If there’s a will, you can work in the law
FANCY working in the legal sector? Well, you don’t actually have to be a solicitor or a barrister — a variety of other roles is available.
Amy- Louise Moyes, 33, got a law degree and the Legal Practice Certificate and had planned to become a solicitor, but at the time no training contracts were available.
But that didn’t hold her back: she is now a senior case manager with probate genealogy company Finders International, which uses intestacy expertise to help locate missing heirs, find lost documents and advise on probate.
When she couldn’t get a training contract, Amy-Louise looked for a temporary role in legal support services. she applied for her present job in 2010 and decided to stay.
Amy-Louise, from London, says: ‘It is my job to trace the next-ofkin of individuals who have passed away leaving an estate, but without immediate or obvious family. The work requires methodical thinking and an analytical mind, an interest in social history — which I find fascinating—and natural curiosity. social media and technology skills help.
‘It’s exciting working on cases which must be turned around within tight deadlines. you work on different cases constantly, and it takes a team effort. It’ s heartwarming when you connect long-lost family members and see rekindled relationships.’
she advises others considering a career in heir hunting to start by compiling their own family tree.
‘It will show you the potential to carve out a career which involves doing this,’ she says.
Danny Curran, managing director of Finders International, which features on BBC’s Heir Hunters series, says: ‘ There are many engaging careers in legal support services, with or without a degree. They can be more rewarding and surprising than you think.’ People interested in law could also become paralegals, who research and draft documents, prepare reports to help lawyers and may write contracts.
Legal executives work in legal practices and can go on to become solicitors through vocational t r ai ni ng. Other careers include court ushers, and working in legal firms in marketing, IT, finance and practice management.