Newly Qualified Lawyers - The SR · PDF fileTaylor Root is the world’s leading legal recruitment ... We have many years of experience of assisting Newly Qualified Lawyers. ... keep

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Newly Qualified LawyersCareer planning guide UK & US Firms

Introduction At Taylor Root, we believe that what you decide to do upon qualification is the single most important career decision you will ever make.

This brochure is designed to help and guide you in this decision making process. It covers key areas you will need to consider before embarking on your job search: when to actually consider moving, what to specialise in, where to specialise and how to conduct the whole qualification exercise. We hope this brochure will be helpful in your search.

Naturally, if you have any further questions please contact one of our consultants.

Nick Root

95 Queen Victoria StreetLondon EC4V 4HNT: 020 7415 2828

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“WHY CHOOSE TAYLOR ROOT?”

Taylor Root is the world’s leading legal recruitment firm. With offices throughout the UK, the Far East, the Middle East and Australia we have built specialist teams of recruiters that pride themselves on providing honest, professional and effective advice.

The majority of our consultants in the area are legally qualified and we have specialist teams to provide the most accurate and up-to-date advice.

We have many years of experience of assisting Newly Qualified Lawyers. Because of our history of success and the depth of our coverage, we are instructed on every Newly Qualified role on the market.

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“WHAT TAYLOR ROOT DO FOR YOU AS A NEWLY QUALIFIED?” QA • We will have an initial telephone conversation to discuss your

objectives, give advice on your CV and arrange for you to meet a specialist Taylor Root consultant

• At the meeting we will discuss your experience, advise you on potential options, discuss vacancies and put the finishing touches to your CV.

• We will alert you to relevant new vacancies that arise. Once you have given your consent, we will approach the firm with your CV with the intention of securing you an interview. Because of the strength and longevity of our reputation in the market, our contacts listen to our advice

• Once you have secured interviews, we will help you to prepare with general interview advice as well as specific information about the partners, team and firm that you are interviewing with. We can also provide a mock interview to aid your preparation. We will communicate feedback from both and the firm and keep you informed of the outcome of the process

• When you receive an offer, we will walk you through the entire process including salary negotiation, comparing other offers, acceptance, possible qualification leave and ultimate start date. If you have a variety of choices we will, if needed, help you decide which offer is best for you

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“WHEN SHOULD I CONTACT TAYLOR ROOT?”Q AWhatever the market conditions, it makes sense to consider your options early. We would suggest September qualifiers contact us from February before they qualify and March qualifiers from October the year before.

There are a number of law firms that will not recruit newly qualified solicitors until they have made decisions in relation to their own trainees, which can delay their recruitment until as late as the month before qualification.

Regardless of that, you should register with Taylor Root early as it is good to plan your approach, and make sure you do not miss out on the perfect position that might arise early.

Even if you think you will be offered a position at your own firm, you might want to review the market to ascertain whether there are more attractive roles in your chosen practice area. Every year, trainee solicitors will explore the market, receive job offers and then to decide to stay at their own firm. Ultimately, we want to build a long-term relationship with you based on good advice and trust. If we think it is better for you to stay at your current firm, we will tell you so.

“SHOULD I SPEAK TO MORE THAN ONE AGENCY”Q

A

Taylor Root is the only recruitment agency that can cover the entire market for you and we genuinely believe that we are instructed on every Newly Qualified role on the market. We find that an exclusive relationship with us will be better for you in the long run.

If you do decide to speak to more than one agency, always insist that they get your consent before sending your CV out. At Taylor Root this is a matter of course, but other agencies are not so scrupulous. To avoid duplication, keep an accurate list of where you have been sent and by which recruiter.

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“WHAT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE TO ME WHEN I QUALIFY”Q As a Newly Qualified solicitor, you have a broad range of career options available to you. These include working for a range of different sized law firms, in-house at a corporate or a bank, in a government body or local authority, overseas or even out of the law.

Private Practice – LondonAt Taylor Root we have specialised teams looking after UK City, US and West End / Niche firms. Perhaps you are looking to make a significant step up in terms of salary? Perhaps the practice area you have chosen is much better regarded at a different firm? Perhaps you want more international work? Or perhaps you want a better work/life balance? Whatever your preference, there will be relevant opportunities available to you in London which we will be happy to discuss.

Private Practice – RegionsA number of lawyers move out of London at the NQ level for both professional and personal reasons. Often you can secure a role with better hours, a much shorter commute and no sacrifice in quality of work. At Taylor Root we have a specialist team of experienced consultants who are dedicated to placing Newly Qualified lawyers into law firms in the following regions: East Anglia, Midlands, Northern Home Counties, South East, South West, Thames Valley and Wales.

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AInternationalThe legal market is now truly global and this has given rise to opportunities for Newly Qualified lawyers around the world. Through our network of international offices we are ideally placed to advise you on local market conditions and current vacancies in overseas jurisdictions including Europe, Asia, Offshore, Middle East and Australia.

Some jurisdictions will prefer lawyers with tangible post qualification experience and there are visa issues with others, so even if a move overseas is not immediately possible, it is important to speak to a Taylor Root consultant now in order to plan your approach in the future.

In HouseWhilst in house opportunities arise less frequently at the Newly Qualified level, roles do materialise at banks, corporates and within industry. The in house option has become a very appealing avenue for many lawyers who wish to get closer to the business, act more commercially and no longer have to record billable hours.

Our general advice is that the merits of a move at the Newly Qualified level will depend on personal development factors which in turn will largely depend upon the size of the in house team in question. There is nothing wrong with moving into a substantial in house team as a Newly Qualifed lawyer provided that there are people on hand to train you. If the team is smaller (the average in house team is 5 people), it would be best to leave a move until you have developed enough experience to work independently – probably at the 2-4 PQE year level.

“WHAT PRACTICE AREA SHOULD I CHOOSE”Q

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There are a number of factors to consider when making this decision, but the most important of all is to ensure that you genuinely enjoy the work and that you can see yourself doing it for the rest of your career.

We are often asked whether lawyers can change practice areas further down the line. Whilst not impossible, such a move would be very much the exception rather than the norm and you should not rely on it. This underlines the importance of the decision you make on qualification.

Remember that the decision you make now will have far reaching consequences in the short, medium and long term. For example, if your ultimate objective is to go in house, you will be much better placed coming from a Corporate, Banking, Projects or IT / IP / Commercial background. Conversely, there is very little demand for Real Estate lawyers in house. If a move to Bristol is your long term aim, there would be very little appetite for Structured Finance lawyers but a lot of demand for Corporate, Litigation and Real Estate lawyers.

Finally, you should consider the likelihood of roles materialising in a particular practice area. Generally speaking we would expect to see opportunities arise across the board in a good market, but there are some practice areas renowned for having fierce competition and limited roles (Litigation, Employment, IP, EU / Competition). Equally, there is usually less competition in niche technical practice areas (eg, Pensions, Capital Markets, FS / Funds, Shipping). We typically see large numbers of roles in Corporate, Banking and Real Estate.

We advise Newly Qualified lawyers to indicate a strong preference but to think about whether there is another practice area that they would also consider.

Salary levels for Newly Qualified solicitors vary by firm and by location. While we would never suggest you decide your next move on money alone, it can often be a contributory factor in peoples’ decision-making.

In London Range (£)

US Law Firm 80,000 - 100,000 + bonus

Top UK firms 61,000 - 65,000 + bonus

Medium sized UK firm 58,000 - 60,000

Smaller/niche firms 35,000 - 53,000

In the regionsSalary levels across the larger cities are very similar but vary according to size of firm.

Range (£)

Large national practices 38,000 - 43,000

Medium sized practices 33,000 - 37,000

Smaller practices 28,000 - 32,000

There are a small number of firms who have headquarters in London with branch offices in Surrey, Berkshire and Oxfordshire that pay London rates of up to £56,000.

In-house - corporatesOpportunities are rare at the newly qualified level but the corporates pay around £38,000 - £45,000 + benefits.

In-house - banksThe roles are principally in derivatives/capital markets. Salaries are in the range of £55,000 - £65,000 + bonus.

“WHAT SALARY CAN I EXPECT ON QUALIFICATION?”Q

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Taylor Root is a member of The SR Group

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London 95 Queen Victoria StreetLondon EC4V 4HN T: +44 (0)20 7415 2828

Dubai Suite 614, Liberty House DIFC PO Box 506739 T: +9714 448 7770

Hong Kong 1918 Hutchinson House 10 Harcourt Road , Central, Hong Kong T: +852 2973 6333

Singapore Level 21 Prudential Tower30 Cecil Street Singapore 049712T: +65 6420 0500

Melbourne Suite 4.02520 Collins StreetMelbourne, VIC 3000T: +61 (0)3 8610 8400

Sydney Level 12, 25 Bligh Street SydneyNSW 2000T: +61 (0)2 9236 9000

For more information please contact:

Daniel Taylor E: [email protected] T: + 44 (0)20 7415 2828

Established in the 1980s, Taylor Root is now widely recognised as being one of the world’s leading legal recruiters. Operating out of offices in the UK, Dubai, Asia and Australia, we are ideally placed to assist law firms, banks and companies with their legal recruitment on an international basis. Taylor Root has a strong track record in the recruitment of: Heads of legal and legal advisers; Law firm associates and partners; Contract/locum lawyers; Paralegals; Company secretaries and Compliance professionals.

Taylor Root is a member of The SR Group. The SR Group is a specialist recruitment consultancy dedicated to raising standards in the business environments that we serve. The sectors we cover include tax, legal, human resources, marketing and executive search, dealing with a substantial number of the world’s leading professional partnerships, multi-national corporations and international banking groups as well as small to medium sized developing organisations.