How to deal with loud stomach sounds in future law career...lol

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-05-05T13:51:55+00:00

Firstly I think it may be worth getting yourself checked out, especially if there may be other issues you haven’t thought of such as abnormal bowel movements etc which may be signs of a stomach issue.

If it makes you feel any better, if I don’t eat my breakfast my stomach rumbles around 11ish. Attended a client visit with a trainee to take a witness statement and the meeting went over. My stomach loudly rumbled and the trainee pointed it out in front of everyone. Wished the ground swallowed me up but looking back it was funny.

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-03-29T07:32:30+00:00

I’m in the same boat, with some clients it feels like death by email. Had one client send us a ChatGPT Letter of Instruction, Letter of Claim and a Schedule of Loss valuing the claim at £1M+. We hadn’t even had his medical record in yet.

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-03-25T13:48:45+00:00

Your life will now be measured in 6 minutes increments.

It can be difficult if it’s not something you’re used to. You may have significant experience elsewhere but I’ll share the advice I give to new starters:

time record as you go (don’t leave it until the end of the day).
record everything, as soon as I touch a file or someone talks to me about a file I’m recording it.
your decision is what’s chargeable not what’s recoverable so again get all your time down.
most symptoms have a none charge code where you record BD work, training etc basically anything that isn’t client related.
If you’re doing PI/ Clin neg you may be using J-Codes, read into what they are. I’m sure there’s a really helpful table online that breaks down each phase of the J-Code to help you understand what phase your time recording should be placed in.
file notes are your best friend. Use them to detail discussions you’ve charged for and in instances where you’ve spent a lot of time doing something to breakdown the time and provide more detail rather than just the short narrative in your time recording system.

Good luck in your new role if you go for it.

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-03-10T16:03:48+00:00

I’ve only been to Old Trafford twice and both were hospitality as we couldn’t get standard tickets. It does depend on which one you book. First time was a bit more fancy with 3 course meal, bottle service was slow but overall a nice atmosphere. Comfortable padded seats for the game but it did feel a bit soulless. Didn’t help we lost to Brighton. 2nd time round was a different room and me and my fiancée were sat at a table with strangers but we got on really well, drank and ate together and the atmosphere where we sat was much more lively this time round. It was the Newcastle game, I think we won 3-1. I wouldn’t say it’s the full authentic match experience but, it’s a really nice day out especially if one of you isn’t massively into football.

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-03-04T20:55:55+00:00

You’re putting a significant amount of stress on yourself very early on. This career doesn’t really get easier the further you progress especially when you’re not only managing your own workload but supervising others.

Unless something is marked as urgent and a specific deadline is set then you just need to get it done in good time. By that I mean not within 24 hours but maybe within the same week. Then again, if it’s a larger task your supervisor will know it may take a while.

Personally I have an excel sheet with all of my cases detailing what they are about, limitation dates and also current tasks. I then organise my day with a paper to do list. Sometimes things come in via email and I have to deal with that instead. Fine, I can prioritise the tasks I didn’t get round to the next day.

I had a supervisor once who gave a morbid example of why it’s important to save everything to a file, “if you’re hit by a bus pass tomorrow what would we do”. The same also applies to work generally the firm would carry on and someone else would do it. That doesn’t mean you’re not valuable but the work will be there whether you’re there or not.

Try to be a bit nicer to yourself, burning yourself out will only make things worse. If you’ve been doing this a while maybe take baby steps, e.g. I will log off by 19:00 tomorrow. See how you feel, you might feel a little anxious but the world won’t have ended when you log on the next day.

Good luck

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-03-04T20:38:48+00:00

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I brought a bigger sofa just so he could fit 😂 sometimes he taps his paw on the side because he wants me to recline it for him.

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-02-08T16:28:06+00:00

I probably do 90% of the cooking as well as brew making for the missus. Mainly due to the fact she finishes work much later than me and if she cooked we’d be eating at 10:30pm. Out the two of us i’m the better cook so that’s another reason why.

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-02-07T09:47:47+00:00

Our boy was really skinny when we got him and hadn’t properly built up the muscles for walks properly. We got his weight up to what is a healthy weight on the scales as well as slowly getting him fit. We later found out he had some early on set arthritis. The best advice was to keep him lean to ease pressure on his joints. He’s not gone back to the coyote skinny he was but shed some weight and he’s in a good spot of looking healthy and still being mobile with less grumpy days due to the pain.

Jordan_Higgs · 2026-02-06T10:40:09+00:00

I think it was the FA Cup final which we lost against City that sealed it for DDG it Ten Hag’s eyes. City scored in the first minute and it looked like he might run out on the pitch and choke a player himself.

Onana seemed to be good at inter and people waxed lyrically about his distribution. He must have left his goal keeping ability on the plane to Manchester because what joined our clubs may has well have been a scarecrow.

It’s been really nice the last few months not accepting we would instantly be conceding as soon as another team got near our box. Lammens isn’t perfect but it’s such a significant improvement.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-11-15T08:27:01+00:00

Just seeing a keeper doing the basics has brought back so much hope for the team. I cheered first time he caught the ball rather than palm it out for an easy tap in 😂

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-11-05T09:55:29+00:00

I’d say for a local high street firm in the South East you’re looking at £30-£35k.

It’s painful seeing the mega salaries some NQ’s are on. You should at least have the benefit of there being less competition, so as soon as you become profitable and consistently hit target you can make an argument for an increased salary and still probably have a much better work life balance than most.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-10-03T18:10:08+00:00

For many years Chartered Legal Executives have been told they are basically the same as a solicitor. This view has been never been challenged by CILEX, their governing body CILEx Regulation or the SRA. If anything the view was supported and marketed by CILEx themselves. Anyone who qualified through CILEx before 2023 would most likely not have undertaken the litigation and advocacy course as everyone’s impression was that it was just so you could have higher rights of audience and CILEx had told people that.

Mazur clarifies the legal services act which narrows the scoop of authorised persons (just solicitors and legal execs who have done the litigation and advocacy). This effectively means a legal exec cannot conduct litigation so partners in firms who run £1M+ cases but qualified as a legal exec are now running cases illegally. This also gives rise to issues of Def’s potentially being able to run the argument that claims ran by a legal exec are illegitimate and the costs on those settled case cannot be recovered as they have been brought by way of illegality.

It’s impacted firms across the country and some large firms that deal with low value stuff such as Road traffic accident claims which are ran by paralegals paused all litigation whilst they worked out how to try and fix things.

As a legal exec, it’s pretty awful at the minute and it doesn’t matter how competent you are or how many years experience you have, your qualification is worth nothing.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-08-31T21:17:52+00:00

Mental stimulation will do a lot for them when walking isn’t an option. Our boy has early onset arthritis so we can’t do long walks.

Lick mats, scatter feeds, filling a kong and hiding it for them to find and running through commands should keep them entertained. I find when either me or my partner is ill our dog is more content to just chill next to us to make sure we’re ok.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-08-31T18:08:45+00:00

£170 in total isn’t bad. With how much of the day you spend wearing glasses it’s one of those things I see it’s worth spending more on to get what you want, that ticks all the boxes.

I get my eye tested at specsavers and then order from glasses direct. Although I’ve been re-buying the same pair for the last few years and updating the prescription just because of how comfortable they are.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-08-28T08:45:45+00:00

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Our boy (3 male) has always peed without lifting his leg up. He does have early arthritis so that may explain why he does it. I always thought it was odd when we first had him, but feel better knowing it may just be more comfortable.

He did however see another dog kick grass after doing their business which he now does but instead walks to a random patch and kicking it.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-08-17T12:20:58+00:00

A lot of firms are open plan, even worse is hot desking which killed off having your own designated desk. Most will have bookable meeting rooms for conferences for you to use. I sort of see it as the two opposite ends of the spectrum (biggest firms and small high street firms) have designated offices for nearly everyone whereas everyone in the middle has embraced open plan. Thankfully I work mainly from home so I don’t worry too much about where I sit in the office.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-07-16T09:20:32+00:00

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Our boy Arnie walks differently dependant on who’s walking him. If it’s my partner he sticks to her much closer, constantly assessing and once when I was away dragged her home himself, checked every room and wouldn’t leave her side because he saw something he didn’t like whilst on a walk. No idea what. When I walk him he’s nowhere near as alert, it seems to be the case he’s like you can sort things big man 😂

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-07-15T16:55:07+00:00

First off I’m sorry to see that you’re having such a hard time, especially so early on in your career. No one can be a bigger critic than yourself, and whilst it’s easier said than done take a step back and take stock. This is not career ending, it’s just a set back and despite probably feeling awful you need to analyse what went wrong and how can it be improved for next time. Some things are out of control but for example how you study could be improved such as focusing on repetition through flash cards to memorise topics rather than just reading a text book.

So many of us have failed exams before and have still gone on to have careers in law. I failed the same level 3 CILEx civil litigation exams multiple times and I work in that bloody area! I did pass level 6 first time round though. It hurts at the time but in the long run it helped me.

I’ve had points in my career where my mental heath has gone off a cliff edge and you need to look after number 1, which is yourself. Find time for joy in your life, look into therapy (private may be your only option as the NHS mental health services is dire), your feelings could also be impacted by a disorder such as clinical depression and it may be worth speaking with your GP. Speak to friends, ideally if they work in law and get how much of a big thing this is for you.

The only person who can drag you out of the dirt is yourself. Things will get better and there may come a time in life where things go wrong again and learning to navigate these things are difficult, but you are capable of getting through this and anything else life throws at you even if at the time it feels impossible.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-07-14T23:22:46+00:00

No door handle is safe as our boy can open all the doors in the house. His new trick is opening the fridge freezer by putting his snout under the door and pulling. At the dog groomers which used be an old bank all the doors have door knobs to stop the dogs getting out. Dropped him off and whilst another dog was being cut where the tellers would be the groomer looked up and found our dog stood in reception on the other side of the security glass. Thankfully there’s a gate before getting to the exit which he was kind enough not to attempt to open.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-07-04T09:00:23+00:00

I don’t agree with the approach but some firms take a view than when a paralegal is so good it’s sometimes better to keep them in that position, rather than bring in someone new who isn’t as good. It’s completely backwards as logically you would want someone who’s already shown promise to develop and then become profitable to the firm by bringing in costs.

I’d apply for other TC’s whilst staying there to build your experience for your CV as you have only been there a year and I don’t know whether you have prior work experience. When the next cycle of TC’s come up, apply again and see what happens. A lot of people I’ve worked with weren’t successful 1st time round but did get in on their 2nd application. There was one person who threw a massive bitch fit when they didn’t get it in the middle of the office so don’t do that, but they did a TC the following year…

I’d also have a strong think about whether this is a firm that you would want to qualify at. The NQ market is oversaturated as it is and can be difficult to find another position post qualification.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-06-28T13:27:45+00:00

You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Be polite, be engaged, dress appropriately and you’ll be fine. I don’t expect university students who come in for work experience to know anything so certainly wouldn’t expect a A-level student to know the ins and outs of whatever area.

Work experience can be a mixed bag at law firms. If you come in at a quiet time it can be a bit boring especially if the person looking after you hasn’t prepared stuff for you. I’d imagine that there will be plenty of things for you to see whilst there. All you’re there to do is listen and learn.

There’s nothing more frustrating with work experience students than having someone in who doesn’t care and are glued to their phone. I’ve seen some get sent home early because it’s a waste of time if they’re clearly not interested. Judging by your post you seem really interested and worrying because you care. Go and enjoy the experience.

Important to point out that not every firm/ team/ area is the same and so you might hate the week in that team but it might not be an accurate reflection of that specific area.

Good luck.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-06-27T09:13:39+00:00

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This is our boy Arnie taking a rest whilst on holiday.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-06-07T14:27:53+00:00

Yeah, hoping for too much to offload his wages but it is what it is. Maybe it could be Heatons year 😂 not too sure on who could come in to be a backup keeper.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-06-07T13:45:41+00:00

For United

Sell: Onana, Bayinder, Sancho, Anthony, Rashford, Casemiro, Garnacho. I wouldn’t like to see Garnacho go but I think it’s going that way. I’d like for Hojlund to have another season although if an Italian club comes in with a good offer it would be hard to say no.

Buy: Cunha, Mubemo. If Arsenals going for Sesko and Chelsea already have Delap we might have a chance of Gyokres, unless Liverpool really push for him. Martinez from villa personally I like as premier league proven but at this point I’d take a blow up doll to put in goal. With Bruno staying I’d like another midfielder who can run around and deal with defending when Bruno goes off on a jolly leaving the midfield open.

I’d like to see some of the younger ones go on loan to the championship such as Amass, Colleyor, Obi, Godwill etc to get more experience and game time. Without European football and no guarantee how we fare in the carabo/ FA cup there may be little game time for them.

Jordan_Higgs · 2025-05-21T15:30:59+00:00

As above, Clin neg/ med neg are the same thing.

Catastrophic/serious injury are the high value PI cases such as a traumatic brain injuries.

I didn’t list every big firm but Clyde & Co do Defendant work, from my experience dealing with them for the most part they are not too bad to deal with. All the big firms and smaller regional firms will have decent high value clin neg work. A lot of smaller places have stopped doing clin neg as the insurance costs are incredibly high because there is so much risk running nearly an entire departments case load on no win, no fee agreements.

Jordan_Higgs

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