The legal services industry incorporates a range of services for clients requiring legal assistance. Opportunities are available in private practice, the public sector and in-house in industry and commerce.

Global recession and economic factors have resulted in law firms restructuring, downsizing and in some cases merging or closing. Further changes within the industry are emerging following the Legal Services Act 2007, enabling law and non-law firms to merge to form alternative business structures. Cuts within the Legal Services Budget have resulted in a reduction in firms offering publicly funded work being awarded contracts, putting greater pressure on the pro bono and voluntary legal advice sector.

Legal sector graduate vacancies in 2011 were predicted to rise by 4% compared to 2010 rates (High Fliers Graduate Market Survey, 2011). Law is the highest paid graduate job with salaries at an average of £36,000 (AGR Summer Survey, 2010). This makes law an attractive profession, and competition for training contract places is high; almost three times as many applicants for each available vacancy (Law Society Annual Statistical report, 2010).

Key areas of practice affected by the recession include banking, finance and property law. Legal practice growth areas include energy and environmental law, intellectual property law, international law, alternative dispute resolution, insolvency, shipping, insurance and employment law. There has been a rise in niche law firms and emergence of virtual law firms operating on a consultancy basis.

What kind of work can I do?

• Solicitors - provide a wide range of legal support and advice to clients. They take instructions and advise on necessary courses of legal action.
• Solicitor advocate - solicitors with higher rights of audience who can represent clients in higher courts.
• Barristers and advocates (Scotland) - act as advocates in court and provide written legal opinions.
• Chartered legal executives - fee-earning, qualified lawyers with a role similar to solicitors. They frequently specialise in conveyancing, civil and criminal litigation, family law and probate.
• Paralegals - support solicitors with legal transactions, mainly in an administrative capacity, with varying levels of responsibility.

What’s it like working in this industry?

Many solicitors and barristers, particularly early in their career, frequently have to work long, unsocial hours involving evenings and weekends. Solicitors are usually employed and barristers are self-employed. Chartered legal executives are now able to become partners in law firms and solicitor advocates can represent clients in higher courts without instructing counsel in non-specialist cases.

Solicitors

• The Law Society of England and Wales  recommends that trainee solicitors earn a minimum salary of £18,590 in central London and £16,650 outside London. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) states that median starting salaries in 2009 were £37,000 in London. Starting salary and progression depends on the size of firm and type of work. 
• The The Law Society of Scotland  recommends that rates for trainee salaries are £15,965 for a first year trainee and £19,107 for a second year trainee.
• In Northern Ireland, apprentices earn between £10,600 and £18,000, depending on the stage of their training (The Law Society of Northern Ireland , 2011).

Barristers

• In England and Wales, pupil barristers earn a minimum of £10,000 per annum, although some sets pay up to £40,000 (The Training Contract and Pupillage Handbook, 2011). Starting salaries range from £20,000 - £90,000.
• In Scotland, intending advocates (known as ‘devils’) are unpaid during their ten-month training period.
• Employed bar starting salaries range from £25,000 - £75,000 depending on location, area of practice and employer. Salaries can double in ten years' time (Bar Council, 2011).

Ancillary professions

Salaries for student legal executives just entering the profession range from £14,000 - £22,000 (CILEx, 2011), rising to an average of £35,000 for chartered legal executives, also known as Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) . Salary progression will vary depending on location, size and specialist area of the firm.

Paralegal jobs with higher salaries are usually offered to Legal Practice Course (LPC) graduates with at least six months' relevant experience. The average paralegal salary at the start of 2011 was £21,000, with a typical salary range of £15,000 - £50,000. Around 75% of paralegals tend to earn more than £20,000 and 10% of paralegals tend to earn more than £35,000 (SalaryTrack, 2011).

Diversity

• There continue to be concerns about diversity across the legal sector, but the situation is changing slowly. Approximately 20% of new trainees with known ethnicity were from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups (Law Society Annual Statistical Report, 2010).
• There is a slightly higher proportion of men than women in the sector, particularly among barristers. Since 2000, female solicitors holding practising certificates has risen by 80%.
• Diversity bursary schemes are available to fund postgraduate law courses and more law firms are offering diversity mentoring schemes.
• In April 2011,the government introduced the social mobility initiative Opening Doors, Breaking Down Barriers, which offers internships to young people from deprived backgrounds.

How big is this industry?

According to figures released by the relevant legal professional bodies, there are a total of just over 200,000 people employed in a professional or ancillary role in the UK legal industry. This is about 0.7% of the total UK working population (Office for National Statistics, 2009). Of these, 150,000 are solicitors with practising certificates and 12,700 practising barristers (Bar Council 2010).

Where can I work?

England and Wales

• Over a quarter of private practice firms are located in London employing around 45% of all private practice solicitors. There are large regional legal centres outside of London for example Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, where national, regional and local firms are based covering all practice areas.
• In-house work is mainly found in London.
• The majority of practising barristers are based in London with over one third based elsewhere (Bar Council, 2010).
• Government Legal Service (GLS)  employ trainee barristers/solicitors in London. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)  recruit trainees and pupils throughout the UK.

Scotland

• Work is available throughout Scotland, though most opportunities, particularly in commercial and corporate work, are located in the larger cities, especially Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Northern Ireland

• Work is available throughout Northern Ireland, though most opportunities, especially in commercial and corporate work, are located in the larger cities, particularly Belfast.

UK-qualified solicitors who wish to practise elsewhere in the UK or in the EU can re-qualify in other jurisdictions by taking appropriate tests. Contact the relevant law society for assistance. To practise outside of the EU, check with the relevant law society for advice.

For information on working overseas, see opportunities abroad.