We couldn’t agree more !
Well done that trainee…. Legal Cheek reports
‘I found the work so boring,’ says former Linklaters lawyer Dorothy Henson
An ex-trainee solicitor at the magic circle law firm Linklaters has shared her incredible story which saw her give up the daily corporate law grind to live on a narrowboat.
Dorothy Henson, 27, who trained at Links between 2016 and 2018, says she traded her high-flying career as a City lawyer for barge life, and doesn’t regret it.
Henson graduated from Warwick University with a first-class degree in English literature, before going on to complete the law conversion and legal practice course with a combined masters at The University of Law in Moorgate.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Henson said, “it was long hours and lots of studying but I had always wanted to become a lawyer. It was all I’d ever dreamed of. Ever since I was a little girl I’d been told, ‘you need to study hard and get good grades’”.
Rookies at Links, which is headquartered in London and has offices around the globe, earn around £52,500 by the time they reach their second year of training, according to our Firms Most List. The magic circle firm is renowned for its sizeable perks, which include an on-site gym and its very own canteen, Silks.
The trade-off, of course, are the long hours expected of many City lawyers. “It was really hard going”, Henson, who is originally from Earley, Reading, but now lives in London, admits. “I would be at my desk by 7am or 8am and would work until 9pm or 10pm. Often I would skip lunch.”
Henson appears to have moved in-house at asset managers Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) shortly after qualifying as a solicitor in 2018. She worked in LGIM’s funds and pensions team for almost a year and a half, according to her LinkedIn, before leaving in January 2020.
“The long hours meant I wasn’t eating properly and it had a negative impact on my mental health — I was really stressed. Plus, I found the work so boring,” she told the newspaper.
