My partner works as a solicitor and notary public for a very big firm. The other day we were talking and she said “I would love to use Claude to summarise documents and do some repetitive tasks but my firm doesn’t allow it”

And I was slightly confused, she said it was because the company was worried about staff putting sensitive documents and data into a public AI.

If you work in the legal profession, is this something that happens at your workplace too? So my question is:

- Are you allowed to use AI to handoff work or do tasks? If not, do you know why?

I'm curious about what's going to happen to the whole industry of big law in terms of hiring with the rate at which AI is being used. I genuinely wonder how a law graduate would have to position him self in the coming years to be a part of the legal industry whilst being insulated from AI's impact on their job prospects

I'm entering law (converting from another career) and would like to understand the impact that tax lawyers are seeing from AI on

a) the day-to-day -- how is it helping you? How do you use it? Is it reliable?

b) the future -- will it remove tax lawyer roles etc etc? Can you see it getting to that point at some point? If not, what does that dynamic roughly look like?

Thank you for any thoughts.

I’m a trainee and just wondering when it comes to areas of practice in a law firm, which areas have a good work life balance.

Competition and tax come to mind. Any others?

Hello,

I am a conveyancing paralegal who’s been in the job for about 18 months and I can’t bear it anymore. As I believe is the consensus in the industry I can’t bear the clients or the volume of work. I know it might be a controversial opinion but I really enjoy the technical side of the work and think I’d enjoy it much better if there wasn’t clients with incredibly unreasonable expectations who will be borderline verbally abuse to you when they are not met and the sheer volume of clients and files.

I was looking at trying to get into commercial property as I think my experience would benefit me.

Does anyone have any experience on making the transition and know the best way to do it?

So I’ve started uni for law, I’m currently in first year.

Back when I studied law in sixth form, when researching cases we would read the case summary, and the judgement and then from that understand the precedence enough to then apply the law to scenarios. That was around two years ago though, so that skill of knowing what to read is out of my head. University may be different though.

Uni is now asking me to read the full law reports of every case. Is this necessary, or should I pick and choose what to read to understand the law enough. When reading the law reports, a lot of it seems to be repeats of the case summary, so it’s stuff I already know and understand enough. It seems unnecessary to read if I already can tell how to apply it and what is needed.

What do you all do when researching cases, do you read them in full, or do you pick and choose what to read? Is it a method of picking and choosing enough in order to cite the precedence of the case?

Hi I am 23 y/o currently 10 months into a residential conveyancing role in a law firm outside London, and it’s fine I am ideally working toward a TC through vac scheme or direct in London. It’s just not where I want to be stuck if this application season doesn’t go to plan! I got quite far last season making it to AC’s when I had just started this role (I graduated from Russell group uni in 2024 LLB degree 2:1) I am just stuck on how to branch into commercial work within London if my plan a of a vac scheme or direct TC doesn’t work out this year, has anyone got any advice as getting a paralegal role is just as hard as vac scheme in my opinion - do I stick with this role and wait for a vac scheme? thanks!

First legal hire for a UK based B2C in the clothing space here. My background isn't B2C, so keen to here from lawyers who work in B2C companies or advise on B2C what you think the main things are that I should review / put in place within the forst three to six months

On top of that there will be a lack of any real legal systems or subscriptions. I'm thinking PLC or Lexis will be a must, plus an enterprise AI subscription (or two!). Anyone got any further tips or suggestions?

I studied law at university. My degree was very challenging but I really enjoyed it. At times I found university super hard and very stressful. I miss how much it fulfilled me.

I’m on route to train as a solicitor but since gaining experience as a paralegal I’m having heavy doubts. I do not find the work mentally stimulating whatsoever. I know the work a paralegal does is different to a solicitor, but I’m watching the solicitors - I think I chose wrong.

All my experience leads to being a solicitor. I have no mini pupillages, and I have attended no career events or open days that you’d expect the aspiring barrister to have done.

I don’t even know if I want to be barrister - the reason I never considered it was due to the cost barrier. I also don’t speak how you’d expect a barrister to speak. For instance, my accent, my vocabulary, my pronunciation…

I just need advice.

I am to complete my undergraduate degree in Biology come this spring after I would like to transition towards the medical malpractice sector I have done some reading on solicitors and barristers I would like some advice on my postgraduate route would it be more beneficial to take a one year pgdip in a law conversion course or LLM or is there another route to look into

Any advice would be greatly appreciated a lot of my academic volunteering / lab experience has been more biological science based

Hi guys,

I’m currently in my final year studying Law at the University of Manchester, and I was wondering whether law firms care if you don’t take Equity and Trusts or EU Law as optional modules.

The main reason I’m considering not taking them is that both modules have in-person exams, which I don’t think suit my strengths, and I’m certain that I will perform poorly in them. Instead, I’m considering taking modules such as Company Law and Banking Law, which align more closely with my interest in commercial law and are subjects in which I feel I could achieve a higher grade.

I was therefore wondering whether law firms generally care about which optional modules you take, particularly when applying for training contracts and vac schemes, or whether they place greater emphasis on your overall degree classification.

I also wanted to ask whether not taking Equity and Trusts or EU Law would affect whether my degree is considered a qualifying law degree.

I’d really appreciate any advice you might have!

(I plan to be a solicitor, not a barrister)

started a LLB law degree at city university, i really do want excel academically, especially in first year since law firms do tend to look at first year grades when applying to internships/vac schemes.

any advice regarding how to prep for exams/essay writing would be good, thanks.

I’m a bit worried that I might have made a mistake in a few applications. My university has mandatory career development modules which don’t provide any credits and are just pass/fail modules. I haven’t included them in my applications so far and I’m worried that this might be an issue. I haven’t failed any of them if that matters.

Are there any firms with particularly cool societies or firm sponsored social activities? I think I saw Freshfields host a Scottish reeling event once so something like that. Firms don’t really publicise these opportunities but it’d be cool to know about them as part of consideration alongside more serious factors!

Hi everyone - firstly, thanks to the mods for giving us permission to share this!

I’m one of the people behind ActusPrep.

We’ve made our SQE1 study guides completely free for anyone preparing for the exams. You just need a free ActusPrep account to access them - no paid subscription required.

The guides cover every FLK subject across both FLK1 and FLK2, focusing on the black-letter law and functional legal knowledge you need for SQE1.

They’re available in both written and audio formats, so you can read through the material or listen to chapters while commuting, walking or whenever you’d rather revise without staring at a screen.

Each chapter also includes 3-5 SBAQs to test your understanding as you go. The written guides feature checklists, worked examples, high-yield traps and key distinctions to help reinforce what you’ve learnt.

We’ve been working on these since August last year, well before ActusPrep launched earlier this year, and have continued refining and expanding them since.

The reason we created them is pretty simple: SQE preparation is already expensive enough, and we wanted to make a genuinely useful set of revision materials available without putting them behind yet another paywall.

Whether you’re using a course provider or self-studying, hopefully these can serve as a useful additional revision resource alongside your existing materials.

If you find them helpful, great. Equally, if you spot anything that could be clearer, corrected or improved, I’d genuinely appreciate the feedback. We’re still actively developing the platform and student feedback is really valuable to us.

Free ActusPrep study guides (written + audio): Click here

Hope these help anyone preparing for the January 2027 sitting (or later exams). Best of luck with your revision!

Does anyone find it extremely off putting by the number of conveyancers who regularly post on LinkedIn complaining about work?

I find it odd because it gives off several impressions some of which include that your employer isn’t looking after you properly and or you don’t like the work or your clients.

It’s negative publicity either way that doesn’t seem to drive any real value or engagement.

This is purely my take as I review candidate social media profiles when interviewing them, but if I identified that some consistently complained about their work or caseload so publicly I wouldn’t hire them as it would strike me they are a publicity flight risk.

What’s your thoughts?

How realistic is it for me to become a paralegal in a new area of law from being NQ solicitor?

I am in Private Client (Wills and Trusts) and slowly hating the work. I am happy to have a salary cut, in return to do something I am interested in.

Hi Everyone 😊

Very worried NQ here. I have been working in law for a few years, the majority of which is at my current firm where I qualified last year.

Basically, I have been panicking and racking my brain due to the fact I’m worried my firm maybe hasn’t provided me (or others) with very good training or supervision and all the possible mistakes I could have made without realising. Or even things I’ve been asked to do that I thought was fine or a basic administrative task that might not have been, and I have just trusted my seniors that they wouldn’t ask me to do something I probably shouldn’t.

I don’t feel like the firm has very good management or oversight (very small firm). I’m worried what if I have accidentally done something wrong without even realising, I could have gotten myself struck off already (or worse??😭). Or if there are any issues that arise with me raising concerns to the relevant people at work about matters, and feeling like they aren’t being dealt with very well or properly, and if that puts me in a bad position as well. I have only really worked at this place, so it’s hard to know what’s normal practice and what’s not and where I’m covered / satisfied my duties or not.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’ve considered potentially looking for a new job where I feel like there is more structure / support etc, but I’m also worried that wouldn’t necessarily stop any inadvertent mistakes I’ve already made coming back to haunt me later down the line. Or if I leave and the firm faces issues later down the line, that my name is already associated with it. The other option is that I quit law altogether and find a new passion??

Do solicitors just spend their life in fear of these things, or am I overreacting (hopefully?)

I’m basically just really hoping to receive some reassurance from this post and maybe that I don’t need to give up all together and live a quiet life with some pets…🥲 (and so that I can sleep at night once more)

Presuming no plans/hangover.

I start: Weil can go to HELL

They require SJTs for OPEN DAYS and ask 2:1 on EVERY MODULE

BRO, YOU HAVE NO PARTNERS LEFT

Hi everyone, I’d appreciate some advice!

I graduated with a First-Class degree from a Russell Group university a few years ago, have several years of paralegal experience at smaller firms, and recently passed SQE1 first time.

Since moving to London, I’ve found the job market incredibly competitive. In my previous city, I regularly got interviews, but here I’m barely hearing back, even for roles matching my experience. I’m also struggling to move into other practice areas because my experience seems to pigeonhole me. I haven’t had luck with non-legal roles either.

I’ve never applied for training contracts or vacation schemes because I’ve always doubted whether I’m good enough. I also took a non-traditional route into university, with a foundation qualification overseas, and my school grades weren’t particularly strong. On top of that, I have a CV gap of over a year while preparing for SQE1.

Ideally, I’d like to join a more established firm as a paralegal and potentially progress internally, but my partner thinks I should focus on training contract applications instead. I’m worried I’ve left it too late and don’t know which route to prioritise.

For those who’ve been in a similar position:
Is it too late to apply for training contracts a few years after graduating?

Is internal progression from paralegal to trainee realistic?

How much do school grades and a CV gap matter when you have a First-Class degree and have passed SQE1?

I’d really appreciate any honest advice. Thanks!