Overcoming the age barrier

From Career Management for Lawyers - Practical Strategies to Plan Your Next Chapter by Rachel Brushfield (The Law Society 2019)

I realised I wanted to be a lawyer while working for the UN Refugee Agency in Moscow.  My work involved interviewing Afghan, Iraqi and African asylum seekers to assess whether they had a well-founded fear of persecution under international law, drafting their claims for refugee status and lobbying mainly Western governments to accept the most vulnerable -  women-at-risk, unaccompanied minors, the elderly – for humanitarian resettlement. 

I particularly enjoyed the research, analysis, interviewing, drafting and advocacy elements of my work and was thrilled when my employer offered to send me on an international human rights law course at Oxford University.  There, over the course of four weeks and in the company of students from around the world, I attended law lectures by a former South African Constitutional Court judge, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and a policy advisor to former President Bill Clinton and one of the premier experts in public and private international law.  It was exciting, engaging and mind stretching in the best possible way. I decided to apply to law school but it would be another ten years before I enrolled.  

In the interim I moved to France, got married, worked in communications, moved to the UK and had a baby.  When my daughter was three, I felt ready.  I found a flexible, part-time weekend law conversion course which left time for my other commitments.  Although I was one of the older people on my course, I was by no means the oldest.  And despite not having sat an exam or written an academic paper in 15 years, I wasn’t worried.  I knew how to read, write and analyse.  I had this.  Or at least I thought I did until I received the abysmal results of my first set of mocks.  It turns out that I had been answering questions the wrong way and had to relearn how to write. This was harder for me than memorising 400 contract and tort cases as it required going against my own mental grain. With a great deal of practice I eventually beat my brain into submission and earned a commendation on the GDL and distinction on the LPC.  

But other challenges were waiting.  When I started studying law it was with the knowledge that I would not become a lawyer until I secured a training contract.  The legal market has changed a great deal since that time and there are more routes to qualification than ever before.  But for me and many others, a training contract remains the elusive, golden ticket to practice.  I knew the odds were not in my favour (demand currently outstrips supply by about 3 to 1) and in an effort to maximise my chances, I reached out to anyone and everyone  I thought could help. I attended events for mature students and career changers organised by the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society. I joined committees and found a mentor. I made new connections on social media and invited them for coffee. 

During one such meeting a senior partner told me that I should not bother applying to her firm as they “don’t hire (older) people like me”.  Yes, I was older than the average trainee.  But my academics were good, I had client experience and relevant transferrable skills.  On the merits, my application was strong and I was invited to interview by several big firms.  But I was not made an offer.  When I asked for feedback I was told that I had performed well in the assessment but that other applicants were a ‘better fit’.  Was this about my age?  I’ll never know for certain but studies show that unconscious bias can negatively influence hiring decisions, particularly when it comes to women, LGBT+, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and older people.

The senior partner’s words were hard to digest but among the most valuable advice I received. In short, she was telling me to be strategic.  To apply my resources where they had the greatest chance of success.  I would need to stand out, but in the right way.  And there is a right way – something I only really understood after hitting a wall in my applications and approaching my college’s careers office for advice.  An advisor took one look at my standard covering letter and said with characteristically British tact – “That’s not quite how I would have written it.”  With her help, I broke myself down and built myself back up, again.  I re-learned how to write, again. I targeted a new set of firms based on revised criteria.  I answered questions using the STAR format.  It worked.  Two years ago I started a training contract with a top-100 firm and by the time you read this I will be a solicitor in England and Wales.

The financial crash is behind us. #MeToo and gender pay gap reporting have shone a light on the urgent need for greater workplace equity. Christina Blacklaws, President of the Law Society (only the fifth female president in its 193-year history) has put women in leadership in law squarely on the agenda.  As I join the ranks of newly qualified solicitors I can’t imagine a more exciting time to be a lawyer.  

There is a strong economic argument for hiring older candidates and career changers:  we are excellent value for money.  Confident, committed and client-orientated, we bring a variety of hard and soft skills from prior careers as doctors, scientists, musicians, marines and diplomats that add value to the legal marketplace.  We have extensive personal and professional networks which are a rich source of client referrals. Add to this the positive synergies which bubble up from a truly diverse workforce, and it’s really a no brainer.  Employers who fail to see this value risk missing out on talent. So go ahead – hire more people like us.  Y/our future depends on it.  

Make full use of available resources. The Law Society regularly hosts seminars which are free to attend.  If you have access to a careers team use them.  Get onto law firms’ and chambers’ mailing lists to get invited to legal briefings and networking events.

Network smart. Are you passionate about a particular social cause?  Chances are there are other lawyers who are too.  Join their group.  Get involved in the discussion.  Volunteer your time, if you have any to spare, and put yourself out there.  

Don’t ask, don’t get.  Do you want to go from full to part-time, gain legal work experience, get a key decision-maker to look at your CV or join a panel of speakers? Don’t forget to ask. Getting a yes may be easier if you follow the first two tips above.

Morgan Wolfe 2018