I'm interested in speaking with Litigation Solicitors in Edinburgh, particularly those from around 2 years PQE upwards, who have a genuine interest in developing their advocacy skills.
Perhaps even becoming a Solicitor Advocate.
There's some interesting recruitment activity in this particular corner of the Scottish legal market at present.
And I think it's an opportunity that deserves a little more attention.
Because not every litigator wants to spend their entire career sitting behind a desk.
Some genuinely love the advocacy.
The preparation.
The strategy.
The pressure of having to think on your feet.
The satisfaction of taking a complicated argument, stripping away everything unnecessary and making your point convincingly.
And occasionally discovering that the judge isn't remotely persuaded by something you thought was particularly clever.
All part of the learning experience.
For solicitors who enjoy that side of litigation, there are opportunities to develop a career where advocacy becomes considerably more than an occasional appearance at a procedural hearing.
I'm particularly interested in speaking with commercial and civil litigators who have already developed a strong grounding in contentious work.
You might have spent several years handling commercial disputes.
Perhaps your experience is in property litigation.
Or perhaps you're working in a broader litigation practice and have discovered that appearing in court is the part of the job you enjoy most.
You don't necessarily need to have obtained higher rights of audience already.
You do need to be genuinely interested in the prospect of doing so.
And I think there's an important distinction between being a good litigator and being somebody who genuinely enjoys advocacy.
They're related skills, obviously.
But not quite the same thing.
Some excellent solicitors would happily go through their entire careers without ever having to stand up in front of a judge.
Others absolutely thrive on it.
Neither is wrong.
But if you're in the second camp, I think it's worth considering whether your career should reflect that.
Because there comes a point when progression shouldn't simply mean handling more files, supervising more juniors or adding another word to your job title.
Sometimes it should mean getting better at the part of the job you actually love.
And becoming genuinely exceptional at it.
If you're a Scottish-qualified Litigation Solicitor in Edinburgh, particularly from around 2 years PQE upwards, and you've ever seriously considered developing a career in advocacy, I'd welcome a conversation.
You don't need to have made your mind up.
You don't need to have started the qualification process.
And you certainly don't need to arrive with a collection of courtroom victories worthy of a television drama.
A genuine interest in advocacy and a strong contentious background would be a very good starting point.
For a confidential conversation about the Edinburgh litigation market and the opportunities available to solicitors interested in developing their advocacy careers, contact Neil Campbell at QED Legal.
I'll give you a straightforward view of where your experience might fit, what routes are worth exploring and whether there's anything genuinely worth pursuing.
