Here’s a closer look at the themes from the conversation, for anyone thinking about a career as a solicitor.
The Short Answer
Becoming a solicitor means exams, training and long hours, but the reality of the job can look very different from the picture most people have in their heads. In this episode, Amanda Nicholson explains how she chose law after a passing comment at school, stepped away from it after university and then came back, qualified, and went on to start NJS Law. Today, she spends far more of her time running the business and supervising the legal team than working directly on client cases.
What Does Becoming a Solicitor Really Ask of You?
The episode opens with a candid look at what the path into law demands, much of which isn’t obvious at the point of deciding to pursue it.
“Nobody tells you when you first decide to be a solicitor or that you might like to be a solicitor what it’s actually going to ask of you. Exams, the training, more training, more exams, and of course the long hours, which are very long hours.” From the episode, opening
How Did Amanda Decide on a Career in Law?
A Passing Comment at School
Asked whether there was a defining moment or a person who inspired her, Amanda’s answer is refreshingly ordinary. There was no grand plan, just a moment in the classroom that stuck.
“Actually, it wasn’t that deep, to be honest. … What happened was I was in first year of senior school, and the head girl, who was a prefect at the time for our class, was stood at the front, and someone asked her what she was going to do, and she said, ‘I’m going to do law,’ and I thought, ‘Hmm, I could do that. That sounds all right.’ And then I stuck with it.”
Not Knowing What It Really Involved
Amanda is equally open about how little she understood about the profession when she made that choice. She had a general sense of what solicitors do, but not the detail.
“I kind of knew what being a solicitor vaguely was about, you know, in terms of sort of fighting cases and representing clients and problem solving, which appealed to me. It must have appealed to me because I stuck with it. But I guess in terms of the reality of being a solicitor, or the difference between a solicitor and a barrister, or you know various career paths that you can have in the legal profession, I was completely clueless to be honest.”
What Did the Journey Actually Look Like?
The route described in the episode starts in a familiar place, with A levels and university, but it doesn’t run in a straight line. Amanda explains that after university she decided not to continue with law and went looking for something else, only to realise that law was what she wanted to do after all.
“I actually decided after university that I didn’t want to continue, and I wanted to do something else. But then, having gone out and looked for something else to do, I actually realized that law was actually what I wanted to do, and I came back to it, and I did my finals, and then I got a training contract and qualified.”
From there, things moved quickly. She and the host met, went on to start the business together, and have now worked together for more than 20 years.
A Path That Rarely Runs to Plan
Looking back, both speakers reflect on how hard it is to picture where a legal career will take you when you’re just starting out.
“And I think also career paths change completely.”
From Practising Solicitor to Running a Law Firm
A Change Nobody Planned For
Asked how being a solicitor has differed from what she expected, Amanda points to a shift that many people never see coming: the move from working on cases to running the business that handles them.
“Although I started off being a solicitor and doing a lot of client base work and court representation and all that kind of thing, … running the business, looking after the growth and the development and the staff and all that kind of thing, which is actually a very different role than just being a solicitor and working on cases.”
“I never really saw myself as a businesswoman. I would never have thought, you know, sitting in my classroom in senior school that I would end up having a business and running a business and being a businesswoman. And I think that actually has turned out to be the part of my role that I enjoy the most.”
Both speakers note that the popular image of a solicitor, someone in a wig representing clients in court, is really closer to the role of a barrister, and that the business side of a law firm is easily forgotten. Keeping a firm running and well resourced is what allows it to serve its clients.
“You’ve got to keep the firm running, and you’ve got to keep the firm well resourced to be able to provide the services to your clients.”
The Challenges Along the Way
The conversation doesn’t gloss over the difficult parts. Running a firm in a heavily regulated sector brings its own pressures, and the speakers are honest that it prompts regular self-questioning.
“I think sometimes daily you must question, or I certainly question, what we’re doing, and you know, did we do the right thing? But obviously, we’re still here after all this time.”
Amanda adds that the ground keeps shifting too. Reforms in the areas the firm works in, and changes to employment law, mean the firm is constantly having to adapt, which she finds interesting rather than daunting.
“Even though that’s actually the most challenging part of the role for me, I think it’s what keeps me going in a way because every day is a new challenge.”
Spinning Plates: No Two Days the Same
A recurring theme is unpredictability. However carefully the day is planned, it rarely goes the way it was mapped out.
“I think sometimes we say it’s a bit like spinning plates.”
“We never know when we walk through the door in the morning what’s going to come through the day, and that you can come in with a plan for what you’re going to do, and this is what I’m going to spend my day doing, and then by 10 o’clock it’s all gone out the window. Something’s happened. You know, it only takes one email, one letter to come in, and everything’s thrown up in the air, isn’t it?”
Growing Careers Within the Firm
For both speakers, one of the most rewarding parts of the job is watching people develop. They describe colleagues who joined in junior office roles and went on to qualify as lawyers, and how much they value the input of people they’ve helped to train.
“We’ve got people who’ve started with us as sort of admin assistants, very junior office workers, and they’ve ended up being qualified lawyers, and you know they’ve got successful careers of their own, and of course that’s also very rewarding, isn’t it?”
What Future Solicitors Can Take From This Conversation
Amanda’s story isn’t a blueprint, but a few themes from the conversation may be reassuring for anyone considering a career in law.
- You don’t need to have it all worked out. Amanda chose law on a passing comment at school and admits she was “completely clueless” about how the profession worked.
- The path can change direction. She stepped away after university, then returned to law once she realised it was what she wanted.
- The job can evolve. A career that starts with casework can grow to include running a business, supervising a team, and steering a firm through regulatory change.
- No two days are the same. Unpredictability is part of the job, and part of what keeps it interesting.
- People can progress from within. Some of the firm’s qualified lawyers began in junior administrative roles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not necessarily. In this episode, Amanda describes choosing law after hearing a classmate say she was going to study it, and admits she didn’t really know what the job involved. She also stepped away from law after university before deciding to return to it.
She describes A levels and university, followed by her finals, a training contract, and qualification. Routes into the profession have changed since Amanda qualified, so anyone considering a career as a solicitor should check the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s current guidance on how to qualify.
It can start that way, but it doesn’t always stay that way. Amanda explains that as the firm grew, her role shifted towards running the business and supervising the legal team, and that direct casework is now a minor part of what she does.
Rarely what you planned. Both speakers describe days that can be upended by a single email or letter, which they say keeps the work challenging and interesting.
The speakers say that some colleagues who joined the firm in junior administrative roles have gone on to become qualified lawyers.
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Conclusion
Amanda’s journey shows that a career in law rarely follows the path you imagine at the start. From a chance comment in a school classroom to running a law firm for more than two decades, it took detours, challenges and plenty of surprises along the way. For anyone thinking about becoming a solicitor, that may be the most useful takeaway of all: you don’t need every answer before you begin.