Career Clinic: I'm not happy with the practice area I'm qualifying into

A recruiter's perspective

Mark my words on this - every day you remain in a particular area of law decreases your chances of ever being able to move into a different area of law. It is that simple.

You need to try and move right now. Your value as a lawyer is your working knowledge of the area and construction is in no way relevant to either family or employment law. You won’t stand a chance of ever moving if you don’t do it now.

I speak to so many candidates who expect recruiters to be magicians capable of performing impossible tricks – "find me a new job that I’m in no way qualified to do, please. I want a change". I’ll tell you what I tell them: It’s never going to happen.

I’m also going to assume that someone will post an anecdotal example of how they moved from doing corporate tax into straight corporate and they’ll therefore tell you that 'anything’s possible'. Ignore that person, they’re the exception not the rule and listening to them is a massive mistake.

Move right now or you’re doomed to a life as an unhappy, unsatisfied construction lawyer.

Wynder -28 Jan 2010 | 17:28

What's wrong with construction law? It's varied (front-end, disputes and potential exposure to project finance). It's not heavily jurisdiction-based whilst the sums involved are usually substantial - I'd take construction over family/employment anytime!!

Construction Lawyer -29 Jan 2010 | 02:35

Although it can seem frustrating now to be qualifying into an area which you don't think suits you, construction could actually be a rather good choice. Admittedly, there is no real cross over between family or employment, but it is one 'specialism' where you get the chance to do contentious and non-contentious work and, consequently, you are giving yourself a very good chance of being able to shift into something later on which you think is a better 'fit'. I am a construction lawyer but - like you - started as an NQ believing that it wasn't something which I would naturally gravitate towards. It has however given me the opportunity to work on a huge range of fascinating projects and cases which I would not have done had I qualified into my "first choice" of IP litigation. Give it a go: you might be surprised and enjoy it.

ANON -29 Jan 2010 | 09:45

Your options

I agree with Wynder, it is very difficult to move specialisms the longer you are qualified.

I have been trying to move from my area for a couple of years with no luck - square peg and round holes have prevented me throughout.

You may be able to sidle away from construction - eg into arbitration and then onto international law, but you would have to be very lucky.

Go now - employment issues arise quite a lot in construction so I do do not see that as a huge jump (especially with the very topical TUPE issues affecting subcontracted works and outstanding works being transferred from insolvent contractors/sub-contractors) but family is a world away and you need to make your move now if that is your chosen destination.

Good luck but I anticipate, unfortunatelty, you will end up a frustrated construction lawyer (as there any types?)

Strider -29 Jan 2010 | 09:49

Doh!

What are you doing with a wife and two kids and a mortgage as a NQ? Poor planning or you just didn't use contraception? With a wife and kids to support, and the possibility of repossession, you better get yourself into big-ticket M&A or equity derivatives.

Investment Banker -29 Jan 2010 | 11:23

Bit late now...

Investment Banker - what makes you assume this question is coming from a man? It could equally be a woman.

In response to the original question - it's unfortunate, but it seems you left it a bit late to explore the areas you are interested in. If you enjoyed employment at law school, why did you not request to do an employment seat earlier in your training contract? And if you are interested in family law, why did you not choose a firm with a family department?

On a more positive note, I agree with the posters above re. making a move as soon as you can. Obviously it is difficult with a family to support but it is worth putting feelers out to recruitment consultants sooner rather than later - if only to see if there are opportunities out there in departments you'd rather be in. If you're not enjoying construction now, you're unlikely to love it after a year or two and you'll just have wasted time.

Associate -29 Jan 2010 | 12:00

I agree with the poster above querying why you didn't choose a firm with strong family and/or employment practices. In addition, if you didn't do family or employment seats in your TC you will be out of date and might not even enjoy the practice as much as you think. However, you are where you are and now you have to be pragmatic.

Talk to recruitment agencies and try to get a job in employment/family. I suspect this will be difficult with no TC experience, but it's worth a try. The second thing to consider is that we are in a poor market for NQs and you have a "bird in the hand". You know what your family and financial commitments are, so if you need to take the job you've been offered, take it and MAKE it interesting!

Anonymous -29 Jan 2010 | 12:18

I feel people are being a bit harsh. First, firms with strong family practices which can also fund a TC are hard to come by. Then, there is always the issue of not getting the seat you may be interested in. Employment is always a very popular one.

As for the actual query, well I understand how you may feel, I also qualified in an area which was not my first choice. Many 2009-10 NQs are in this situation. I suspect there will be quite a lot of people looking to work in different areas in the coming years. In the meantime, you need to be able to show your commitment to your chosen area of practice. Have you been keeping up to date with case law/legislative development in the past few months or since you have finished your LPC? Employment law has changed dramatically over the past year, and it is worth maybe signing up for a course to be up to date. Also, make sure you sign up for updates from Lawtel and PLC.

Also, I was told that the first year post-qualification is the hardest. You may just be suffering from NQ blues, so maybe give yourself a few more months before ruling construction out.

Good luck.

NQ -29 Jan 2010 | 13:05

Changing externally is a nightmare. I also tried to change in my own firm after working with another department. The partner in the other department was very supportive, the head of this other department very supportive but one partner flat out refused so the move couldn't go through - even though they then recruited laterals. It is really difficult to move. People would rather take an NQ than an experienced lawyer even if you agree to lose PQE and pay.

Move asap.

- -29 Jan 2010 | 14:19

I was in a similar position to you. I qualified in 2001 when the market was quite bad for NQs. I was being pushed to go into banking. I wanted to do employment (based on the fact that I enjoyed it during my LPC) but hadn't been able to do employment law during my LPC (contrary to what other posters have written, I don't think you are always in a position to obtain a tc with strong family/employment departments or to insist that you do a seat in that department. Employment is always a popular seat).

I took a year out and took an LLM in employment law and managed to persuade a small firm to take me on to do employment after the LLM. I appreciate that taking a year out may not be possible with your family commitments. There are distance learning courses in employment law though which may convince a law firm of your desire to practise in this area. There is also the opportunity to do pro bono work in employment law (such as legal advice centres) which could give you some exposure to this work to see if you like it.

I agree with those who say that you should move sooner rather than later. I have friends who were unhappy with the field they qualified into but found it hard to move when they had worked in that field for several years.

Everyone told me I wouldn't be able to find a job in employment as I hadn't done a seat in it. Although it was tough, I am glad I made the switch.

Employment Lawyer -31 Jan 2010 | 22:55

Grrr

I was prompted to respond to this after reading "Doh"'s ridiculous comment.

Many people come to law as a second career choice with mortgages and children. What Doh seems to have missed is that aside from the intellectual satisfaction of law, it actually pays substantially better even as a NQ than other professions notwithstanding the area you qualify in.

Doh seems to have missed the point of the author's quandry. It is a concern about qualification area, not financial resources. Perhaps Doh should learn to read an article correctly instead of concentrating on irrelevant detail. This is a highly important skill to any lawyer.

Vaughan -01 Feb 2010 | 11:09

Maybe Vaughan should take a leaf out of his/her own book and read "Doh's" contribution more carefully -- the comments are in fact those of Investment Banker, whose tongue is never far from cheek...

OP: I think you should stick at it for a year and learn the basic skills (drafting, negotiating, case management etc.) which are going to be similar wherever you end up, while keeping up to speed with developments in employment law. At 1 PQE, recruitment consultants found me a choice of moves into a new area(I was in consumer litigation and could have gone into competition or bank regulatory), though admittedly I had to drop 6 months PQE to do so.

Encolpius -01 Feb 2010 | 15:55

Sdxism

Investment Banker said: "What are you doing with a wife and two kids and a mortgage as a NQ? Poor planning or you just didn't use contraception? With a wife and kids to support, and the possibility of repossession, you better get yourself into big-ticket M&A or equity derivatives."

Associate responded: "Investment Banker - what makes you assume this question is coming from a man? It could equally be a woman."

Isn't Associate being a tad sexist here? Investment Banker's post is gender-neutral and his comments apply whether he is talking about a man with a wife or a woman with a wife.

Tsk!

Sam -01 Feb 2010 | 16:18

Do not take any notice of these ridiculous comments. I qualified whilst at a high street firm and practised (amongst other things) criminal law. I knew I wanted to move into commercial law and jumped ship to another firm after almost one year PQE.

It is possible to move areas but I would suggest you aim at smaller firms and gain some experience before moving on. Larger firms tend to have the 'pick of the bunch' It does put you back a bit in terms of PQE but for me it was worth it.

It is very important that you do this now though.

An NQ who jumped ship. -01 Feb 2010 | 16:35

Changes

I qualified in 2003 when the market was bad for NQs in certain areas (corporate, employment, IP/IT) but strong in others (real esate, construction, property). That resulted in a lot of people in my intake taking their second choice. I moved from Projects to IP/IT after nine months. I was hired on the basis that I had a good grounding in commercial contracts. Others in my year moved from financial services regulatory to employment; from real estate to in-house commercial and from real estate to the public prosecution service. SO, if you are a strong candidate, you will be able to make the switch but try to do it within your first year (which is mainly about transitioning from trainnee to qualified fee earner and less about perfecting technical skills).

Anonymous -02 Feb 2010 | 16:59

Analyse why

The main thing I’d ask you to consider is why do you fancy the move? Family and employment makes me think that it might be advocacy, or something equally specific? In which case, go for it as soon as you can. Be aware both can be tough though, with some ridiculous clients at times. But if that’s where your heart is, go!

That said, if it’s a more woolly “quite liked it at law school” or general disappointment at not having tried it, or a “not really enjoying being a NQ grunt” then I’m not sure I’d be so keen on the move – there’s a huge difference between law school and law firm, and arguably a bigger one again between TC and PQ. That all said, you’re only going to be able to move if there is a job, and you’d be well advised to think about where that job is as you’ll be giving up a couple of years service and a bit of redundancy protection to make the switch. Plus you’ll likely be on a six-month trial – so take out the payment protection insurance on your mortgage (and similar) before you switch...

Stupot -03 Feb 2010 | 14:22