Is it really worth it?

[mandymkrd]

Originally Posted by xo11

Hi there,

I work in the IT industry, (Bloomberg) I recently graduated and started working there.

I am also going to be studying LAW this year (although for a different reason), I already enrolled and read a lot of cases and few law books, one thing I can assure you. Law compared to CS is boring (and your friends and family are not lieing, if you are a software developer coding C or .NET projects etc and you are studying law you will find it really boring).

Saying that, one of my friend that worked at a very big software company that deals with defense technology, the SQL programmer who works on payroll system as a contractor got paid #740 a day. This guy had over 10+ industry experience, and was a PROPER nerd, can write query strings of 200+ lines easily etc.

My lawyer, who works in the high street for legal aid, was asking for 5k for a 5 day trial. (ENOUGH SAID)

Plus at my university few engineering students that did part time law and got jobs at BT as 'in house lawyers', they looked minted.

legal aid? what area of law - def not IT law.

also 5k for a five day trial is standard - for barristers (and not junior ones either) solicitors do charge less for trial as that is not their "speciality". so i would think twice before relying on that quote (no disrespect intended to the poster!)

[mandymkrd]

you seem to have really looked in this and worked out how much you will gain/lose etc.

and of course there is every chance that in year 16 you will have made back your losses.

but..law these days is one of the toughest areas to get into. the competition is vast.

also its more of a specialised area that you want to qualify in, so you do need to take that into consideration when making your decision.

If I were you, i would get a list of all firms who practice in your chosen field for three reasons:

1. to give you a practical insight into the actual area, and what its really like
2. to get you specialised experience
3. help to build contacts

also if you find it really really hard to get volunatary (because it will be unpaid) experience in this area, imagine trying to convince a firm to take you on as a trainee and then offer you an NQ position? (as its becoming very apparant that securing a TC if not the end of the road, its merely the beginning as many posters are commenting about how their firms are not keeping them on as NQ's)
Hope this helps and Good luck!

[Ganymede]

Originally Posted by mandymkrd

not true im afraid - most national firms offer TC salaries in the range of 20k - 23k

True, but it all depends on the firm.

Niche firms like the ones the OP is talking about are not likely to be the best payers!