I am an unregistered barrister, what are my other career options ?

Posted by chocolatecake1111@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 15 comments

I am an unregistered barrister. What are my career options

I am currently an unregistered barrister, having successfully completed the Bar a few years ago. I am now approaching the five-year mark and, despite my efforts, I have unfortunately been unsuccessful in securing pupillage.

That said, I have built extensive experience within the legal sector, having worked as a Paralegal with the Crown Prosecution Service, a Court Advocate, Litigator, Legal Adviser to Magistrates, and Court Clerk.

To be completely honest, I am at a point where I am questioning whether I have the strength to continue on this path. After going through a traumatic experience, I have come to realise that life is short, and what I truly want is stability, peace of mind, and enough financial security to be happy.

I currently feel very unhappy in my role and I am trying to understand what other career paths my degree and experience could lead me to. I am open to exploring alternative options—whether that is within law or outside of it.

For example, could I move into something like professional mentoring, banking, compliance, policy work, or another field entirely? I would really appreciate any insight or suggestions on alternative careers that may suit my background.

Even if it is not law, what else is there for me.

I am not looking to return to studying, so I would prefer options that build on my existing qualifications and experience.

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xthewhiteviolin@reddit

Become a solicitor! You have 2 years qualifying experience

Divgirl2@reddit

There are various civil service careers where they do advocacy. Home Office presenting officers are fairly regularly recruiting, many departments have lay representatives under different names. It would be worth keeping an eye out for those vacancies.

I know a few people who got pupilage from these types of jobs, and it was a route taken by the UKs youngest judge (Judge Carlton, who I think actually did pupilage after becoming a judge).

There are also charities who represent people in Tribunals. I've known someone get pupilage through that route.

If you want to change career I'd say civil service in general, maybe have a go at the grad schemes (they'll be opening in September).

peddersuk@reddit

Go compliance. It's a profession that keeps going up in terms of need, and the larger the company, the bigger the team and more complex the situations are.

LegInternational8469@reddit

Better work/life balance than fee earners too (mostly), depending on seniority of course

Boboshady@reddit

This is a good shout.

east112@reddit

Banking/consulting seem to draw a lot of lawyers.

Timely_Egg_6827@reddit

Government - policy. There is a lot of legal knowledge used and legal departments are stretched to the limits. Having someone who can interface between legal and policy/enforcement teams would be seen as an advantage. They may also be able to second you for training.

As a follow-up, market research and marketing companies esp those working with government. DPIA and GDRP etc are very hard for companies to work through.

OohSpookyParty@reddit

As someone who works in data protection law, I can confirm that it is fairly lucrative for what it is. I don’t even have a degree, I just worked my way up and did a few certifications. Decent pay and likely way less stress than other legal jobs. And a lot of them are remote (as is mine) if you want that extra work/life balance, although I know remote work isn’t for everyone.

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