Career Clinic: Would a job at a small regional firm be a step backwards?

Do it...

Is anything better going to come up soon? If not, I would take it. In normal times, it might not be the ideal stepping stone back into a larger firm, but at times like these you can get the edge on the competition just by keeping working and not letting your training go to waste.

Take it. Make sure you keep tabs on former colleagues/contacts and developments (legal and otherwise) that might be relevant when the time comes to move back. Keep focused on a possible move back and make the most of the opportunity you have now. Good luck!

Assistant X -09 Dec 2009 | 11:36

I agree with the previous poster. Take the job if there is nothing else on the horizon.

Look at it as positive. If you wait and hold out for that elusive job and it does not materialise soon, you will then be competing with March 2010 or September 2010 qualifiers. This pool of job seekers will be slowly bigger and bigger and your odds of success will decline. By starting work now you will be a band of limited 2009 NQs so in a few years time when matters improve, you should find you are competing within a small pool and so greater chance of success.

It's always better to get relevant experience and move on than nothing and clutching at straws.

Anonymous -09 Dec 2009 | 12:24

A recruiter's perspective

Your question is fair but as you rightly point out the state of the NQ recruitment market is really very poor. The question is whether or not you have a second option? If your only other option is to throw yourself back in with the rest of the redundant NQs in the hope of finding something else, you’d be mad not to take this job.

The second thing I would encourage you to ask yourself is why you want to become a lawyer? Is it because you have a passion for the law and solving legal issues or did you decide to be a lawyer because you like the idea of working in the City, wearing flashy suits and making loads of cash (which is a perfectly reasonable motivation incidentally). If you want to be a lawyer then take the job, if you want to work in the City and make loads of cash then don’t take the job as you won’t be happy and start looking for alternative career paths within the City. It’s higher risk but I’m sure you’re smart enough to make it happen.

Michael -09 Dec 2009 | 12:28

Take it

Take it and gain some relevant experience. In two or three years' time, think again whether you still want to move back to the City - which you may well not want to. There is a fair chance that by then, major firms will again be recruiting (maybe even heavily). Given the current move away from associate lockstep towards performance-based systems, maybe your time outside the City will not be fully appreciated remuneration-wise in the first place, but you should be able to make up for that quickly.

Anon -09 Dec 2009 | 14:04

Take it and learn from it

Believe it or not, you'll learn things at a smaller firm you'd never learn in the City. More small matters means more file opening, client care letters, negotiating fees, better client contact, more expected of you in terms of BD. Even though you do this in a less sophisticated environment, it will still be useful at a larger firm. You'll also get the chance to see your area of law in a more general perspective, simply because there aren't squads of still-more specialised lawyers in the same firm. Take the job and make the most of it. If there's an upturn, lawyers at your level of PQE will be like gold dust, and you should be able to work your way back in.

Anonymous -09 Dec 2009 | 16:16

Go for it

I trained at and worked for a regional firm before moving to the City for a number of years and have now returned to "the Regions". I would take the job provided it's with a decent firm and you are comfortable with both the standard of work you will be doing and the supervision/mentoring you will get.

Based on my experience you will get a lot more responsibility and client contact as well as the opportunity to develop contacts and do BD work outside of London. Chances are you may well develop faster and get broader experience than an NQ being beasted on specific tasks on large cases. Who knows, you might even prefer things in the Sticks!

Anon -09 Dec 2009 | 16:18

Leave it alone

Your question answers itself. Walk away. This isn't what you want and you clearly are not what the regional firm wants. There has been a great deal of press given to the self-interest of City firms only looking to protect their PEP. Your attitude is as selfish, looking after number 1, without a thought to the time and attention a regional firm has put into its recruitment and will have to shower on a City trainee just to remind you that the law is more than collating documents, proofreading and being a gopher. There is someone somewhere who really wants that job, wants to work in that region and with that firm. Don't forget, there is always a danger that you may find that you actually enjoy the work, the people and the lifestyle so much so that you wont be tempted back into the City or to a firm where all they do care about is PEP. I doubt it if you are constantly looking over your shoulder waiting for the City to reopen. As a final point, ever wonder why you were selected when others weren't, or why you can't get a job when there are jobs available? Time to make a choice and not look at what may have been.

Optimist -09 Dec 2009 | 17:14

Take it. It's work. The firm will gloat about having a lawyer who trained in the City, so don't worry about them.
The post about lawyers at your level being like gold dust in the future is right; those with experience will be in short supply. It was always possible to move from the sticks to the City if you had the skills they wanted, albeit the movement is mostly in the opposite direction, but when the market picks up should be even easier.

What's your alternative? McDonalds? Charity work? Unemployment? Must be better than that.

Anonymous -11 Dec 2009 | 17:14

Hells bells, what is wrong with smaller firms? I specialise in commercial property and moved four years ago to a high street firm in Solihull after a stretch with a Legal 500 firm in the Midlands. I have become a far more complete solicitor since my move. The other posters are right. Yes it will kiss goodbye to a career in a larger regional firm or in the City. But you will get better hands on experience and more responsibility at an earlier stage in your career. Also, your clients will need more hand holding.

Make sure they have a route to the future that includes how they will compete with the ABS/Tesco law, and getting a quality mark e.g. Lexcel if they have not got one now. Make sure they are not too dependent on referred work and work where there is competition from others. Otherwise you may find the firm does not have a solid business model and the job leads to a dead end.

Good luck, and enjoy the challenge. It will not be like a larger firm in any respect, but you might enjoy it, especially if you go in with an open mind.

High Street Solicitor -11 Dec 2009 | 19:25

Isn't work currency enough for you?
I'd kill for a job in a practice area I would like after 10 months of unemployment. Be bloody grateful.

Anon -13 Dec 2009 | 13:43