In a pickle after redundancy

[stumpy69er]

Back in June 2008 I was made redundant. I was working as a Residential Conveyancer for a medium sized firm, running my own team of about 4 people. I have attained a law degree, Legal practice course, and ILEX, but have not completed a training contract, so I'm not a qualified solicitor.

Over the last 20 months I have done nothing but apply for jobs all over the country, but because of the number of people in exactly the same position as me, I find that I am being passed up for younger paralegals (who are happy to accept £15k) or for Solicitors with 15 yrs PQE who will accept a salary on the same level as I would expect (last position paid £30k).

I am also finding it impossible to move into a different area of law, as there are so many people with experience also unemployed.

I have a young family, and we cannot keep going on like this. I have started studying some extra ILEX modules to expand my area of expertise, but I feel this is ending up just an expensive waste of time.

Does anyone have any advice as how to proceed, or should I give up completely and spend the next 3 years doing another degree? Or emigrate?

Any advice would be really helpful... Thanks

[Sienna1]

Hi,
I think of the options you have listed, migration to a country where you can compete better and have a higher salary, is the best option.
I suppose you already have made a list of posible countries.

You have young family and thee may be people who say it is bad to uproot them but the experience can be goo for them, if you manage it well.

If you spend the next three years studying for a new degree, you have no guarantee that the economic situation may favor that new degree, and you would have spent, instead of earning, for all that time.

[Sienna1]

I have a few typos-You have a young family, and there may be people who say it is bad to uproot the children but the experience can be good for them, if you and your spouse manage it well.

[tamborine]

Did you manage to save to start up your own business? A few adverts locally should get you going.

Debts seem a lucrative business; the council/electric/gas etc all threaten debt collections if 5mins late with payment. The public would like debt collectors to hit companies that default on payments.

[humpy07]

I'm in a similar position. I too am a former property lawyer, and can now not find a spot of work anywhere! I've looked at emigration to Canada and America.

Canada - they make you jump through too many hoops to qualify as a Canadian lawyer. They do not accept an LLB or LPC as sufficient education - it would take approx 3 years to gain qualification there.

America - You would only be able to qualify in New York or California. The NY Bar exam is the most accessible - if you look on www.clt.co.uk you can get information on the exam and how to qualify there. They offer a 6 months Prep course supplied by BarBri, which is the number one provider of the prep course in NY. You would have to fly to Albany to take the exam. It is a very complicated MCQ paper and an additional paper which I think British lawyers would find difficult to complete. The cost of the course is about £1k and then you have to take into account flights, accommodation etc for the exam. Also don't think you will automatically pass - it's shocking how many people fail.

I wouldn't bother going down another degree route as there is no guarantee of a job afterwards, unless you did something like Social Work.

Hope this helps - if you need any more info on qualifying in NY let me know.