A career as a solicitor
Solicitors form the largest part of the legal profession with around over 100,000 practitioners. They advise individuals and organisations on legal matters and their main role is generally problem-solving. Solicitors tend to work in an office rather than in court, although they can represent clients in some courts, and all courts if they have sufficient experience and training.
Types of solicitor
Private practice
A private practice solicitor works in a firm with other solicitors or alone as a sole practitioner. Law firms are usually partnerships of self-employed solicitors who each take a share of the profits. All other employees will tend to be salaried. The majority of solicitors (around three-quarters) work in private practice and this is where the vast majority of training contracts are to be found.
In-house
An in-house solicitor is employed by a particular business or organisation and deals only with that organisation’s interests. In-house solicitors usually work as employees of the organisation.
Local government
Most local authorities have legal departments, which will vary considerably in size, as well as in the work they undertake. The most common areas of practice for solicitors in local authorities are education, childcare, anti-social behaviour, housing or trading standards. They may also become involved in larger projects dealing with, for example, major land redevelopment.
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the Government Department responsible, as its name suggests, for criminal prosecution work. Despite this sole focus, it is possible to secure a training contract or pupillage with the CPS which is organised regionally across the country.
Government Legal Service
Lawyers (both solicitors and barristers) in the Government Legal Service work within most of the major government departments ranging from the smaller regulatory bodies to major departments – such as the Treasury Solicitors Department – and undertake a full range of work from drafting and advising departments to litigation.
Types of work
Solicitors’ work depends a great deal on the practice area and the size of employer. Selecting the right firm and practice area is a key decision. The client base and work you undertake at a particular firm will determine the quality of experience you gain during your training contract.
Take for example, the differences between a City firm and a high street firm.
In a City firm the main focus of your work will be business law. You will work with other solicitors in teams and structured departments, often with individual practitioners examining one small part of a large, high profile deal. Face-to-face contact with the client is limited in the early years and initially you will work alongside qualified staff, as one of many trainees.
In a high street firm, you may be the only trainee and will probably have face-to-face client contact and court work from an early stage. Here, the work is for individuals or small local businesses and reflects everyday life events such as wills and probate, divorce, conveyancing or standard business matters.
Types of firm
High street firms
The main client base of high street firms will be small to medium sized businesses and private individuals, usually from the local area. Reflecting this client base, the work undertaken will tend to be very diverse, covering all areas of commercial law, property, private client and, occasionally, publicly funded work.
National and regional firms
Typically, national and regional firms are of a medium to large size and usually have a number of offices. National firms will have offices in the major cities, whereas regional firms tend to be focused around one geographical area. Clients will be diverse, from public and private companies to individual clients, and the work covers the full spectrum of legal practice.
City and corporate firms
The work of large corporate and City law firms tends to be international in focus and many will have a worldwide network of offices, dealing with issues such as mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance at an international level. Clients are mainly public companies and financial institutions. As the largest law firms, they also tend to recruit large numbers of trainees, with some offering over 100 training contracts each year.
Specialist or niche firms
Specialist firms advise in one area of law, in which they will be experts. Often the specialism will focus on a particular area of the commercial sector (such as the media or shipping), but it can be in any area. Many larger specialist firms will have departments outside their main area of expertise, but these are often designed to support the main focus of the firm.
