PARALEGALS are in danger of being edged out of a shrinking jobs market as recruiters offer positions to those who have had their training contracts deferred.
Hannah Jackson, a senior recruitment consultant at Hays Legal specialising in placing paralegals said: “We’re only looking at candidates who have training contracts. It’s sad because you see so many cases of wasted talent who can’t get the experience they need on their CV.”
This will come as a blow to students who are already struggling to win training contracts in the troubled market.
Yvonne Robinson, who is studying the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at BPP Law School, said: “Paralegal positions are only being offered to deferred trainees, which means there are less opportunities for LPC graduates who want to gain experience to secure a training contract.”
The news comes after exclusive research by The Lawyer’s sister magazine Lawyer 2B showed that many top City firms have slashed the number of paralegals they are hiring.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has cut its paralegal ranks by nearly 30 per cent – from 94 in 2008 down to 66 this year – while Linklaters has slashed its paralegal workforce by 23 per cent from 43 to 33.
Allen & Overy has bucked this trend, and now has 146 paralegals this year compared with 150 in 2008.
Clifford Chance, which had 110 paralegals in London last year, was unable to confirm the number it currently employs.
It’s not surprising that paralegals are taking the brunt of fee-earner redundancies in firms where they are seen as support staff. This is likely to change in the next seven or so years when the number of paralegal
fee-earners in the profession outstrips the number of solicitors.
I am sure the paralegal numbers at CC will be reduced given that they intend to use indian paralegals going forward. Let’s hope that CC treats the indian paralegals with some respect and doesn’t use and abuse them then bully them out of the firm – which CC is very good at.
How does this make sense? Someone who has been deferred will be with the firm for a year or a few months at best, this means that time and money is spent training somoeone who isn’t going to stay. Surely it would make more sense to recruit someone who is actually going to stay with the firm and even progress to a training contract.
Once again recruitment agencies have shown that they are, quite clearly, idiots who know nothing of recruitment. A candidate who has been deferred will be of no use to a firm as they’re not going to stay long enough to build up any decent experience and have no commitment to the firm other than a year at maximum.
Of course let’s not forget that ‘being a paralegal is detrimental to your career prospects’.
The truth is that a paralegal leaving the firm within a year is likely to be seen as a benefit rather than a detriment to most legal firms. Law firms don’t want paralegals acquiring employment rights.
I have the greatest sympathy for those who have done the LPC and require a paralegal postion in order to gain experience,.However one might question why they have not secured a training contract by the time they have finished their LPC.
Those who have been deferred obviously have the qualities that law firms are looking for, they have proven their merit (mostly without working as a paralegal). I appreciate that competition is intensely tough, but those graduating from the LPC this year should have been applying for graduate roles two years ago, before the job cuts etc. I mean no disrespect to any of the great candidates out there finishing the LPC without a tc, but if you haven’t acquired a tc by now and are reliant upon gaining experience as a paralegal to get one, perhaps it is worth asking why you have not been able to get a tc thus far.
This trend only reflects the junior end of the market when candidates have limited experience. A training contract can be a differentiating factor when employers are faced with a barrage of CVs and it is inevitable that employers will rely on these factors in such a challenging economy.
Whilst the news is very disturbing and everyone can pour scorn on the recruitment agencies, they are only representing their clients – the law firms. HR from law firms say what they want and the recruitment agencies abide by it. The recruitment agencies do not look out for candidates!
If you finish the LPC without a training contract, you do need paralegal work to gain experience and prove your worth. That’s how I secured my training contract.
I see there’s no response from BPP or College of Law who are supposed to help candidates who have not secured training contracts.
Most people finishing the LPC don’t have training contracts already and many candidates can (gasp) improve over time and so are more attractive prospects after finishing the LPC.
I know a huge number of people who would have made average candidates two years ago but are not much better due to having gained further qualifications and experience which has improved their ability substantially.
Not everyone has the money to ‘prove their merit’ by looking after a horse/backpacking around the world/running from one end of Uganda to the other, which seem to be the way that many trainees prove their supposed worth. That means that a paralegal position can be a great opportunity for someone to show their actual legal ability and make them more marketable.
In response to:
Anonymous | 26-May-2009 5:08 pm
I agree this is a fair comment.
However you should first of all remind yourself of the numbers involved. We are talking 3,000-4,000 applicants for 30 TCs sometimes in London.
The competition isn’t fierce: it’s insane.
Some students (like myself) studied for their undergraduate degree, full time GDL + LPC struggling with constraints of a job, perhaps living (like myself) in expensive London with the job and/or loan for only financial support, etc.
These people, despite fine time management, simply haven’t got as much time and/or peace of mind as others who, still living with their parents in say Hampstead, have got nothing to worry about but their TC applications.
These people (like myself) have therefore not had the same amount of time to invest in the research, filtering, and application process – let alone having extracurricular activities and or sports to impress firms with.
They may chose to apply to many firms paying superficial attention to their words, or they may, (again, like myself) chose a smaller sample of firms and make the best applications possible. But they do not -unless by making sleep optional- end up with the same odds of getting a TC.
Although I do not disagree with your comment in itself, I think it is good to be reminded that students supporting themselves do not only end up with slimmer chances: they prove everyday that they have as much -if not more-motivation, stamina and flexibility as anyone who does have a TC on time.
Talent and employability are not the only variables! Time is always a huge factor.
As an “in house” employer I usually run a mile from anyone with a training contract deferred from an MC firm. They are normally braying idiots with no common sense or commercial flair – much like the law firms that will ultimately employ them ….. Give me a back to work mum or a hard working “new university” student any day ….
Re: Anonymous | 26-May-2009 5:08 pm
I am surprised that you feel that people who complete the LPC without a TC are incapable and unsuited to a career in law.
The competition for TC is fierce as there are more good candidates out there than jobs.
You would be safer taking each application on its merit rather than making broadbrush generalisations.
Let’s remember that being a paralegal is certainly not the only way of getting extra legal experience for your cv. Volunteer at your local Citizens Advice Bureau or (as a number of my firends have done) go and work for a financial ombudsman or similar.
To: Anonymous | 26-May-2009 12:42 pm
I agree, CC’s seem to treat their perm paralegals in such an appaling manner they are forced out. They then employ lots of qualified lawyers from South Africa or Australia on a temporary contract via an agency to carry out tasks the perm people could do. These temporary employees also get paid more than the perm staff! Its terrible. CC’s also seem to have more paralegal managers, supervisors etc. than actual paralegals. These dead wood should have gone in the recent redundancies.
In response to Malta Kano | 27-May-2009 1:32 pm:
If you can’t even spell ‘choose’ how do you expect to get a training contract?
Re: Anonymous | 26-May-2009 5:08 pm
Thank you for your stunningly ignorant comment. I am about to complete the LPC and I still do not have a TC. I guess I’m just not good enough.
But wait, I am. I know I am. Over the past year, I’ve been in classes with people who have been funded throughout their education by their parents. That is fine, I have no problem with that whatsoever. I, on the other hand, have to had to take loans out for everything and work part-time to be able to eat and sleep somewhere with a bed. Again, that is not a problem for me – I chose (note the correct spelling) this career and I’ll work as hard as I need to.
My problem is this. These people who I have shared classes with are going to some of the biggest and most prestigious firms. However (and I base this purely on my own experiences) these people are appalling communicators, far too academic and, quite honestly, arrogant. Corporate clients are likely to be unimpressed by their attitudes and they will struggle to work in a team environment. On the bright side, I now know which firms I definitely do not want to work for.
Anonymous | 27-May-2009 4:13 pm (the in-house employer)
Fantastic attitude. I went to a new university and we are brilliant!! I don’t suppose you’re hiring paralegals at the moment? 🙂
If you haven’t got a training contract by the end of the LPC you should seriously consider a change in career or set your sights lower.
Ryan K, do you not appreciate the irony of laying into one poster that said people without tc’s at the end of the lpc might not be strong enough candidates and then praising another poster for making an equally (in my opinion even more obvious) sweeping statement about another MC future trainees?
To that poster, can you elaborate on what you mean by commercial flair, as the one thing the MC firms have always put across to me when I have seen them is that they take it for granted that you are very bright, and that commercial awareness is often the determining factor when assessing candidates?
No offense ryan, but you come across as bitter in this.
Re: Anonymous | 26-May-2009 5:08 pm & Anonymous | 29-May-2009 5:02 pm
Thanks for your arrogant, insulting and disillusioned comments. There are plenty of people out there who are worthy of securing a training contract. It is an incredibly committed and determined step to take, embarking on your LPC without a TC, and unfortunately it seems to be a step that more and more people are having to take as the ‘numbers game’ is working against them. At such a difficult time I really don’t think you should waste your time insulting the huge numbers of young people out there struggling to secure a TC. It’s just plain rude.
I agree with Malta Kano. Apologies to Anonymous | 26-May-2009 5:08 pm, but I think your comments are a bit unfounded. Just because LPC students do not have training contracts, it does not mean they are incapable or lacking in some way.
The fact remains that there are far too many applicants for every tc available. It’s inevitable that a great majority of students will reach LPC level with still no tc.
I finished the LPC in July 2008 and didn’t have a tc, I got my tc in the summer of 2008 and started in Feb 2009. Therefore, despite me taking longer that I’d hope, I’ve obtained a tc and the start time is roughly as it should be. I applied like crazy for 3 years straight; since my 2nd year at uni and have a lot of extracurricular activites behind my belt, some fairly good legal work experience etc. I definitely agree with Malta that if you don’t have these things in place because of work commitents to pay for your studies, you are at a severe disadvantage. I had to also work, which I felt strongly hindered the time it took me to get a tc. It was incredibly hard even trying to fit in the extracurricular activities let alone tc applications!
The tc application process itself is another factor to consider. Most firms expect you to apply 2 years in advance, but make the situation worse by making the deadline all around the same time. It was a nightmare in the summer, having just finished spending months revising and then doing exams, rushing like mad to fulfil the july/august deadlines that nearly all the firms had for their tc apps. I don’t see why firms don’t make an effort to spread out their tc app deadlines so that students with work commitments can get a reasonable shot at applying to a fair few firms.
One application alone can take about 2 hours. I always saved my answers and developed model answers that apply to several similar questions in different firms’ application forms and it would still takes ages to complete!
I also seriously doubt that big firms that get hundreds of apps actually read them all. Once a firm feels they’ve picked the number of candidates they want to see in the next round, it’s highly unlikely that they continue to read the other apps. This is another factor to consider as it means these other candidates, who may just be as capable and qualified, are automatically unsuccessful and have to go back to applying again.
There are just so many factors and reasons for why many LPC students are still unlikely to have a tc.
I agree that for some, self-reflection is needed as I’m sure not all law students are ‘cut out’ to be a lawyer, but not having a tc at the end of the lpc is by no means a sign of you not being capable.
Point blank: it’s an overly popular career path and the application process does nothing to help people maximise their chances of success.
“However (and I base this purely on my own experiences) these people are appalling communicators, far too academic and, quite honestly, arrogant. Corporate clients are likely to be unimpressed by their attitudes and they will struggle to work in a team environment.”
Couldn’t agree more.
It all overlooks the basic problem. We had this 25+ years ago in the 1991-3 recession. The year before, everyone had articles as they were then. A year later, less than a third did. But we had places at the College of Law. At the time, there were roughly the number of law graduates and roughly the number of LPC places as there were training contracts. Now, with the explosion of places offering LPC (and vastly expanded number of universities offering law, and those offering multiple times of law graduates than back then) the number of training contracts hasn’t actually increased very much. (Pupillage places vs the number of BVC places is even worse!) But the LPC places encourage loads of people to take the course, even without training contracts and with a statistical snowball’s chance in hell of getting one, whatever the qualifications. So they spend £10K+ on the course, plus living expenses and get a very career specific course which is utterly useless in any other career. If you don’t have a training contract do NOT start your LPC!
That said, having seen the standards of the new universities, I wouldn’t hire one who wasn’t absolutely top of their year AND proving themselves in another way, such as working full time while studying part time, and contributing at a high level elsewhere. If you’re just dossing there full time and still not top of the year, your CV goes in my bin.
Anne – if you think 1991-3 was 25+ years ago, your CV would go in my bin.
Anne
Prior to my LPC I had achieved straight A’s at A-level and a 2.1 in law from one of the best traditional Universities. I did not have a TC. I completed the LPC having passed everything first time (a feat not managed by many future MC trainees who seemed to come unstuck on legal research). I still did not have a TC.
I’ll tell you why; I was not in this mad rush to commence a training contract at 22 with limited life and work experience. I’m now 24 having travelled the world and undertaken a paralegal role, which has equipped me with far more useful experience.
I have consequently secured a TC which I am in the best possible shape to commence and I never doubted that I would secure one. What was so stupid about this path? Am I inferior to my University peers who followed the unbroken school-University-LPC-TC route?
I’ve never read such tripe in my life. Thank the Lord that you weren’t in charge of recruitment at any of the 8 quality law firms who invited me for an interview despite having completed the LPC without a TC.
I was made redundant from a large east midlands law firm in March and have just finished the part time GDL as I couldn’t afford to do it full time.
We on the part time GDL all worked and juggled families whilst studying and are instantly at a disadvantage to those who have never worked and have had their university fees paid for them by their parents as these are often the ones who get the TCs over those of us who’ve worked SO HARD to get there and have life experience.
Since losing my job it has been a massive up-hill struggle to find work, of any kind. A lot of people I know have had to resort to shop work just to make ends meet, let alone trying to find a legal job. There just aren’t any.
I start the part time LPC in September and have luckily managed to find a few hours (and I say a few) with a legal recruiter to pay the bills. There are simply so few jobs out there and as posted by Malta Kano, there are often a handful of jobs and several thousand applicants.
I am now having to begin to apply for TCs for 2011 and the future looks bleak I can tell you. So many firms are laying off, downsizing and asking their trainees to defer, what about us poor souls who are studying, handling families and then desperately trying to find paralegal work to set us apart from all the full time students with little or no work experience to fight it out for a few TC opportunities?
No wonder the number of paralegals is set to outnumber the amount of solicitors in the next few years – people are simply giving up.
It’s a hard decision to make – give up the career you’re just starting out in or be prepared to go into hand to hand combat with thousands of others for a handful of jobs where one lower grade or redundancy that wasn’t your fault could make or break your entire future…..
Struggling paralegal – i feel for you. I hope you get some good luck soon.
It amazes me that some of those who commented on here think candidates who do not secure a TC on finishing the LPC are all losers. You do get a lot of good candidates, good enough to be trainees but haven’t had lady luck smile on them yet.
In my experience, a lot (but not all!) of candidates who have had their education paid for by mummy & daddy, who have done the uni-LPC-TC route are awful. Absolutely no common sense when working in the office or dealing with tasks. So what if you got a 2.1 or 1st! It just means you can memorise. Can they apply their knowledge? Nope. These types are normally picked up by the magic circle – no surprise.
Give the paralegals positions and TCs to those who have a strong work ethic and who have proven applied intelligence!
I finished the LPC without a training contract. I paid for the GDL and LPC myself (which I am still paying off). What worked for me was the following formula – intelligent effort + very hard work + persistence + luck.
And Anne – you think 25+ years ago is 1991-ish?
Anne,
1993 was sixteen years ago.
Metallica,
As I said earlier to Ryan K (his lack of response hopefully meaning that I have convinced him of my point), why do you have to get an argument across by laying into MC candidates? You say it is no suprise that “these types” (a massively sweeping statement) get picked up by the MC. The problem with your argument is that the MC firms are the most profitable firms in the uk and generate massive turnover (on a global scale) to boot, so their people must be doing something right. Wouldn’t that suggest the people recruited by the MC are among the best of applicants? Just to clarify, I am not saying that there are not other people just as good etc, but you seem to be suggesting that they are actually crap, which is ridiculous.
Anne – you must let everyone know where you work as it sounds like a firm without much soul. I’ve worked at a couple, they are full of middle age bullies with no client skills or creativity.
Everyone who is committed enough to spend the 10k well done. Believe in your dreams and stick to them.
The LPC is the most dull course you will ever do. It bears no resemblance to work in private practice. I think I might consider overdosing if I had to do it again.
I went to a ‘new’ university, got a top training contract and luckily my LPC was sponsored. Friends who had to pay for their course have still done really well even if they left without a TC.
Don’t be fooled by the media hype or worry if you didn’t get the TC you wanted – just because you don’t start at a top 20 firm does not mean you won’t get to work there, or indeed any firm you want to go to.
By the end of your training contract you will more than likely be left wondering ‘do I really want to do this for the rest of my life’.
So if like me, you have a slight rebellious streak, are not a total geek or corporate robot remember to laugh at those who are vile to you on the way up as they do have to come down and you will get your own back.
So, enough of the life coaching. Here are some of the highlights of my training contract:
– being told off for eating too many biscuits at a meeting;
– being told off for putting a coat around my shoulders whilst ill in a freezing cold courtroom;
– being told it is not acceptable to leave work before 7pm (finish time 5:30) even if I turned up at 6am every morning;
– being told that I should not eat a snack during the day because it is ‘recreational eating’;
– being told off for going to the ladies an hour after returning from lunch because ‘I should have gone at lunch time’;
– being advised not to make my desk look too ‘personal’ (we are talking one small photo in a frame); and (my personal favourite)
– arriving at a hearing with Counsel in a fabulous Chanel style pink tweed suit which was commented on for being ‘fabulous’ all day long, except for by my supervisor. His face when he saw me was priceless.
Elle Woods – Please, oh please, give us some idea about which firm this was. MC? Top 20?
Anonymous at 2-Jun-2009 9:05 pm – I said “In my experience, a lot (but not all!)” which included “these types” of candidates being picked up by the MC. I clearly didn’t say all all MC candidates were like how I described. There are some outstanding future lawyers. Though the types I referred to, in my experience, were picked up by the MC (even though they are rubbish) which is no surprise because they have connections – mummy & daddy know the partners, etc.
To Elle Woods – What a funny read. Please do tell us which law firm you trained at!
Elle’s experiences are actually quite common, it’s surprising what goes on in some firms!
I am currently completing the LPC. I unfortunately came out with a 2:2 in a computing degree therefore some firms look at this and think because I’m not academic I can’t possibly be a solicitor. I have yet to have a training contract. I’m not scared, I’m not bad at law and I certainly shouldn’t be judged because of my degree result or the fact I have yet to obtain a TC.
I look at some of the people on my LPC course – a 1st in history, a 2:1 in english literature – they were fantastic on the CPE course… great at the public law and contract law essays we had to write. When it came to the LPC – not so good. My advocacy skills and all the other practical skills that are the things that come with being a solicitor are first class. My supervisor has called me a natural. Yet I do not have a TC. Does this make me an idiot for taking on the LPC? I don’t believe it does. My family’s money went into funding this and we don’t have much but since 11 I have wanted a career in law and I will do anything to have one. I do not care if it takes me another 5 years to get a TC, I will work so hard at any legal experience I gain and I will show people that a 2:2 really should not hold you back.
I have already got six months’ experience as a Student Law Advisor and I was excellent at my job. This module showed me not to give up because as much as people out there, perhaps anonymous would fit into this category, think that you’re not worthy if you do the LPC and don’t have a TC… I know different. And I will prove those types of people wrong.
And as for Anne… 1991-ish… you may throw away CVs like mine but I’ll always be proud of my achievements… and I can count.
To those of you out there doing the LPC without a TC don’t give up. I certainly never will.
I completed the LPC full-time whilst juggling a job to pay my way through the course. I’m still paying off the fees nearly 10 years on and it will be a while yet before I am in a position to pay them off fully. The fact that I was able to pay my own way through law school is something that I am proud of and made me really appreciate my achievements rather than take them for granted. I didn’t have a training contract either when I started the LPC and, although I graduated from a “red-brick” university degree it was with a 2:2. Not the ideal tc candidate many would say. However, I was very lucky to have the support of family and tutors who gave me the strength and belief to continue my studies and pursue a training contract. The result, I am now with a medium sized national law firm who’s juggling life as a solicitor with being mum to a gorgeous 12 month old! Anyone who makes the assumption that just because you haven’t got a training contract by the time you start the LPC that you aren’t good enough is misguided as they have clearly not given enough consideration to the circumstances in which people find themselves at that stage in their lives. I really feel for those students who are looking for paralegal positions at the moment as, for many, it is their main route into law and it is going to be difficult for them especially if they have invested all their savings/ earnings into achieving their goal. I have no grudges against those who were lucky enough to have parental funding or sponsorship but those who aren’t in this position shouldn’t lose heart. Almost any difficult circumstance can be turned into something positive and the right employer for you will see that. I am extremely proud of where I am today and, as Frank Sinatra once sang, “I did it my way”.
I found the biggest obstacle to getting a position has always been the HR people and the Agencies.
They are the ones behind the times. They insist on the 24-28, 2.1, gap year in a fashionable area.
Then these poor saps are sent out to the real world in a city suit full of their own superiority and some worn out old high street solicitor like me hands them their head!
As long as they have the degree then they are not too stupid.
If they have experience of work and the world then that is a plus.
Maturity is a prized asset even in a trainee. At least then I do not need to tell them how to act or put their tits away!
I would rather have someone who has had some practical experience of legal practice to someone who has not.
The paper qualifications are not really important. this is a people industry. People buy people. The personal qualities are what they should be looking at.
Anonymous | 4-Jun-2009 2:50 pm – it was so nice to read your comment. I am like you, I am proud to have made it where I am today and even though there is no TC in sight yet I know that it’s not the end for me yet. Although I have the 2:2 I have legal experience to back my CV up and I am so proud of the work I have done on the LPC. I have proved to myself, and other people, that I am more than capable of being an outstanding solicitor some day in the future. I wish you all the best with your daughter and your career! It’s people like you that prove to me there’s always hope! 🙂
Anonymous | 4-Jun-2009 4:27 pm – you are right about the agencies etc. I am registered on so many sites and have applied to so many jobs. The problem I am having is actually ever hearing from them! My CV has a lot of legal experience, my legal skills are proven by the fact I work within Northumbria University’s Student Law Office and have managed my own client files and advised them in family law however it’s hard to convey just how talented I am in my CV! I feel if I can get my foot in the door by networking and having actual conversations with solicitors I can show them just how passionate and intelligent I am.
At the end of the day I’m only 23… if it takes me until I’m 30 I’ll do it! I’ve never wanted to be anything but a solicitor! Fingers crossed!
Why is competition so fierce. Do people realise how boring and stressful the actual job is?
There are lots of career options out there. Don’t take a “safe” option
I left the LPC with no TC. I gained work as a paralegal in a top ten UK law firm. It took me a year and an incredible amount of dedication and hard work, but I eventually went through the interview process and was offered a TC.
What I would say to Anonymous | 26-May-2009 5:08 pm, your comments are ignorant and show your arrogance. I worked for a year to prove my worth to my supervisors, the majority of the trainees in my intake only had to do a negotiation task and get through an interview. So who proved their merit to the greater extent? I think that would be me, through time and dedication and hard work for twelve months.
My second point is about how hard it is to secure a TC. I had 29 people in my intake. Of those that I know of (and I stress that’s not everyone), six have a parent who is a client of the firm and four have parent who are very close to one or more partners in the firm (i.e. play golf together or used to work together). So imagine how hard it must be for those of us who don’t have this headstart.
With respect, despite the tough numbers, anyone who really wants a training contract and has the ability will eventually get one. Whinging won’t help.
Lolling hard at the student who says it takes *gasp* 2 hours to fill in an application. I mean really. And *sob* the deadlines are all around the same time? Poor you!!
The reality is that all the smart people who now have training contracts and therefore won’t incur the debt and insecurity that you have to (i) applied WAY before the deadlines, even before the exam pressure, so got to the front of the queue and were fine and (ii) staggered the apps so as to get loads in. If you do four a week (approx 1 hours work a day) you will get 86 done in 5 months. that should increase your chances.
I am sick and tired of people whinging about getting a TC. If you are good enough and not lazy, you will get one. If you simply cannot get one no matter how hard you try, you are not good enough.If you have a great CV but can’t get one then you are not trying hard enough. Simple.
I am qualified at an MC firm now, and believe me, if you are finding filling in forms to apply for the job overwhelming, then you are going to crumble when you actually have to do the job!!
Grow up, man, up, put the work in, don’t look to blame others, or be bitter that others have more time, money, whatever.
With respect ref Anonymous | 5-Jun-2009 5:13 pm.
I applied early – on the day of opening wherever possible and do not have a TC. I have interviews so don’t imagine for a second I am whinging. Perhaps an argument is that some people are less able to be quite so confident that they are the best thing since sliced bread and thus filling out the forms becomes more difficult. Perhaps not but it’s worth sparing a thought.
Current trainee friends have been amazed by the amount of work my friends and I have had to put into making applications this year. Astoundingly, or not, firms are being slow to hand out training contracts. Might this be because until the end of their financial year they had no idea how many current newly qualifieds they would be retaining, how many trainees would opt or agree to defer and thus how many places they might have free to offer in the next few years? Do you not think this year might stand out as rather different circumstances to when you applied?
Of course working hard is the key rather than whinging but my goodness I hope anyone with a tc off the back of a contact at a firm is proud of their achievement.
I wonder if perhaps Churchill might be considered as a moto for the near future. To all those looking for tcs “keep buggering on”.
Finally, remember the news is barely ever even half the story and is rarely set in stone.
Undoubtedly the job market is very different now, but i do not think that many firms will hold back on recruitment for 2011/2012 as a result of the current market conditions – it is the qualifiers who have been and will be binned over the next two cycles who havbe the real problem. Recruitment will continue merrily. i know for a fact that my firm is taking just as many as normal, although admittedly competition is even more fierce as we get some people who would normally have gone for banks, consultancies etc going to top tier TCs.
However, this is life. You can either complain or get on with it. And saying “my goodness I hope anyone with a tc off the back of a contact at a firm is proud of their achievement” makes you look really pathetic by the way. I am the first member of my family to go to university and qualify in any professional capacity, and have no contacts whatsoever at any law firms. I would say most people who get Tcs don’t do so through contacts. But if you feel that way then perhaps you should attempt to cultivate the contacts? Oh right you were just expecting it to be given to you.
It is this kind of attitude that singles you out as a liability for any employer. Saying “current trainee friends have been amazed by the amount of work my friends and I have had to put into making applications this year” makes you look so stupid to people who work 90 hour weeks as standard. You get out what you put in. You seem to resent actually applying for jobs… Ha ha ha ha ha. best of luck you are going to need it.
I understand that gaining a TC is hard work and that some people have to find 30 hours in a day to do everything whilst some lucky others don’t. But with regards to deadlines being at the same time in July and August, don’t forget that the majority of these applications opened in October/November giving plenty of time to coincide with revision and coursework etc.
We are a nation of moaners but at the same time a nation of doers and law, non-law students racing towards the much coveted TC all work hard somewhere along the line.
I have deep sympathy for any para-legals who are being edged out of their role for deferred trainees. Para-legals generally are very hard-working and experienced capable members of a law firm. I also have sympathy for law students with training contracts who are having their contracts deferred as a result of the recession.
For the former, this means a job loss and for the latter, it means yet another year before they can be admitted as a Soliciotor. So both are victims of these hard times.
I am a former para-legal and was also a deferred trainee during the last recession. I am now a 10 yr plus PQE Solicitor & Attorney qualified in the Turks & Caicos Islands. I chose to spend my deferred year by taking a round the world trip but other graduates may not be that fortunate.
My sympathies go to both members of the legal profession, and like us all, my advice is to ride through it, the good times will return (eventually) and if you can at all – turn a negative into a positive. Good Luck.
I have to agree with Anne, 1 June 2009 6:26am. The problem with GDL and LPC providers is that there are just too many. They are private colleges who operate as a business and as such dont care how many students they churn out at the end of the course. In my year few left with TC’s. We were advised by the college to look at alternative careers such as the Police force to name one?!! Trying to get a paralegal position is equally as hard if not harder as the number of applictants are even greater. You are competing with qualified paralegals, law graduates with TC’s and those without TC’S looking for experience. Shouldn’t there be fewer student places????
Some people say they have travelled around the world. Others say they have commercial flair. If that’s all it takes, then, some of us would have had tc long time ago.
Sample this: I went/run to school bare footed, herded our cows and goats after school somewhere in Africa. When our cows and goats had problems giving birth, I became the midwife.
After high school, I became a business man selling charcoal.
Despite such challenging background, I taught myself LLB while working. I was among the best in my class having missed first class by mere 2 marks.
Thereafter, I taught myself LL.M. in International Economic Law while unemployed and taking care of my young family. On top of this, I have a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship. Do I have extra curriculum activities, yes.
Do I have a tc? No.
Have any of you considered using your qualifications to qualify with the Institute of Legal Executives? I am a fully qualified lawyer, in gainful employment, earning a nice salary thanks very much. Thanks to the Legal Services Act I have a route to partnership. If so minded, I could acquire further advocacy rights and I can apply for judicial appointment. Luckily for me I took the traditional route and have no debt associated with my education. I am a specialist lawyer, recognised by my peers. As far as I am aware graduates can join ILEX using their qualifications as full or partial exemption from the course requirements. You have to complete a minimum period of work to get the Fellowship but finding that work is much easier than trying to secure a TC.
The divide between solicitors and Legal Executives is closing. We cost less to employ – practising certificates are lower and our charge rates can be as high as the average solicitor. In a tough financial climate we are value for money.
Do some research! http://www.ilex.org.uk “exemptions”. You should never ‘give up’ if the TC is not available to you. The alternative route is right there waiting for you.
Well, from my earlier post, things have changed! I was turned down from the firm I was made redundant from for a TC in 2011, but I have managed to bag a….wait for it….paralegal job at a large firm in Sheffield in the….also wait for it….conveyancing department!
They said that property was dead and that paralegals are struggling to find jobs, but there are some out there!
Sign up with Agencies I say – that’s how I found this one. They get to hear about jobs from personal contacts that aren’t in the public domain and can more easily match a paralegal to a job rather than the firm having to trawl through thousands of applicants.
I’ve been working part time for a legal recruiter and yes, things are quiet, but people are phoning almost every day to say that they’ve found work themselves or we’re placing them in a job.
Not all hope is lost…..you’ve just got to know where to look!
hard times abound.but nthis is who we are-what we do.as much as we are reviled and lampooned,taking the brunt for all lawyers,we toil on. as a paralegal in uganda,it is with sadness i say,we need an uplifting as regards the consideration and respect extended us,the foot soldiers.
Although you might determine that there are no paralegal positions out there, I have read that the increase in demand for temp paralegals is enormous.
This is why the firms don’t need ‘as many’ full time paralegals, they are using temps.
One problem is that the temp companies aren’t paying the £15 minimum that an LPC grad should be demanding. This in itself is a business opportunity to any LPC trained grad with a bit of brain, open your own temp agency for paralegals and don’t be greedy in what you cut yourself in for, perhaps even our colleges could run temp paralegal agencies.
Most of the ‘reports’ that re being made in regards to recession law are all FLAK to be honest IMHO. Its more ‘big boy’ legal company propaganda, attempting to lure students into signing their lives away before they even start their LPC, hell they probably even guide you, if you get a training contract, into choosing what electives they want you to have. ( I SPIT ON THE FLOOR).
Even with the Career Development Loan – they can’t make you pay it back if you haven’t got any money LOL. You should all know this really.
Stop panicking – remain as free as you can and make sure you choose your own electives as you WANT to do them. You get your LPC, do a bit of temp paralegal work for a while and get in that way.
Regards
Jules
I have absolutely no sympathy with LPC graduates who haven’t secured a TC.
At the end of the day anyone who enters a saturated market at great cost should accept the consequences of that reckless decision.
LPC graduates are so deluded. They all seem to think that they need to get paralegal experience to get a TC. It doesn’t work that way for most TC positions as they are given to law students who get sponsored.
LPC students never seem to consider that whatever they do does not change the number of jobs available. They can do as many extra courses as they wish but that does not change the number of job available.
Perhaps LPC students should be forced to study economics; particularly the laws of supply and demand.