NQ blog - July 2017: An exciting future for the profession

In September of this year, I will have been qualified as a solicitor for three years and what an exciting three years it has been! I feel that I have come a long way since completing my traineeship and I never stop learning – every day there is something new to learn and the profession is such a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

I am always excited when I look around and see developments happening - there are so many great opportunities and the profession is an environment ripe for potential growth and new business. Indeed, there are new business mergers happening all the time where firms come together to make new, innovative, forward-thinking businesses that push the profession further in the right direction. Additionally, there are brand new businesses which emerge and challenge these market leaders head on. Healthy competition such as this is a great thing because it encourages growth within that particular field.

I hear colleagues within the profession contemplating opening their own businesses and I have friends who have already ventured into doing this. Being in the middle of such creative thinking is, in itself, very inspiring and encouraging. Hearing their stories of success and how they are constantly striving to streamline their ways of working is such a valuable tool; we are in such a rich and diverse, but also a comparatively small, profession and we can make the most of information-sharing by listening to and contributing to discussions with our colleagues.

This extends, of course, to information sharing in terms of legal updates and new laws. I attended a very enjoyable CPD course a few weeks ago by Virgil Crawford regarding ID evidence within the criminal sphere of legal practice. I particularly liked the interactive nature of Virgil’s talk and it made the subject matter more engaging and enjoyable. Again, information sharing and networking is a vital part of ensuring the profession, and those within it, keep moving forward and keep driving it in the right direction.

Against this backdrop I am excited about what the future holds for solicitors and I always want to be part of this exciting and ever-growing profession. From the perspective of a solicitor, dealing with a variety of interesting cases each day, to that of a businessman engaged in the operation of a law firm, driving his/her business forward in innovative new ways, there are a veritable cornucopia of opportunities out there. It is up to us to take them and make the most of them, to the benefit of ourselves, our clients and our profession.