Legal Recruitment Blog

16.12.07 Rules for Law Firm Office Parties at Christmas 1. Whatever you do - do not get drunk. This is about the worst thing that can happen (and the best if it happens to someone else!). 2. Do not sit next to someone who you don't like and get drunk. This can result in fights, particularly if it is your boss. 3. Avoid miseltoe (and alcohol) You could end up kissing the office dog. 4. Book a taxi, and make sure you are there at 6pm, rather than 6am. This ensures you do not end up in a ditch at 6am singing songs about the Law Society. 5. Eat food that does not contain butter beans or soya. This ensures you do not inflict anything on the partners and other solicitors. 6. Complain about anything to the senior partner. Do not think that just because they look inebriated, they are - usually they are pretending to see what you will say. 7. Enjoy the party, as it is back to work on Boxing Day... Author: Jonathan Fagan MREC Cert RP LLM Solicitor (non-practising) - Managing Director of Ten-...

Question While I know the usual gripes on here that people cant get a training contract, im wondering if anyone is in the same boat as me, or similar anyway? I am 8 weeks off qualifying, doing my final "seat" in employment law but at the same time i have a full conveyancing caseload that I have to deal with in any spare time i get (which is not much!) with no help. This week and next I have the final business part of the psc course to do including an exam, its the busiest time of year in conveyancing as everyone wants to move before Christmas and to top it all off, my partner runs his own business which i help out with on evenings and weekends and again this is our busiest time of year. Im tearing my hair out meeting myself backwards trying to get everything done i need to get done and on top of all that there’s Christmas shopping to do! I know theres an end to this in that in 8 weeks time I'll finally be fully qualified and all this hassle will be over and I really shoul...

04.12.07 Avatars and Legal Recruitment - are they compatible? Ten-Percent have just started trialling the use of Avatars on our site. Basically an Avatar is a fictional being, almost a robot that lives in a virtual world. We noticed a website in the UK doing it (Dandys Topsoil), and decided to have a go ourselves. We now have one on our solicitor page, and also our paralegal page. Basically the avatar gives a visual presentation of our services to anyone visiting the site, and spices it up a little bit! I think we are the only legal recruitment consultancy to offer this, and it will be interesting to see whether we get emails complaining about it, or commending it! Future use will possibly be the development of many more avatars covering our paralegal and free careers advice sections rather than the solicitor recruitment side, but we will have to see.. Author: Jonathan Fagan MREC Cert RP LLM Solicitor (non-practising) - Managing Director of Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment (www.ten-...

I've been somewhat lacking on the blog side of things since the birth of my third daughter, as the brain has ceased to function adequately sufficiently to be able to power any relevant thoughts! November 2007 - quietening down for Christmas Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment is made up of a number of different websites and you can register to improve your prospects via any of our sites. Our sites simply offer law jobs, and we are totally committed to legal recruitment - we operate www.ten-percent.co.uk, our main site, www.jonathanfagan.co.uk (property, wills, probate, litigation), www.conveyancing-jobs.co.uk, www.crime-solicitor.co.uk (crime - duty solicitors, police station accredited reps and NQ), www.eastmidlandslegal.co.uk, www.yorkshire-legal-recruitment.co.uk, www.hampshirelegal.co.uk, www.homecountieslegal.co.uk and www.chancerylane.co.uk (UK corporate and commercial solicitor recruitment by email). All our sites are an integral part of our legal recruitment group. We also offer...

26.10.07 Whether to give law a go with a 2.1 business degree and average A Levels I am thinking of going back to uni to do a GDL and work towards a career in law. The problem is I have pretty average A Level results, B,C,D and a 2:1 in business from an ex-poly. ( I think have always been capable, just not really motivated during A Levels.) I really want to be a lawyer but what are my chances of getting a TC? Do I have a realistic shot? Or should I spend my time and money on something else? We often get people coming to see us for careers consultations with similar situations and wanting to know definitively whether they will get a training contract. I think the first question to ask is "why do I want to be a lawyer", not whether he will get a training contract. The reason for this is because the response to the first question will usually result in the answer to the second. If there is a genuine reason for wanting to be a lawyer, backed up by sound evidence, Dan will already ...

17.10.07 Employing a solicitor in a multi-disciplinary partnership Every year since I started back in 2000, ten-percent have been approached by a range of people wanting to set up and run a solicitors firm. I have known financial advisers, claims management companies, accountants, estate agents, businessmen, all wanting a piece of the pie! I think that some of the other professions see what a solicitor does, see how much they bill and how little they seem to actually do, and see pound signs flashing before their eyes! The harsh reality is that there is so much red tape and so many issues such as indemnity insurance, that in fact it is not worth employing solicitors in house to provide a service to the general public, which of course is the point at which you need to be a solicitors firm. I have known some of the large service companies set up their own firms - we once had dealings with Capita and a law firm they had established which was directly linked to the plc. Once the new Legal S...

11.10.07 Locuming as an alternative career for solicitors Doing locum work as opposed to permanent: At some stage in a solicitors career, this conundrum will almost always arise. It usually follows the stint of a locum in a firm for a longer period of a few weeks, and someone in the firm discovering that the locum is getting paid more than one of the junior partners for doing a much lower role within the organisation. Locum work is something of a legend in law. It is said that locums can be millionaires, and that they are constantly in demand, jumping from one post to another, generating vast amounts of income on £60 per hour rate. The reality of the situation is somewhat different, although there is some truth that locum work is quite rewarding financially. Most locums I come across fall into one of the following categories: a) they want to find a permanent job, but havent been able to. b) they are professional locums, just taking assignments to book up their year as wanted. c) they h...