Career Clinic: Three years at the Bar and ready for a change

I actually did something very similar to what you are planning to do, but the other way round. I did an LLM straight after my law degree, worked for international organisations for a few years and then returned to the UK to try and qualify.

My advice to you would be to do the LLM full-time in one year, provided that you can support yourself financially for that long and use the time not just to study but to network with academics and other students while attempting to get some of your work published, which can help a lot. Securing an internship should be a piece of cake with your experience and qualifications, provided that you can speak another language with a certain degree of proficiency. Being five years qualified as opposed to three won’t make that much of a difference at this stage. Best of luck!

Jack of All Trades -06 Aug 2009 | 12:00

Aid worker

I have no idea about the European institutions, but can share some thoughts on international NGOs - I spent well over a decade working in that area before moving into the law.

Firstly, you probably need to be much more precise re. what sort of work you want to do for an international NGO.

You also need to think about where you want to work - UK/Europe/somewhere relatively calm/safe with good facilities... or really deep in the field.

And do you really intend to restrict yourself to NGOs, or are you also including UN agencies, the Red Cross, intergovernmental agencies (e.g. the OSCE etc.) in the mix?

On the assumption (which may not be correct) that you want to continue with some form of legal work, then some of your options may include:

i) Protection of civilians or refugees in armed conflict - in which case you would aim for organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross or UNHCR (High Commission for Refugees). You may also consider Medecins sans frontieres.

ii) Protection of human rights - in which case you might want to look at Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, OHCHR (UN High Commission for Human Rights).

iii) Building democratic institutions/ good governance etc. - in which case you might look towards OSCE, or DFID (Department for International Development).

iv) War crimes prosecutions - in which case it is the ICTY/ICTR or the ICC - or indeed the Special Court in Sierra Leone.

Once you have decided what sort of work to target, your biggest problem will be getting a foot in the door.

Many of those organisations offer internships - although you should realise that they are intensely competitive - as are any and all roles with the "quality" international organisations.

Your proposed Masters (with a specialisation in a relevant area)is likely to be considered a minimum entry requirement for these internships, rather than a competitive advantage. The fact that you have practiced criminal law may help (in particular for the ICC etc) - but your experience is comparatively short. Unfortunately (unless things have changed over the last few years) in the UN in particular nationality and sex matters - if you are male and Western European/North American things will be more difficult for you.

If you do not get an internship (or choose not to apply), the real dilemma you will face will be how to get your first experience in the field. When I used to recruit, I would regularly get several hundred applications for each field vacancy - of which only those with relevant field experience (1-5 years minimum, depending on the seniority of the post) would ever pass the first screening.

There are probably three well-trodden paths you might want to follow to get around this:

i) Go to the field with an entry-level (this does not imply bad quality) organisation. Have a look, for example, at Peace Brigades International. Spend a year or so with them, establish yourself and then "trade up" in-country.

ii) Take something in HQ of a mid-level organisation. You would be surprised how many of the administrative staff on 15k a year have masters in a relevant area. Do a good job, get seconded to the field in admin... then trade across into the interesting areas.

iii) Wait for a big crisis (Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur...) and just go out there and try your luck (but be careful - not recommended if you are not already a seasoned traveller).

I guess I could keep going on the subject for days.... but will leave it there for now.

Been there -06 Aug 2009 | 12:16

In addition to the advice being given here you could, while you are deciding what to do, do pro bono work with Advocates for International Development (A4ID). As well as potentially enhancing your CV with work relevant to NGOs it could help you establish relationships with NGOs as they are A4ID's typical clients. I know a city lawyer who did pro bono with them before a masters and who is now based in Africa with an NGO

Anonymous -06 Aug 2009 | 14:45

ABC

Well done on depriving any number of other deserving candidates of a pupillage and tenancy.

I assume money is not an issue with you otherwise you would not be so blase about walking away from the bar. You certainly will not get paid more at an NGO. No shortage of rich little boys and girls wanting to play Jesus to the lepers in their head (as Bono put it, and he certainly knows how to be "worthy").

Flim Flam -06 Aug 2009 | 14:55

Once again we have another venomous comment posted by a user who from the tone of their response I assume has been overlooked for a pupillage themselves. If I am wrong and you are in fact a practising barrister then I write with even less sympathy. Could it not simply be that after 3 years at the bar the poster is simply tired of the work they are doing and looking for a change…why is that so wrong. The level of self-absorption I constantly read from users in this forum is simply astounding at times….yes flim flam I’m talking about you!

Anonymous -07 Aug 2009 | 08:56

I have just completed the LLM at UCL in the academic year just gone i.e 2008/2009.

There were a number a of qualified lawyers on the course both from the EU and the UK who had the same career plan as yourself however, they were doing the LLM full time. They were all high class candidates with either legal experience at MC law firms or such as yourself a few years work experience at their respective bar.

Without trying to be negative not one of them has been successful in finding a job at an NGO or EU institution. They are all regretting leaving practice now as, although they were all fed up, they still had some form income and a career.

Given their experiences if I was in your position I would do the LLM part time, keep practicing at the bar and try to find a new job as you go along.

Hope this helps and good luck.

UCL - LLM Student -07 Aug 2009 | 14:10

TO FLIM FLAM - I could not agree more with "anonymous" and his criticism of you. These posts are supposed to be about constructive help for persons and their careers. If you want vent your frustrations about you own personal shortcomings going and do it somewhere else such as the rollonfriday website!!

Anonymous -07 Aug 2009 | 14:21

See my post above...

UCL Student & OP...

See my long post above re. how hard it is to get into international aid work. You really have either to get lucky, or be prepared to grind it out at the very bottom (secretarial/ admin work) for a couple years to get your break.

Re money & aid work... although NGOs pay quite low salaries compared to the private sector (and rightly so), you would be surprised how well you can do financially in aid work, particularly if you do not have dependents, and do not have to maintain a house in your home country concurrently with one abroad. A decent UN job may get you, say £80,000 per year, but you will not pay tax on this (although the UN has a form of "contribution" system instead)... but on top of this all your living expenses are paid, and there is not much else to splash out on in the countries in which you can work. The consequence is that you save say £5,000 per month.... which after 5 years will leave you will a pretty decent nest-egg.

Re the "trustefarians" that Flim Flam alluded to - I think they may populate "volunteer" overseas aid work - but I have not seen them in the professional sector - you would struggle to find a more diverse set of cultures, backgrounds, nationalities, beliefs etc. in any other walk of life.

Aid Worker -07 Aug 2009 | 15:05

@ Been there

Andrew, is that you?

JT next door -07 Aug 2009 | 15:41

Oh yeah, looking for a change after 3 years. Disappointing that he/she did not raise that with chambers before joining. I am pleased to say that the pupillage committee I sit on has (so far) managed to weed out individuals like this.
Constructive career advice? Maybe he/she should have sought that before coming to the bar. So here is some advice - tell whatever NGO you end up at that you will probably walk away after three years because you will "have had enough". Still, whatever humanitarian crisis comes around to help you further your career may not last three years anyway.

flim flam -07 Aug 2009 | 16:38

Not so easy....

I'm afraid the sanguine comment by Jack of all Trades that, "Securing an internship should be a piece of cake with your experience and qualifications" is hopelessly misplaced, at least if, by "European Institutions" you mean the EC in Brussels or the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. To put it bluntly, hacking around the lower courts dealing with twockers and dysfunctional families will not be regarded as remotely relevant experience for drafting and advising on legislation or conducting judicial review cases in the European Court in Luxembourg.

The EC institutions have an internship scheme, but competition for places is extremely fierce, comparable to that for pupillage in a good set, and most lawyer candidates have a postgraduate degree in European law from somewhere like the College of Europe in Bruges. Furthermore, unlike pupillage, even if you secure an internship (which only lasts 5-6 months) it cannot lead directly to a permanent post. This is only possible through an examination, a lengthy process where you would be up against thousands of candidates for one of a couple of hundred posts.

Provided your proposed LLM involves a sufficient amount of EC law, this could be a first step along the road you want to take, but it will only give you a small chance of making the change you desire, so don't give up the day job.

It would be easier for you to develop your skills in an area of practice that interests you and is less vulnerable to public funding squeezes and then try to move to a better set of chambers.

Eurolawyer -10 Aug 2009 | 10:45

Pity the poor clerk.

Harold Rubin -20 Aug 2009 | 20:19

I agree with flim flam.

Anonymous -22 Aug 2009 | 16:37

op

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice.

To everyone else, if I needed moral guidance, I'd go and see a priest! Perhaps you should be considering alternate careers yourselves...

op -09 Sep 2009 | 01:58