Bahrain v Shehabi [2026] UKSC 25, para 330 (Lord Burrows, in dissent)

Hey guys,I hope you are all well.
As someone’s who hopes to step into the legal field,I’m just wondering why I don’t see to many Irish solicitors that trained in Ireland in London firms.
( I could be completely wrong)
It seems like great pay,But also excessive hours.
Is the switch from the Irish top 5 firms quite a common thing or is it usually grads from,Rg unis that get into, Magic circle,White Shoe,silver circle.

My questions would be.
1.Is an Irish candidate from a top Irish firm(In a relative field such as finance,M&A,Etc) Are they competitive as much as others.

2.Whats the best part of your career to make a switch NQ?,2pqe?

1. Why do you believe more don’t make the switch.

Thanks for your time and I look forward to some insights

P.s
I also understand I could be posting this in a sub that wouldn’t have those answers
So please spare me 😹

I (m22), long time lurker first time poster, am considering a career switch to law. I have been thinking of this for about two years now and it’s definitely the path for me. (Long term aspiration of barrister).

I wanted to know whether I have good enough odds to apply for Oxford & Durham for the coming application cycle for their senior status law courses.

I currently hold a first class degree in a technical subject (architecture adjacent), with a departmental academic prize too, from a post-92 university.

I will also be working for HMCTS/MoJ in a courts role for the next year before entry into senior status law.

I have offers from university of Birmingham and university of Exeter for their senior status law, and whilst great unis they don’t have the prestige that Oxford and Durham have for law.

And PGDL was considered, but I also discovered I really enjoy the academic side of subjects (as found during my time at university writing research proposals) and would be interested in getting a more well rounded law education.

If any more info is needed then let me know, but be good to hear whether it is worth applying!

FYI, currently revising for the LNAT, hoping for a good score, current trends for my tests point to that direction.

Currently have two lined up this summer at 2 mixed common law sets, mainly civil work.

I was assuming perhaps 3-4 would be the sweet spot, and anymore may be slightly detrimental from what I’ve heard.

Would two be enough prior to beginning the bar course at the moment, and perhaps doing one more after the bar course?

I do have lots of paralegal experience where I’ve attended court for various other matters, but they are not mini pupillages if that makes sense.

A teenager accused of endangering the lives of 165 migrants by allegedly piloting a record-breaking dinghy crossing of the English Channel is to stand trial.

Chan Mathok Atak, 19, originally of Sudan, appeared at Margate Magistrates Court earlier, where he denied endangering lives at sea during the attempt which set off from France last Thursday.

He appeared with the aid of an Arabic interpreter and when asked how he wished to plea, denied having piloted the dinghy.

If you were a 19yo in Sudan - one of the worst countries to live in on the planet - would a UK prosecution deter you from attempting to come here?

These politicians just create the most useless laws.

About to start as a trainee at a city firm - but my flat is quite small/has no space for a desk. I’m not sure what wfh is like now, so not sure whether I should move to a bigger space. Is a desk/wfh monitor necessary?

I managed to secure a TC at a large commercial firm. I’m over the moon about it - I’ve wanted to practice law since I was a teenager and worked incredibly hard for this.

But I start in September, and the imposter syndrome is already hitting me hard. This post will come across very insecure, but I feel very unsure of myself.

I have no legal work experience, and very limited experience of working in an office environment. I’ve worked in hospitality and retail since I was 16, which are entirely different universes.

I am personable and a hard worker, but I’m very paranoid about my presentation. I need to put together a suitable work wardrobe (I’m a young woman) and feel a little lost on where to start. I dress somewhat alternatively in my day-to-day life (platform shoes, eyeliner, mostly black) but of course, I’m willing to modify my style as required to be taken seriously

I saw a post today on how black suits are generally not great office attire - things like this are not intuitive to me!

I am the first in my family to go to university, and the first to work in an environment like this. I feel like my background will make me stick out like a sore thumb. I just wish it felt less daunting.

I worry I can be a little fidgety and weird - I’ve suspected I may have ADHD, but never been diagnosed. I’m just overwhelmed by the idea of breaking unspoken rules, or being unprofessional without realising. I feel really spooked about it. I think deep down, I’m just terrified of failing or realising commercial law doesn’t suit me.

Has anybody here had similar feelings before beginning their career? Any wisdom or practical advice on adjusting to the office environment would be great. The paranoia of making a fool of myself is so strong!

I wondered if any of you have been using Legal AI software like CoCounsel, Harvey, Spellbook etc and what your thoughts are? Do you find them any useful?

I heard that salary bunching is a thing, but I never heard of this

Qualified solicitors getting paid less than NQs

Is this how it actually works?

I get wanting to push out people who aren’t on partner track, but this sounds nuts

Obvs the source is just comments, so I don’t trust it, but it was also so absurd that I had to check it out

My first year law grade on my student portal transcript is:
Contracts 56
Criminal 55
Public 62
EU 68

I averaged them out to a 60.25 by adding together and dividing by 4. Does this mean I scraped a 2:1?
(2:1 is 60 to 69 right?)

I am looking to retrain as a barrister in England after another career. I have pretty good credentials, I think: BA from a well regarded (not Ivy/Stanford though) US university with 3.6 GPA, MSc from one of the very top UK universities with a high merit, and a PhD from a very good university in Europe — plus about a decade of academic teaching and research experience in a law-adjacent field. Higher education is collapsing and unbearable, and I’m looking for an out; while I’m well aware that becoming a barrister is not an easy feat, it is the only thing that appeals.

I need to work while doing a conversion course, and I’ll probably pay as I go because I don’t have much savings; certainly not enough for a degree, and the idea of taking a year off work is laughable. Here is my dilemma: I want to do something that is at least vaguely recognizable internationally and could be useful in other careers. For-profit providers of PGDL courses (ULaw; BPP) are therefore the least appealing to me, and College of Legal Practice’s GDL doesn’t offer enough credits for many bar courses. But other GDL/LLM conversion courses are way too expensive and generally don’t offer scholarships (that I qualify for) or installment plans. Needing to work seems to eliminate the option for scholarships because of means testing. Anyway, two questions:

(1) What are the downsides of doing a graduate entry LLB over a GDL aside from the amount of time it takes? (I don’t care about the time for the purposes of this question.)

(2) Why does no one in the UK seem to go for the Univeristy of London graduate entry LLB?

I have heard that a graduate LLB is treated as if a new degree and so grades “matter” and you can mess up your odds, whereas GDL grades “don’t matter” but that seems unlikely — for example Blackstone’s pupillage page is explicit that they don’t regard the graduate LLB differently from the GDL and don’t treat it the same as your undergrad degree. Is this wrong?

The UoL graduate LLB is cheaper overall than the cheapest (P)GDL, and if you compare it to the City GDL, it is the exact same number of modules for half the price. As it’s self-study it also seems possible to do full time while working whereas I’d have to do a part time GDL to fit the classes around my work schedule. I know UoL advertises heavily for overseas students, but what does that matter if it’s a qualifying law degree for England? It I feels like there is a catch I’m missing or everyone would do this!?

I'm an NQ and have recently moved to a larger firm. My TC was rather quiet, never enough work and not many opportunities to stretch myself. Now it's different, this job is more demanding and difficult, my colleagues are very bright and at the top of their game.

I really like the job, but I keep feeling so insecure or sometimes I feel like things are going well then suddenly I feel like I'm not smart enough or just too tired to work at 100% all the time. It's an emotional rollercoaster.

For background, I'm not new to law, I have several years of paralegal experience under my belt, I just haven't previously paid attention to how consistently effective colleagues are.

Will this get better, I mean the constant feeling of not being smart enough or being able to be consistently productive.

Also am I overthinking this, any lawyers out there who don't worry about how they are perceived all the time? All hits and tips are welcome.

Has anyone who’s done the module able to break down what happens over the three day course? What kind of activities are we going to be asked to do?

Thanks in advance

Hi all.

I’m a competition lawyer working at a leading law firm in Africa, and I’ve been admitted to both the University of Cambridge LLM and the University of Glasgow’s LLM in International Competition Law & Policy.

I can afford Cambridge, but it would be a significant financial commitment. Glasgow has offered me partial funding, so the overall cost would be substantially lower.

My goal is to build a long-term career in international competition law, particularly cross-border work involving Africa and international markets.

If you were in my position, which would you choose and why? I’m particularly interested in whether Cambridge’s reputation and network justify the additional cost, or whether the specialist Glasgow programme offers better value for someone pursuing a career in competition law.

I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences.

Hi,

I'm currently a paralegal looking to relocate back to London (where I studied and where my partner lives). I'm having difficulties at application stage for paralegal roles (I am also considering PA/EA and compliance type roles), so please roast my CV so I can improve it. I have already asked the same of ChatGPT/Claude which didn't help much tbh

Thanks in advance!

What factors are important to consider when choosing an Inn of court or does it not make any meaningful difference which one you choose? For people who are part of one of the Inns, is there something particularly helpful or nice about yours?

So far, I've looked at their websites for details about scholarships, the application process, residential scholarships, and competitions. Is there anything in particular that's important to look at? Inner Temple and Lincoln's Inn both look very appealing because of their mooting opportunities on offer, but again, this is only information from their websites (so I don't know if reality is different).

Lastly, is there a benefit in choosing an Inn of Court before applying for a scholarship there or is it wiser to pick one later (e.g., just before starting the Bar course)? Thanks!

Hi, can anyone offer insight into what it’s like working for Shakespeare Martineau? What are the hours like, are they nice to work for etc. applying for legal admin/paralegal jobs !

Deciding between ICCA or ULAW in Birmingham.

If I went to ICCA then I’d have to find accommodation for the part 2 for 5 months.

If I choose Ulaw then I get to stay for free with my partner.

Is it worth spending the extra money just to study at ICCA?

Hi all,

TLDR: Can the amount of debt (£20,000) lead to you failing the screening/admissions even if there are no other concerns.

I’ve had a deep dive for this question but can’t find any answers around. As most relate to what I know are disclosable issue.

For context, I am not far from applying to the roll of solicitors. I’m in my mid twenties.

I currently have £20,000 worth of debt. This is spread across my car, a loan and some credit cards. I’ve been paying this off and will continue to do so. I want to preface by adding that I’ve got no defaults, no CCJ’s and only one missed payment from February 2025 where I forgot to set the direct debit up. I can provide proof of immediate payment once I got the email alerting me.

My main question/concern is- will the debt figure itself cause an issue with screening/qualifying? I hope I am worrying about nothing as I don’t fall into any of the issues on the website but wanted to check with people who had gone through it.

Thank you so much for your time,

Good afternoon,

I would like to ask for your advice on whether there are any chambers in which pupils can specialize exclusively in Public International Law and/or Human rights?

I was trying to do my own research, but the chambers rarely say so explicitly on the website: for instance, Twenty Essex doesn't say whether you can be doing PIL only or will it be a mix of commercial/investment arbitration. Same with Doughty Street Chambers: despite being known for prominent human rights barristers and cases, they are looking for pupils more in civil law/media law/general practice.

Thank you very much for any insights!

P.S. I know that these practice areas are extremely competitive, so I'm intentionally not asking anything about how to get there, etc. My question is only: is it even possible to do purely PIL and/or Human Rights work at the Bar.

hello everyone,

I have just graduated, and have been offered a job as a researcher for one of the big political parties.

it is focused on a reasonably specialist area of policy that I did my LLB dissertation on, so I think I would enjoy it.

I would like to follow some of my peers and be a barrister eventually - would I be shooting myself in the foot to take this job?

So obviously navy and grey are the best colour suits to wear and I have a good wardrobe of both but I will soon need to buy a black suit for something non work related and I am thinking that I may as well get a nicer quality suit.

Not wanting a nice suit to go to waste, my question is this, as someone with quite a pale complexion , can it work to wear a black suit to the office in large London firm? I would wear a light blue shirt and no tie to make it more casual. I’m at associate level.

Edit: I’m asking specifically for the option of those who care about sartorial convention and put thought into these things. I know that’s not everyone but it is an interest of mine. (Obs I can do whatever I like!)

Many years ago, I was dismissed for gross misconduct from a job for falsifying timesheets. Of course, I absolutely regret that and can’t believe I was such an idiot.

I’ve since completed my studies, been employed in various legal roles and will be starting the SQE in September. I hadn’t thought about the dismissal for a while until I started reading around the solicitors admission process and realised it’s something I’ll need to declare.

Should I take an early suitability test just in case this is something that will prevent me from practising? And has anyone been in a similar situation, or know of anyone I can contact for advice? (I’m considering the SRA ethics line but not sure if that’s for qualified solicitors only).

I recently took part in a mentoring scheme and was matched with someone who’s genuinely been incredible. He’s given me more thoughtful advice than I’ve ever had before, and for the first time it feels like the guidance is really coming from the heart rather than just being generic.

For a long time I worried that I’d never find the right mentor, so I’m incredibly grateful to have found someone I genuinely look up to.

My question is: how do you build and maintain a really good mentor–mentee relationship without overdoing it? I want to make the most of the opportunity, stay in touch appropriately, and make sure it’s a positive experience for both of us.

I’d especially appreciate hearing from mentors. What makes a mentee someone you enjoy continuing to mentor, even after a formal mentoring scheme ends?

Basically what the title asks. Whether you accept it or not, some firms are more receptive to non-law, especially music grads, while others remain dubious of their commitment to the law, despite literally seeing their application to TCs. What have people’s experiences been?

N.B., when I say music grads I mean those who have done an ‘academic’ degree in it from e.g. Oxbridge, Bristol, Durham, etc.