No. The one bit of career advice I have given my kids is not to do anything where the model is charge by the hour. 

NFW even if they were someone else’s. 

You can always go off and do something else right? 

No. I’ve told them to do what they find most interesting. 

I once told them: "Its money for nothing, and you get your chicks for free"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs-UEqJ85KE

Christ no, they’d be much too smart for that. 

Not now.

The days of having an enjoyable career in the law are well and truly over for newbies.

Yeah I think that I would, providing they showed an interest in it. Reasonable job security, reasonable pay, intellectually stimulating etc. There are obviously jobs offering better pay, better work/life balance, so I don't pretend it is perfect - from a generic job title perspective, what is better?

Not got kids but step kids.  Two have had work experience with judges and in trials and both loved it for the week they spent at Court although they realised that the Bar was fvcked in terms of money. So they won't be going into law.  Didn't take much encouragement to be fair.

Decent degree to study but think I'd probably say don't do what I did and do it as a degree then just roll into a training contract because it's the path of least resistance.

Everyone lawyer I know who did a degree other than law does not regret it and many many that did study law wished they had studied something else as their first degree.  My advice would be, unless they have a burning interest in the academic side of law, to study something else at first degree level.

I always tell people to study a proper subject for their first degree, not law

If an interest I would suggest a science at 1st degree. It Is highly valued in law and many more options.  Also an estate management or surveying 1st degree seems to provide a more balanced and equally remunerated career. 

No. I’ve told them to do what they find most interesting. 

And if they say it's law then presumably you would disown them. 🙂

Of course PP! No child of mine will do law thank you v much. 

Seriously though, none of them would be suited to it even if I was the pushy parent type.

No. My elder daughter wants to be an egyptologist, and I seriously fvcking hope she still wants to do sthg like that when she’s 21.

My younger wants to be a unicorn. Likewise.

my wife hates this, but I probably will make some degree of active effort to persuade them not to be lawyers

I will advise mine to follow their passions. Currently said passion is mostly just charging around in parks like a lunatic and finding ways to be as cheeky as possible 

I didn’t study law at university and am glad I didn’t. Although it did extend that period when my friends were earning and I wasn’t . I didn’t like that

I'm of the "anything but law" school. Preferably plumbing or something actually useful. 

What jobs do lawyers imagine their kids doing that will be so much better is my q

Obviously if you have a talent you could be eg an architect or engineer but most lawyers are borderline innumerate pathological good boy biscuit seekers

I respect the plumber but going into randoms' houses all day and getting up to my elbows in their poo conduits doesn't sound better than my life

My son will be a coder or something that requires very little talking/collaboration with others.

My daughter may show interest in law. Like others, I wouldn't go out of my way to discourage it but I think my wife would.

AI will do most coding before the decade is out

The only coders requires will be uncommon superbrains

Human connection is the only thing computers won't be able to replace

I don't have kids. 

I would suggest not to go to University at all, to anyone without already loaded parents to bankroll. There are other better ways to get a good job that don't start with a mountain of debt.

I wouldn't go now if I was 18 again, with the costs as they are.

Rham, so far it's been a mix of arts and engineering and done/doing just fine. Next up likely conservation/related. All of them have been schooled in basic finance. 

Yeah i'm not sure what all these mythical jobs are that are so much better than law. Churning away at a sweat shop your whole life while jumping up and down for clients isn't appealing but there are plenty of routes within law that don't require that. Barely anyone from university is doing anything envy-inspiring - the engineers have mostly all gone into the city to do well paid office jobs. Doctors moan about their lot constantly. A few teachers/academics. One academic has landed on his feet but the others moan constantly. A few people have set up their own businesses and only one has done quite well out of it.

So no, wouldn't encourage law but there are worse things to train in. 

conservation is ace if your parents or Boris Johnson will always foot the bill 

"Yeah i'm not sure what all these mythical jobs are that are so much better than law."

A rare agree with that poster.

The absolute gall of some of the posters to bitch about the tragedy of having chosen law as a profession, while living the lifestyles and enjoying the comforts that most people - who work in far tougher conditions than the average lily livered, soft handed lawyer does - can only dream of (yes, Donny, I'm definitely giving you the side eye here).

Some of you people are ridiculous.

Anyway, if the question is, should they study law at university, then my answer would be - yes, unless there is something else they'd rather spend 3 or 4 years studying (law with a language seemed like a good compromise, cos you got to spend a year abroad).  If the question is, should they pursue law as a career, then my answer would also be definitely yes to commercial law, but unfortunately, not so much for criminal and family - if you have to work, and you'd like to get paid pretty well, then there are a LOT worse jobs that you could be doing than law.

deffo not. it's hard to get a high grade unless you go to a shit uni and it's not that interesting.

I would have done politics if I'd had my time again.

Although it is mind numbingly dull in the early years in private practice, accountancy or consulting offer much better exit options than law.

You’ve got to be completely dim to read for a law degree ffs. Spectacularly so. 

"Although it is mind numbingly dull in the early years in private practice..." You say that like it's a nothing consideration!

consulting is way forward, better dollar if you stay in the game, massive opportunities if you don't.  However your average Mckinsy analyst is about 15 times cleverer than a bronze medallion docblozzer, most of you wouldnt cut it. 

If I had my time as an 18 year old again and knowing what I know now I'd become an apprentice surveyor.  No student debt and it's a decent career if you stay in it but also offers lots of opportunities to also go into property investment, PE, banking, etc. if you want to.  I nearly changed directions to become a surveyor in 2010 and now think I should have done it.

Have you ever instructed an average McKinsey analyst Geoff? No einsteins - the better ones are reasonable communicators and presenters 

The one bit of career advice I have given my kids is not to do anything where the model is charge by the hour. 

At least that means that you should not expect to come across their profiles on 'Adult Work', 'Fans Only' or any similar such site, then!

It is a well paid job, that's not the same as a great job. 

The absolute gall of some of the posters to bitch about the tragedy of having chosen law as a profession

I don’t think anyone is really doing that to be fair. Most are just answering the OP and saying they’d rather their kids do something they enjoy. It’s not exactly a groundbreaking piece of advice to give your kids.

I do agree that we are very fortunate as lawyers to be living the lifestyles we do, and I would do the same if I had my time again. 

But my kids? No, law isn’t for them. 

Pretty Sure that people on Only Fans don't charge by the hour.  I think it's more of a per picture/video model.  Maybe I'll try selling videos of me drafting a particularly fiendish transfer of part.

Eldest - academia or policy work most likely, plus activism.

Middle child- evil genius scientist.

Youngest: professional gamer.

Is EU law still a core subject?

Studying law? Definitely not.

Doing law as a career? Would depend entirely upon the child. 

My son would be a shit lawyer at present, but then he's only just over a year old so perhaps I'll give him time to develop.

Don't think he would make a good art historian either. 

Case in point:  I took him to a gallery the other day. He looked at a painting, looked at me.

Dada?'

'No, it's impressionist. You stupid baby.'

Cru - going back to your earlier post I am not saying I regret doing law to be clear. Given where I started from it was a good option and it has been good to me overall and very good to me financially. 

It gives you the the chance to make good money early and better money later on. That is not to be sniffed at when you don’t have any. All being well though my kids will have less need to make good money early and if you don’t need to do that there are much more interesting things you can do in your 20 and early 30s that still give you a good shot at making good money later on with more flexibility around what direction you take. 

I was hoping risky would chime in on his advice/expectations for junior.

What are these things that are more interesting that still allow you to make decent coin? It is trite rof to say they are out there, less so to actually identify them. 

Anything that builds you contacts and/or transferable skills. Work in politics or for an international NGO.  Consulting, tech, media. Some bits of finance (preferably buyside/the money). Anything that actually gets you in the decision making room with people listening to you. 

These things often don’t pay in the early years for the most part largely because they are jammed full of people with enough family cash that they don’t need to pay the rent in their 20s 

Personally I think the professions are shit. Law, medicine, dental, whatever. It’s the same crap. Waste away your early years working like a dog and by the time you get to the end the goalposts have changed and you won’t enjoy the life the partners/consultants/etc did. 

If we ever have kids I’d steer them to something like consulting, finance, or even tech if they’re STEM-y. 

I think Donny makes a good point. I had enough family support to do something more interesting and yet here I am slashing through autopsies and doing exams in my 30s in the hope of a quarter lion. If I’d gone into something better I could have had that in my 20s without the stress of this. 

Yes what Donny said. Plenty of areas outside of law where good careers can be had, especially if you stick at it and move through the ranks.

you don’t need “talent” to do an interesting job you just need to choose an interesting job

not saying it’s interesting per se, but if I had my time again AND wanted a dull office job that is all round a better gig than law (unlikely combo tbf) I’d go into HR

Consulting’s not all that, and in big strat the work life balance is worse than in law.

HR is easy but hardly well paid. 

It’s absurdly well paid at a corporate level. Look at the losers on here who boast about it. 

HR in the private sector  is quite well paid Crypto

Anyway let them finish school first. 

I enjoyed my law degree - pretty much essays on judicial interpretation of policy with a historical/political context. Chuck in some jurisprudence and it was a pretty nicely balanced degree for me - changed me as a person in a way I don't think another degree would have done. 

The practise of law, on the other hand, is essentially an uncomfortable combination of boredom and stress, which I wouldn't recommend as a career path for anyone with a creative bone in their body. 

Compensation and benefits HR sounds like a bit of a doddle.

Generalist stuff, having to deal with moaning minnies’s grievances all day long sounds really grim.

I have been a very happy lawyer for a long time but don't mind what the children do. I don't want to say too much about my children given they chose my career, but 4 of the 5 are lawyers (the last 2 qualified in January) and they all seem to be enjoying their jobs. I did an LLB which I really enjoyed but the children did a different subject first.

I am very pleased but there was certainly no pressure from me and I would ahve been equally happy had they chosen something else. My advice was pick work you will enjoy, which has variety and where ultimately you might be able to work for yourself.