This is it - It's been 2 years during which time you have become fully acquainted with how to photocopy, pour coffee, and look busy by simply moving piles of paper across the desk. You are now ready to drop the "trainee" from the job title and casually reply to the question at parties enquiring what you do, with "solicitor". At this point people gasp and ask how someone so young, funny, witty, attractive and exciting can be a solicitor.

Back in the real world, you are in fact coming up to a point that is about to shape your future. Decisions made now will be like visas in your passport, they will determine where you travel in your career - giving you access to areas that some will never have, but also potentially making some places off limits for the rest of your professional life.

In the past your qualification in itself was the guarantee of success. You would more than likely stay with the firm you qualified with, wait a few years and work towards partnership. But times have changed. The legal world is changing. You now have options, choices, and opportunities that 20 years ago the old articled clerk could not have dreamt of.

The question is whether you are fully informed - to make the right decisions and whether you have the courage to take them. In a legal world that is rocketing towards globalisation, not every lawyer who qualifies today will be part of the new tomorrow.

Crossroads is your passport to success. It is designed to give you the information to set your career in the right direction, to give you the signposts to the information you require and to help you avoid the pitfalls along the way.

The visas you put in your passport during your first few years of qualification will determine the route of your journey.

Congratulations on qualifying, and bon voyage - enjoy the trip!

You probably all remember your first day. You probably spent the evening before making sure that your clothes looked good, your shoes were polished and that your alarm clock worked! You probably turned up on your first day on time, you may even have turned up early. You were eager, keen, driven, motivated and perhaps a little apprehensive. Now as you approach the end of your training the options open to a newly qualified lawyer are numerous, perhaps even daunting. Here to help guide you through the maze of opportunity, grab your Passport, let's have a whistle stop tour of the Past, the Present and the Future.

The Past

After two years of learning how to look busy when you're not, staying awake when you are tired and smiling sweetly while the rest of you wants to scream in frustration, let us consider some of the key events that have taken place since your entered the law:-

• Newly qualified salaries went up, up ……. and up……. and up. Top salaries in the leading UK firms are around £50,000 and at some of the US firms it is possible to earn in excess of £100,000 in your first year of qualification!

   

• Europe continues to be the battleground for UK law firms and in particularly Germany, France and Spain with Italy on the horizon.

   

• If it moves ………. then merge with it. This seems to be the motto over the last couple of years with a number of firms merging, trying to merge or just talking about merging. Some formalised their existing relationships, others got together, as many decided that bigger was better.

   

• Over recent years US firms have strengthened their presence in the UK. However, over the last year, many have cut back on recruitment as a result of the economic downturn. Some of the US firms strong in the technology sector have been particularly badly hit. However, over recent months there have been signs of improvement. A combination of offering a different culture, significant remuneration, an exceptional client base and the chance to make your mark in a smaller, more dynamic office, has lured many top lawyers away from leading UK firms.

• Unhappy assistants. A survey in Legal Business showed that a large number of assistants at City firms, were significantly unhappy with their quality of life. Lifestyle or the work/life balance has become the buzzword on law firms' lips. Firms realise that throwing money at assistants, although appreciated, is not necessarily the answer to all their problems. Firms have started to concentrate on providing assistants with better career development and proper forums for feedback. They have committed to trying to understand why it's not that effective to work until 2am every day.

• The regional firms have continued to have a strong presence. Many of these firms have had fantastic years and are now finding their lawyers highly sought after by the top London firms. Additionally, they are now attracting lawyers from London and not just for lifestyle issues.

   

• Musical chairs at partner level. Loyalty seems to be a dirty word since opportunities abound and partner moves have hit an all time high.

   

• For a while E-Commerce took off and a number of law firms jumped on the bandwagon. Firms have been keen to re-brand themselves as e-commerce focussed. Some firms have profited from the boom. And some smart/lucky firms got off the bandwagon just before the punctures!

For those of you who are about to qualify as lawyers, you need to consider your options. Whether you are considering staying with your present firm or moving, will often depend on which sector of legal work you are particularly drawn towards. So let us for a moment look at the areas of law open to you.

Corporate/Commercial

Over the last 12 months, demand for junior corporate solicitors has declined as a result of the slowdown in the UK and global economy. However, there are signs of an improvement and the fact remains that there will still be a demand, albeit reduced, for trained, bright corporate solicitors. What is different this year than previous years is the fact that there are less opportunities in many of the larger firms for junior corporate lawyers, as it is these large firms that have been most affected by the global M&A downturn.

Notwithstanding the global downturn, there is still a demand for top quality banking and finance solicitors at all levels, although less so at the junior level. Whether you are interested in capital markets, general banking, projects, structured or acquisition finance, if you have this experience your options remain broad. There is still a shortage of quality candidates and competition from US firms, many of whom have some of the leading finance practices in the world, has exacerbated the problem. Demand is likely to be stronger at the junior end for lawyers wishing to specialise in either acquisition finance or capital markets.

Some of the US firms will pay high salaries at the newly qualified level. You will probably be expected to work hard but, arguably, no harder than you would be expected to work at a leading UK practice.

Property

How things change in a short period of time. At the beginning of the 1990s commercial property lawyers had a bleak future. Now with the competition for space in most UK cities being intense, the demand for commercial property lawyers and in particular property finance and development lawyers remains. People were worried about a recession, however, junior property lawyers are still in demand since interest rates remain low and development activity is high. While the PFI and projects sector has slowed a little in the last few years, in the UK, there is significant project work on a global scale in these areas and law firms operating on the international scene are still looking for project lawyers particularly with a property finance skill set.

Traditionally in a downturn, litigation is the area of law, which grows. While it would be true to say that litigators are in demand firms can still be choosy as to whom to hire. Strong areas are insolvency or its non-contentious cousin financial restructuring. Litigators with a skill in one or more niche areas such as construction, insurance or reinsurance or shipping are generally more in demand. Due to recent shakeups in various panels, litigators with personal injury/medical negligence experience will, however, find it hardest to secure positions since there is less demand. What has also become interesting, is that some of the US practices that wish to become full service UK firms (rather than simply concentrating on corporate/finance sectors) are looking to recruit litigators particularly those with international arbitration skills.

Specialisations

To specialise or not to specialise? It is difficult, particularly early in your career, to know whether specialisation is a good or bad thing. While there are advantages to remaining with a broad based background to keep your options open, the advantages of specialising in an area in which you have a genuine interest early on can provide significant benefits later on in your career. Generally there is a high level of interest in lawyers who have developed or wish to develop a specialist practice. This is particularly true in tax with corporate tax, banking tax and VAT lawyers more scarce than an honest politician.

As ever there are certain firms well known for their shipping and construction practices and lawyers who have experience in these areas can expect to be in demand.

One of the areas that has seen the greatest boom in recent years is IP/IT and Telecommunications. However, the dot.com crash and the general slowdown has meant that demand for these lawyers has declined although lawyers with a genuine understanding of what is often a technical area of business are likely to remain in great demand.

Due to the glamorous nature of the clientele, a large number of newly qualified lawyers are particularly interested in moving into the entertainment/media sector. A word of warning. Competition in this sector is phenomenal and realistically lawyers without any experience during their training contract are going to find it particularly difficult to move to these practices on qualification. This is partly due simply to the supply and demand nature of these areas of law, but also that the firms with the best reputations in these areas usually fill up vacancies from among their own trainees. While there is no doubt a glamorous side to this area of law, any career move should be properly thought out and reasoned since it is not a soft option although you may get to go to the film festival in Cannes if you play your cards right!

Another area in which demand remains high is financial services/investment funds. New legislation in this area means an increase in work and consequently lawyers with financial services regulatory and/or transactional experience remain in demand.

Finally another boom area is the employment sector. The demand for quality employment advice particularly given the volatility of the work place has never been higher and a number of practices have emerged with excellent reputations in this field. At the junior end however, most firms fill any positions with their current trainees so employment positions on qualification remain scare and highly competitive. Lawyers with employee benefits and share schemes work experience will however find themselves in an area where demand significantly exceeds supply. The same is true of lawyers wishing to specialise in pensions work.

So there you have it. We've shown you where you have come from and have given you an overview of where you are at right now. Obviously the question on everyone's lips is what about the future. Over the next few pages we will take you through some of the questions most commonly asked by newly qualifieds, take you through some of the options which are ahead, give you some practical advice on CVs and interviews and let you into some trade secrets.

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