Can You Afford a Career in Law?
updated on 05 April 2005
Studying law is similar in terms of cost to other mainstream degree subjects, with perhaps the only notable difference being the cost of textbooks. Legal textbooks can be more expensive, with core texts typically costing £30 to £40 each. Many are out of date even before they are printed and it’s not unusual for several editions to be brought out in the same year. Generally, second-hand bookshops at universities will not accept law books for this reason, so law students cannot even recoup expenses by selling books when they have finished with them. However, some law faculties hold second-hand book sales for law students, as some books make useful background reading. Students should look out for such sales.
The cost of being a law student can escalate significantly when individuals decide that they want to pursue a career in the law after their undergraduate studies. Students who have not obtained a qualifying law degree will need to complete a CPE/GDL (law conversion course). Anyone wishing to qualify as a solicitor or a barrister will need to complete the relevant compulsory, one-year vocational courses; the Legal Practice Course (LPC) for solicitors or the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) for barristers.
How much does legal education cost?
Students on any post-graduate law course will need to fund their living costs in addition to course fees. The NUS estimates the average cost of living in London at £181 per week, which totals approximately £6,516 for a 36-week academic year. Outside of London, the NUS estimates the cost of living to be £153 per week, totalling £5,508 for a year. Students will also have to pay extra for any books they need.
Fees for the one-year, full-time CPE/GDL course in 2003 ranged from £1,085 to £5,900, depending on the location of the institution and the reputation of the course. Sponsorship may be available, but only for a lucky few (see below).
The cost of the LPC is significant and fees rise year on year. Tuition fees range between £5,300 and £9,000 depending on the location and perceived quality of the institution offering the course. LPC providers are assessed by the Law Society and given a rating of Excellent, Very Good, Good or Satisfactory. There is no government funding available for the LPC and providers that seem to offer a higher quality course tend to charge higher fees. The situation is similar in relation to the BVC. Course fees increase year on year and range from £7,285 to £11,185, with no government funding available.
It is therefore conceivable that in the LPC/BVC year alone, students can accrue between £12,000 and £17,000 of debt. Add this to the current undergraduate debt and a sum of £37,000 is easily reached. One trainee solicitor commented: "On leaving university I had utilised the full amount of student loans and had credit cards with a combined balance of £5,000 outstanding. I had not been frivolous and had at least one job throughout my degree. My money went on rent, books and essential items. When I undertook the LPC I was forced to take out more loans to keep food on the table."
A number of options do exist to try and ease the financial pressures of the LPC and BVC, and students should research these options thoroughly prior to applying for a course. Some providers will accept fees paid by instalments and are also increasingly offering a part-time LPC. This course comprises distance learning and part-time attendance, which allows students to work at the same time and earn a salary. This 'earn while you learn' option is particularly useful for those with families or other financial commitments. However, studying part-time might be more difficult than full-time study. Also, for students lucky enough to arrange their pupillage before starting the BVC, some chambers allow pupils to draw down some of their pupillage award during the BVC year and sometimes even give financial help in addition to the award.
How much can you expect to make back?
So, once the academic stages of becoming a solicitor or a barrister are complete, what's next in terms of finances? According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters the average graduate's salary in 2003 was £20,300. As law students have typically accrued much more debt than the average graduate from a non-law subject, can they expect to earn a lot more?
For the majority of those joining the legal profession the answer has to be "no!" or at least "not for a while!". The amount you can ultimately expect to earn as a solicitor or barrister depends on many different factors including: the location and size of your firm, the area of law you practice, your client base and, particularly in the case of barristers, your personal success and reputation. To some extent, these factors will also be relevant to those starting their careers in other areas of law. What is sometimes perceived to be a 'licence to print money' is actually a hard slog that does not produce immediate financial rewards. One newly qualified solicitor commented: "Once you start earning, especially in this profession, there is a certain amount of keeping up with the Jones’s. You need suits, shirts, ties and shoes. You have client events, firm events and lunches to go to, to make contacts and further your career. Not to mention the cost of travel."
Following the LPC, those wishing to qualify as solicitors must complete a two-year training contract. This is a salaried position within a training provider, usually a law firm, where experience is gained in various areas of practice. Competition for training contracts is extremely fierce and many students fail to find a contract, even after incurring the crippling debt of the LPC course. Statistics show that in 2002/2003 there were 7,695 places on the LPC. In the year ended July 2003 5,650 new training contracts were registered with the Law Society. Even taking into account that some students will not have passed the LPC and that some will have secured contracts after July 2003, this is a significant deficit. Even though many students do secure a training contract while on their LPC, students should consider the risks of not securing one at all.
Those who do secure a training contract are protected to an extent by the minimum salary set by the Council of the Law Society. Currently, the minimum wage for trainees in Central London is £15,900 and in other areas is £14,200. The council also suggests a recommended wage, which in Central London is currently £16,680, and in other areas is £14,870. These figures are reviewed every year and firms cannot pay below the minimum except in certain circumstances that must be agreed with the Law Society.
Many firms pay well in excess of this salary. The average salary for trainee solicitors in 2003 was £19,748. However, the high salaries offered by Central London magic circle firms, which in 2003 averaged £26,635, distort this figure. For example, in Wales the average salary was £13,757 and in the East Midlands £14,832. Many trainees will be paid close to the minimum level. Although magic circle wages have obvious attractions, students should remember that it is likely that they will be required to work some unsociable hours to justify this salary.
Generally, despite finances being tight for those trainees at the lower end of the salary scale, with a bit of forward planning most will be able to manage.
Following the BVC, students wishing to qualify need to complete a one-year pupillage, which is a period of supervised learning at a barristers' chambers. Pupillage is funded to a minimum of £10,000 for the year, though this can often be considerably more. Pupil barristers will also need a wig and gown, which cost in the region of £550. There are significantly fewer pupillages available than the 1,590 places on the BVC. In 2002/2003, the number of barristers entering pupillage was 711, with an estimated 1,000 students passing the BVC and intending to practise in England and Wales. Inevitably many barristers starting the BVC will not have a pupillage and some will never secure one. This is a huge financial risk to take.
It is of course arguable that eventually lawyers will reap the rewards of a legal career. A recent Law Society fact sheet on Private Practice Solicitors' Salaries estimates the average salary of a solicitor in private practice as £50,000. Of course, this depends very much on the firm you are at and the type of work you are undertaking. For example, the salaries of solicitors at high street law firms will tend to be much lower than those at commercial practices.
Sources of Funding
Some lucky students may secure a training contract with a firm that offers sponsorship, but this depends on the type of firm you wish to train with. Typically, the firms that sponsor are city law firms and larger regional practices. Equally, the amount of sponsorship varies, with larger firms offering full funding of LPC fees as well as a maintenance grant of up to £5,000. Check the terms of sponsorship as you may be tied to a firm for a period of time after your training contract. Many firms also provide full tuition fees and maintenance fees for the CPE/GDL course, in addition to the LPC. However, don’t let sponsorship be the only reason you apply to a firm. If you are going to spend the next two years in misery because you don’t like the firm or the type of work you are doing, there is no point in applying, even if a scholarship is on offer.
One way of finding out if you want to work in a certain type of firm is by applying for a vacation scheme. Many larger firms offer paid vacation schemes, which give students the opportunity to see if this is the environment they wish to work in and the type of work they want to do. In any event, law students should gain as much work experience as they can - if you are paid for it, it can only be a bonus! However, selection for vacation schemes can be even tougher than selection for training contracts. If you cannot secure a paid scheme, ensure that you obtain work experience elsewhere.
Potential sources of funding include:
- student loans to assist with an undergraduate degree;
- bank loans for 'professional studies' to assist with funding for the CPE, LPC and/or BVC;
- Inns of Court scholarships and Bar Council Scholarship Trust awards (for further information contact www.legaleducation.org.uk);
- Chambers Pupillage Awards and Guarantees;
- sponsorship from law firms;
- local authority grants/discretionary awards exist, but they’re very limited and not available in all areas;
- charities and grant-making trusts (enquire with your local authority); and
- Law Society Diversity Access Scheme and Law Society Bursary Scheme (for further details contact www.lawsociety.org.uk).
Current incentives from High Street banks include:
- repayment holidays and flexible repayment offers;
- interest-free overdrafts that increase each year of study;
- increased borrowing limits;
- ‘free’ cash on joining;
- free travel cards and discounts in high street stores;
- credit cards that attract no annual fee;
- 0% interest on credit card repayments for limited periods; and
- no bank charges
Managing your Finances
The Trainee Solicitors' Group (TSG) considers that, due to the escalating cost of legal education, there is little sense in giving the traditional advice of avoiding debt. In the majority of cases, debt is inevitable and the emphasis now has to be on managing your debt as sensibly as possible. An awareness of the various stages of qualification and their costs is a must. Law Students must plan for their long-term future and ensure that, when the time comes to apply for study loans, there is no reason for their application to be rejected on the basis of previous financial mismanagement. Any lawyer, whether barrister or solicitor, must spend a minimum of four years in legal education and a further one or two years will normally be spent as a trainee on a relatively low salary.
Even on qualification it is necessary to plan carefully for the next few years, as you will not only be paying off student debts, you will probably be looking to secure a mortgage on a property, or be saving up to make a major purchase of some kind.
The advice, therefore, has to be to budget carefully, accept that debt is inevitable and devise a long-term plan. Manage your money as best you can. This will involve trying to avoid unnecessary expenditure, keeping an eye out for the best deals in banks, and supplementing your income wherever you can. Part-time jobs can obviously assist, but not to the detriment of studies. There is no point earning money to pay for your studies if you then fail the examinations.
Charles Tyler of the Bar Council comments: "The Bar can provide a variety of stimulating careers, both employed (eg, CPS, working in commercial legal departments) and self-employed (working in chambers). The financial rewards can be very high for successful practitioners, but so is the level of commitment required. It is vital that those considering a career at the Bar are aware of the expense involved and the level of competition they will face."
The Future
Responses to the Second Consultation for a New Training Framework for Solicitors are currently being considered by the Law Society (see Law Soc Gives Thumbs-Up to Training Reforms). This consultation invited respondents to consider potential changes to the entry requirements for qualification as a solicitor including more flexible and varied paths to qualification. Some respondents supported, for example, integrating the LPC into a work-based learning period, meaning students would not have to incur living expenses and high fees without a source of income. This would have obvious consequences for future student debt. However, any changes will be implemented over a period of time and, for the next few years at least, it is unlikely that the system will change significantly.
Nicola Fitches is a solicitor at steeles (law) llp and is the former Chair of the Trainee Solicitors' Group.
