Anonymous -18 May 2009 | 18:37

My degree is out-of-date but it was never ever worth the paper it was written on anyway. I was told a few years ago to write to law firms in Scotland to see if I could be accepted for a three-year trainee diplomaship - I applied for two offers of traineeship recently to no avail. I have more legal knowledge and experience in my pinkie than most lawyers who have the LPC - but it appears a current degree is the be all and end all of the legal profession. I would, in your shoes, go for the TC. If you managed to get your degree (bear in mind it is the same degree course and subjects taught in all universities using more or less the same books, with the same contents pages and indexes) there should be no reason why it should be a material factor that your degree is out-of-date - the law has not exactly progressed! As for HR - afraid it will be pot luck! Apply wide for the TC - only prejudice, bias and discrimination can stop you getting something if you are already practising in a given area!

ANON -19 May 2009 | 04:04

I was 37 when I began my TC; admittedly this was immediately after completing the LPC, but many years of previous commecial work experience made many firms interested in me. You have many years of practical legal experience, so go for it! You may wish to optimise your chances by applying to firms specialising in media work and I am sure someone will snap you up. It sounds as if maybe a lack of confidence is holding you back, but consider this - who would you rather employ: a mature person with a bag of practical experience of the real working world or a clueless twenty-something with a degree taken in a time where they are handed out like confetti. I know who I would choose...

Annon -19 May 2009 | 12:00

Surely your first bet would be to ask you current employer to consider giving you a training contract in order to let you qualify. If they value you, they would have no earthly reason for saying no - a win-win for both of you. If they only do media and so cannot offer you all the seats you need, this has an easy remedy. As you are in-house, it is obviously a fairly large organisation and therefore will probably instruct externally on big matters. Ask these firms to let you 'second' for one of your seats e.g. property. If you are a good client, they will say yes, and if not, you could offer that whilst you are there, one of their trainees comes to you - all the 'green' trainees who think media law is the be-all and end-all will jump at the chance!

Anonymous -19 May 2009 | 12:33

It appears that your current position is an exact copy of my own! Fortunately I secured the TC and am now qualified. The LPC is still valid indefinitely but it's best to double-check with the SRA in case the rules have changed. Be prepared to be grilled as to the reason you still have not secured the TC - be honest, but also constructive in the response and not negative/bitter. Do speak to your current employer as well as the traditional private practice route. Recognise that this maybe the last push, so work hard on the applicaiton and meeting HR/partners to discuss your application. The feeling that this may be the last chance may push you harder and increase your focus. I was a paralegal for about 5-6 years and I knew someone from a big firm that did it for 7-8 years post-LPC, so it can happen.

Anonymous -19 May 2009 | 12:41

Be realistic. You might have experience, maturity, some specialist skills and client contacts, all of which should help. But you didn't get a TC first time round, for one reason or another - have you established why, and have you addressed that problem? Now, the standards are higher. Firms are deferring trainees because of the slump. You will have to work for associates who are the same age or younger than you, and even if you are comfortable with this the firm may worry their associates will not be. There is also a stigma attached to being a long-term paralegal, suggesting a lack of ambition or ability. Crack on and have a go by all means, and good luck to you, but I wouldn't order the champagne just yet.

Dullard -19 May 2009 | 23:29

The concern most partners interviewing you will have, is how you managed to stomach being a paralegal for seven years. Remember, if you had got a TC you would be 5 years pqe now, running deals/transactions/cases with limited partner supervision. You will need to explain to them how you have progressed your role in the last 7 years if you are going to convince them you have not already peaked. If you've been applying sporadically, that implies you have not been desperate to get out of what most lawyers would find more mind-numbing, irritating, and less well-paid then being a lawyer. Do you manage a large team and have associate type responsibility? If so, bring this out to explain why you've been happy to sit back for so long.

Associate type -21 May 2009 | 14:20

Degree expires?

What law dictates that a law degree expires after seven years? I'm doing some research on the matter.

Sandra C. -16 Sep 2010 | 02:57