Legal Profession beyond Private Practice

When we talk of the legal profession there is a tendency to think mostly of solicitors and perhaps as an afterthought the more specialist roles of advocates or barristers. But there are a whole host of career opportunities available to lawyers beyond the corrals of the solicitor's office or the advocate's chambers. I have touched on some of these already in discussing the traineeship possibilities other than in private practice, and mentioned traineeships available in central and local government, the Scottish Executive or the Crown Office. Little is written about these jobs which do not form the backbone of private practice. This is a pity because many of them might be hugely attractive to law students who often join private practice simply because they are faced so frequently with that particular role model and may learn little about alternative models.

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Academia

Law is a discipline that carries an enormous amount of kudos, flexibility and status. It is also one of the few disciplines that attracts people back into academic life once they have left university and become qualified for the legal profession. In most disciplines (e.g. science, history, philosophy, languages) academic staff have made the choice to remain in the academy by the time they reach their final undergraduate year. It is then usual to undertake a postgraduate research degree, either a Masters or a Ph.D., and seek employment as a tutorial assistant or teaching fellow while completing the research degree. This route achieves the combined advantage of obtaining relevant teaching experience whilst honing the vital research skills necessary to a successful career as an academic. Because law is a vocational subject, i.e. it offers a definite career outcome for graduates, as opposed to a degree in history, fine art or biological sciences, and because it values those who have practiced law, legal practitioners can sometimes make the transition from practice to academia.

In universities today, as a minimum, an academic is expected to be able to teach competently and to research well. Universities are funded primarily according to the number of students they recruit and the quality of their research output. Both activities are closely monitored by the Government. In the "new" universities (i.e. those established after 1992) most of the emphasis is on teaching, and an academic there will carry a significantly heavier teaching load than in the traditional universities where time is specifically allocated for research. As with all walks of life, universities are coming under increasing pressure to generate income and not rely solely on government funding, resulting in academics facing larger classes and delivering more courses, accompanied by burgeoning administrative duties. At the same time, most law departments aspire to be highly rated in research terms and individual members of staff are expected to publish regularly in quality journals.

If you are a practitioner considering a move to academia, then you will face at least two major decisions. First, you will have to decide whether you look for an appointment in a university that delivers an LL.B., in which case you will require to be research-active; or whether you seek a post in a university that offers a law degree, but not one that qualifies students for entry to the profession, in which case research output, while welcome, is not so critical. If you are keen to be attached to the former, then you will almost certainly have to establish your credentials as someone who either has published or has the strong potential to publish. Therefore, if you harbour a desire to be in academia, a certain amount of forward planning will be necessary to place you in a good position for appointment to the lecturing staff. The very nature of law practice is such that you are unlikely to have had time to write and publish so will have difficulty competing for jobs against those who have "come up through the system", having probably acquired a postgraduate degree and published along the way. Most universities only wish to appoint staffs who are active researchers. It takes quite a long time to reach a stage where your research is flowing and it may not be economical for a university to risk employing you while waiting for that time period to pass. You may have to lay the foundations while in practice.

If you opt for a university post in the universities that do not teach the LL.B., and where primarily you will be expected to be a teacher, then different demands will be made of you. You will be expected to be I.T. competent and capable of designing and delivering courses to large classes of diverse backgrounds. This can be as great a challenge as that of becoming an instant researcher, and again, advance preparation in the shape of part-time tutoring will be invaluable in preparing you for a new life as a teacher.

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If you are trying to decide between the two types of institution it is useful to compare key areas where there is likely to be distinctive differences, such as resourcing, class sizes, culture and promotion prospects. The higher education sector has become more vocal in recent years about under-funding. In Scotland there is a growing shortfall between the funding received from central Government and the expenditure required of universities. Funding is not keeping pace with inflation or increasing costs, yet universities, both old and new, are encouraged to increase student numbers. While it is dangerous to make too many generalizations, the impression is given that, although resourcing is tight for every institution, it is especially so in the new universities. In part this is probably due to their being expected to transform themselves from their previous existence, as institutes of technology, to universities, within a very short space of time and without appropriate investment by central Government. Buildings have seldom been purpose built and as a result, with increasing class sizes, accommodation is often cramped, unsuitable and ill-equipped for modern technological teaching aids. Equally, while staff in traditional universities would certainly expect to be appropriately accommodated in offices of their own and with on-line sophisticated computer facilities, law staff in new universities frequently have to share accommodation and facilities. In terms of materials, the new universities generally have less well-stocked law libraries and provision for staff to attend conferences and pursue research interests is usually less generous. In both types of universities promotion is limited, reflecting a narrow career structure. New staff, especially staff coming from practice, will almost invariably be appointed at the lower end of the lecturing scale unless they have considerable additional benefits to bring to the university. They can progress to the post of senior lecturer and this is largely dependent on their research output, though excellence in teaching and the level of administrative responsibility shouldered will also play a part. The second major decision that you will face if considering a move to academia relates to salary. Unless you are at the early stage of your career you will almost certainly have to take a drop in salary if moving from practice to academia. Salaries in the latter for someone at a comparable age and level of experience are approximately one half to two thirds of their counterparts in practice. Moreover, there is a disturbing tendency for universities to appoint staff now on short-term and/or fixed-term contracts, a policy that undermines motivation and commitment, and encourages instability as staffs are no sooner in post than they often feel the need to look around for a more permanent appointment. Balanced against these two downsides of academic life is the relative autonomy afforded by it. The concept of academic freedom is not yet entirely eroded. Staffs do have freedom to research in whatever area they wish, though they may have less choice in what and how they teach. Quality Assurance and Academic Audit have both played their part over the last decade or so in raising standards, or at least in making them more transparent for the benefit of staff, students and the general public.

One feature of academic life that should be mentioned relates to the vacations between term-time. Do not be attracted into academia under the illusion that you can have July until October off. It is a widely held myth that academics enjoy long and work-free summer holidays. That may have been a privilege enjoyed in the distant past by some, but the pressure to publish and to do so frequently and credibly, coupled with the demands of constant preparation and refinement of teaching materials, has ensured that academics, in common with most other workers, are fortunate if they can identify a two- or three-week holiday period during the summer. Even those who are fortunate enough to gain a visiting appointment to an attractive location like Italy or the States, go there to work, often on a teaching exchange program or summer school. Not that it is all hardship of course, even the opportunity to travel and teach abroad is something denied to many others and remains one of the key attractions of academic life.

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