The Law Society reports that there are 171,761 practising solicitors in England and Wales – the highest that figure has been since they first reported numbers on their website in 2011. The majority (74%) work in private practice firms owned and managed by the partners. The proportion of solicitors working in the largest firms (81+ partners) is almost 30% today; these largest firms employ 34% of all trainees – these types of firms make up the majority of recruiters at the Oxford Law Fair each October.
Firms vary tremendously in size and specialisation; there are 9020 firms in total. The working environment, life-style and work/life balance of solicitors will vary considerably between organisations. You will need to complete careful research to decide which is the best environment for you. Here are some of the factors that you may wish to consider when researching firms for yourself:
Types of firm
Broadly, the work that law firms do can be split into two categories;
- Work that serves the needs of commerce, such as company mergers and commercial litigation.
- Work that deals with individual clients and their personal legal issues, such as family, crime and personal injury.
Some firms may do a mix of of the two categories while others will specialise in either commercial work or private client work.
For those interested in being trained in a non-commercial environment, there are opportunities to complete a training contact within the Government Legal Department (who recruit annually) or in local government. Similarly, the Crown Prosecution Service also hire trainee solicitors. To get an insight into the work of the CPS, take a look at the list of micro-internships advertised in the first two weeks of Michaelmas term: the CPS have offered virtual internships for the last two years to Oxford students.
For some areas of legal practice – for example within the human rights areas or those areas which traditionally have been publicly funded – you may need to consider a more flexible approach to qualification as a solicitor. Firms that work in these areas tend not to take on trainees (or possibly just a very small number) and therefore do not make presentations or attend the Oxford Law Fair. Instead, they may offer paralegal/legal executive opportunities with the possibility of providing some support to move on to the full solicitor training and qualification at a later point.
The SQE route-to-qualification facilitates a more flexible way to qualify as the 'qualifying work experience' element allows you to build experience in up to four different places of work (and either before or after taking the exams) rather than having to find a standard two-year training contract. Even though these kinds of firms do not visit Oxford as often as the larger commercial ones, there are plenty of resources available (listed at the end of this briefing) to find out more about them.
Size of firm
The largest firms have hundreds of partners and solicitors operating from numerous offices around the world and with significant resources to support their work in serving the needs of international business. Most of these large and medium-sized practices have specialist departments or practice areas as most solicitors now tend to specialise either on qualification or very shortly afterwards. The largest firms take on 80-100 trainees each year.
The smallest firm would be a sole practitioner working in the local community. Such a set-up is very unlikely to offer trainee positions at all.
Location: London or elsewhere?
Many Oxford students are attracted to the commercial sectors of the law, particularly in London. These opportunities tend to have a higher profile at this university, with many of the larger firms targeting Oxford. However, you should consider carefully whether this route is right for you. There are opportunities for excellent training and work in other regions of the UK and in different types of practice, e.g. in medium and small ‘niche’ practices which operate both within London and in the UK’s thriving regional city centres.
The firms in regional centres in the UK – e.g. Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Newcastle and Manchester – are major players attracting high-quality work from leading businesses, both locally and internationally. Every city or town has firms that service the local business community. General or 'High Street' firms, which provide a mix of personal and business law, are found throughout the country.
At Oxford we are fortunate to have a wide variety of law firms wishing to hire both law and non-law undergraduates and postgraduates, either to train as solicitors within the UK (England & Wales), or to return to home jurisdictions to start or complete their training.
Whether you are an undergraduate or postgraduate we would suggest that you do your research thoroughly, and early, while at Oxford to avoid any confusion or disappointment.
Private practice or 'in-house'?
The Law Society describes solicitors working in-house as those who work 'in a variety of different organisations, including working as in-house counsel for commercial organisations, working for a law centre, Citizens Advice or other non-commercial organisation'.
Although the majority of solicitors work in private practice, there has been an increase in the number of solicitors working outside this environment. Approximately 34,000 solicitors now work in-house in 6,000 organisations. Many of the solicitors working in-house have often qualified in private practice first, built up some experience and then moved across into an in-house role. There are some opportunities to complete a training contract in-house; available roles are usually listed on lawcareers.net
Many solicitors use their qualification to move away from legal practice into other areas of work in business, administration, training, teaching or consultative roles.
Retention of qualified solicitors
On qualification, firms try to match the trainees with the needs of the organisation and that of the individual. Inevitably, some trainees decide that they wish to pursue their legal careers elsewhere and resign from the firm they qualified with. Or a firm may decide that they are not able to accommodate every single trainee as a permanent employee. In the last couple of years firms have managed to improve their retention rates (i.e. the number of trainees they retain on qualification) but they can still vary tremendously from firm to firm. Again, it's important for you to research retention rates as part of your overall research.
Salaries vary
The range of remuneration varies considerably. The SRA no longer sets a minimum wage level for trainee positions but recommends salaries of £27,418/£24,320 (London/regional). Commercial firms will often pay more than this to their trainees (£50,000+) and US law firms more again (£60,000+). Legal Cheek regularly surveys trainees and can give you up to date salary figures.
On qualification rates will also vary. Recently some top London firms have raised their NQ (newly qualified) salaries to £150,000+ (often with added bonuses for top performers) to keep pace with their US rivals who often offer this level and more. Top of the market was reported as being £180,000 but a more typical level for London would be £100-110,000+. Please be aware that very high salaries usually mean very high demands and expectations (e.g. long and unpredictable hours, high pressure, high stakes).
Be honest with yourself about how you will enjoy/cope with this sort of working life before you sign up to it. Some people thrive on it; others don't. There are so many places you can work as a solicitor so be sure to thoroughly research what is right for you. In other sectors and in the regions firms would pay considerably less. The earnings of qualified solicitors and partners will vary enormously, according to sector and specialisation.