How to: change specialism

The legal sector is bouncing back and recruitment is too. This is encouraging for lawyers fed up with their practice area and looking for new challenges.

Rita Oscar, who is responsible for career development at the Law Society, says that last summer she noticed an increase in calls from solicitors who were considering switching practice area, moving in-house, or changing profession. ‘The people who came to me did so before [deciding to] move. They just wanted the reassurance that it is possible,’ she says.

That spate of enquiries led to a two-hour evening event on changing career direction, which attracted over 70 delegates, well above expectations. Oscar has since been scheduling spin-off events on the theme, including how to move in-house. Her team is also working on practical guidance on how to change career direction – supported by case studies – which should be available on the Law Society website.

So what are the hottest areas for solicitors with itchy feet?

Private client law is popular, particularly among working mothers. In response to solicitors’ queries about moving into this area, in April the Law Society held a one-day retraining course on wills, probate and trusts. Oscar says delegates were all women solicitors (with one exception) and included practitioners in other disciplines who had taken a career break to have children. There is a shortage of people coming into the area, and, as it involves less court-based work, ‘it suits women juggling a family’, Oscar says.  

‘Private client law tends to be more flexible in terms of working part-time or shorter hours; you can organise your time if you do will-drafting instead of working to court deadlines,’ says Lucy Morrison, managing director of Central Law Training (CLT), a provider of post-qualification training for legal professionals. At CLT, the most popular retraining course is the five-day private client conversion for practitioners wishing to change specialisms. The course runs five times a year and costs £1,195 (for CLT members).  

Responding to rising demand, CLT has added new retraining courses, including two-day certificates in planning law and intellectual property law, and a one-day intensive introduction to residential property, which has been a bestseller over the past 12 to 18 months.

‘There is a continuing demand from people who want to develop new specialisms,’ Morrison says, including from practitioners in areas of law that have been ‘under pressure’, such as crime, family, and personal injury; solicitors who have taken a career break and want to branch out into new areas; and lawyers who want another ‘string to their bow’ by adding a ‘sub-specialism’ to their practice. ‘We commonly see women in their 30s and 40s wanting to switch,’ she adds.

In-house is also a popular choice for lawyers seeking a career change.

CLT has introduced a two-day ‘essential toolkit’ for private practice PC holders, which can be combined with a two-day certificate in contract drafting (£500 each).

Leanne Maund, chair of the Junior Lawyers Division, says switching specialism was more prevalent during the recession. ‘Junior lawyers [now] tend to look for advice on how to move in-house rather than how to change specialism within private practice,’ she observes.

‘Traditionally, people have moved in-house for better work-life balance, but I don’t think that is as much of a key factor now. There are a growing number of opportunities in-house. People want to broaden their horizons within a business, rather than focusing purely on their legal skills.’  

So how should lawyers go about reshaping their career?

Rachel Brushfield, a career strategist and coach, acts as a ‘talent liberator’ for lawyers and other professionals. She says: ‘Most of my clients tend to be 42 to 55. They know they are going to be working for a while and they are fed up with feeling fed up [with their career].’ But she says it is harder for lawyers than other professionals because they are by nature ‘conformist’, ‘risk-averse’ and ‘time-poor’.

‘I find, especially with lawyers, that they put you in a box, so it is harder to make a change in direction for a lawyer than it is for a non-lawyer,’ Brushfield says. This conservative approach to change applies both ways: ‘It’s easier for the decision-maker to go for an easy fit, someone who they know through their network or has got relevant experience.’

That is why it helps to switch to an area where there is a shortage of good solicitors because recruiters are going to be more ‘receptive’, Brushfield observes.

Hence, conveyancing courses are popular. During the property market downturn law firms laid off conveyancers, but this led to a ‘skills gap’ when the sector recovered. The same applies to private client and in house. ‘Companies are internalising their legal spend so in-house legal teams are expanding,’ Maund says.

Practitioners wishing to change their specialist practice area are mostly self-funded but a more gradual approach may help attract funding from an employer: for example, a general litigator who wants to take on more insolvency or property litigation work. ‘That is one way you can make a business case for your firm to fund you in your training, because they can see that as a result they are getting somebody with additional skills who is able to take on more and varied work,’ Morrison says.

Recruiters note that despite the upsurge in interest, switching is still difficult. ‘Changing specialism isn’t as common today as it was during the recession, when some legal professionals retrained in reaction to instability in the industry,’ observes Lindsy McGowan, senior manager at Hays Legal. ‘But even then the competitive market made it difficult. In today’s more stable market, lateral moves remain the most common career change.’

McGowan observes that where lawyers have successfully ventured into pastures new it is the less experienced who have the edge. ‘The earlier you are in your career the easier it is to change specialism. Your legal knowledge is most varied in the months after your training contract so you can confidently use these diverse experiences to change specialism,’ McGowan says. ‘The longer you practise in one area the harder it is to change. But it can be an option when moving between related fields where you have specific legal or industry knowledge.’

But do not be deterred if your desire for change comes later in life. ‘As a lawyer you have a lot of core skills that you can transfer to another discipline. For example, somebody transferring from litigation to private client will have very well-developed interviewing skills that will help them with preparing a will,’ Morrison says.

As Brushfield notes, lawyers are well-equipped for any career change, thanks to their skills, qualities and experience: for example, they have the research skills to explore new career options; the intelligence to make a good decision; and the persistence to make it work, having spent years training. Critical thinking, client relationship management, negotiation, and the ability to analyse complex information and communicate it in a simple way are all transferrable skills.  

Perhaps the biggest obstacle is the mindset of law firms and their recruiters. Morrison says: ‘People’s perceptions differ as to whether you are flexible enough both in terms of salary expectations and your learning ability to switch discipline if you are 15 years down the line.’

Brushfield adds: ‘It is really important to be prepared, to do the research and be very focused and identify blocks such as unconscious bias. It takes someone who is courageous and sets aside time to make it happen successfully.’

Marialuisa Taddia is a freelance journalist

For information on Law Society training courses and events, see the website.