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Career Clinic: Will voluntary redundancy look bad on my CV?
"My firm recently announced that they're planning to make a number of people redundant in my team, and it's been made known that they'd like people to come forward voluntarily. Until now I hadn't been looking to leave, but this has confirmed my suspic...
19 Jan 2012 | 17:03 | 16 comments
Career Clinic: The best of 2011
A look back at some of the best Career Clinic dilemmas from 2011 - a year which saw heated debate over the problems of working in an all-female team, office bullying, turning down a magic circle job and secret pregnancies.
12 Dec 2011 | 15:05
Career Clinic: When's the best time to tell my firm I'm leaving?
"I am a recent law graduate who started a paralegal job this summer. However, I have now been offered a training contract to start in September 2013 with a fantastic London firm. I have decided to do my LPC part-time starting January next year, alongs...
08 Dec 2011 | 11:49 | 7 comments
Career Clinic: Is quitting private practice for a goverment legal job worth the gamble?
I am a 6PQE solicitor and have worked and trained exclusively in private practice (property law). I am stagnating a bit in my current role and am considering a change to the Government Legal Service (GLS)...
14 Nov 2011 | 00:00 | 8 comments
Career Clinic: Is my boss entitled to ask me to keep my pregnancy a secret?
"If your boss asks you to do something, and even if you regard that request as unreasonable, I'm not sure a flat refusal due to legal or contractual reasons will go down super well. If everything was as simple as 'refer to the law and you'll find the...
03 Nov 2011 | 00:00 | 13 comments
Career Clinic: Will my commercial City training be any use to get into a 'grittier' law career?
I'm completing my TC at a very reputable City firm. However, (as awful as this sounds) I only really applied for training contacts with commercial firms so I would get funding for the LPC. I would really love to work in a grittier area of the law on q...
20 Oct 2011 | 13:30 | 4 comments
Career Clinic: Should I turn down a magic circle job to pursue my tech law ambitions?
Should I leave the firm I'm at and try to qualify into this area at a different firm, or would this be a bad idea? Should I just stick with what I have? Maybe try to move in a few years?
07 Oct 2011 | 15:21 | 14 comments
Career Clinic: How can I get into a business development role in law?
"I have been married to the legal profession for more than eight years, starting way back when as a paralegal, before eventually moving to a fee earner role in commercial litigation with a national top-tier firm, while at the same time undertaking an ...
23 Sep 2011 | 13:57 | 9 comments
Career Clinic: TC cancelled at the last minute - what next?
"I was due to start my training contract at a law firm on 1 September. Unfortunately, they contacted me a couple of days before I was due to start and informed me that they could no longer honour my TC as they were in financial difficulty. I now have ...
08 Sep 2011 | 00:00 | 11 comments
Career Clinic: Will taking a year out at 2PQE be career suicide?
"I am a 1.5 PQE solicitor at a top 10 firm. I reached the decision a few months ago that I no longer wish to remain at my firm due to various reasons and started speaking to recruiters about other opportunities. "I have since decided that I would l...
01 Sep 2011 | 15:29 | 8 comments
Career Clinic: Will unconventional A-levels see me shut out of a career in law?
"I understand there have already been some posts published concerning the importance of A-level grades, but my situation is rather unique, so do hear me out. "I am a mature student set to start an LLB at a good Russell Group uni. I have already ach...
25 Aug 2011 | 17:11 | 10 comments
Career Clinic: Will working in legal aid hurt my commercial law ambitions?
"I lost my job at a regional firm when I was 1PQE. I did not enjoy the niche practice area I was working in, so I saw it as an opportunity to move into a different area of commercial law. However, I found it very difficult to change practice areas, pa...
11 Aug 2011 | 11:39 | 5 comments
Career Clinic: Bullied - do I stay or do I go?
"I'm 2PQE at a top 25 firm. The pay isn't great and the firm is not that highly recognised in the department that I am in, but the hours are not crazy so I am able to have a bit of a life - a bonus in the City!
25 Jul 2011 | 00:00 | 16 comments
Career Clinic: Has my career break made me less marketable?
"I qualified in 2008 from a large regional practice in the northwest. Since then I have had a career break of three years as I had a baby. I am now trying to secure an NQ position in employment law. "Agencies refuse to take on my CV (I think becaus...
18 Jul 2011 | 00:00 | 16 comments
Career Clinic: Should I follow my boss to a US firm in London?
"I'm a 2PQE associate at a UK top 50 firm in London, where I qualified. I'm generally pretty happy where I am; the work as yet hasn't been mind-numbing and the firm's been pretty good to me so far - I'm still able to have something of a personal life ...
11 Jul 2011 | 00:00 | 7 comments
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