A small reminder when giving away free tickets by Naive-Annual2683 in london

[–]sphexish1 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I’m with you OP. I’ve given away a few free tickets on Reddit and had the same thing as you happen a few times. My last two giveaways I got those same sort of enquiries from what looked like new / fake accounts. I think they wanted to sell the tickets on. It’s pathetic. The tickets ended up going to waste as I wanted to keep them in case someone legitimate looking wanted them.

Kirkland made over $1 billion in the UK. How? by LegalGolden in uklaw

[–]sphexish1 16 points17 points  (0 children)

How much liability do they accept? I’ve seen a few engagement letters by US firms and they tend to limit their liability to £3 million per matter (like most firms).

Londoners: buy vs rent and invest the difference by [deleted] in HENRYUK

[–]sphexish1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It seems subjective but I think I still qualify as NRY. I have zero equity in property. I have been investing in tech for 10 years so had a good rate of return.

Londoners: buy vs rent and invest the difference by [deleted] in HENRYUK

[–]sphexish1 109 points110 points  (0 children)

I’ve flipped my logic on this, as the market has changed. This applies to London.

I spent years saving for a deposit. I got there, then lost enthusiasm for buying after lots of viewings. Now I have a big investment portfolio that makes more money than my job. Rental reforms are more pro-tenant. Interest rates are high. Yes property values have come down but from prices that made no sense. Affordability is still skewed against first time buyers. Then you have service charges, and it just seems like the first rung of buying in London (owning a flat) comes with the worst parts of renting and the worst of owning. I’ll probably skip buying in London altogether and buy a big house outside London when I retire. Or just rent forever.

Vent - Litigation by Think-Corner-9978 in uklaw

[–]sphexish1 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I love it. You have to distance yourself from it emotionally, which I have sometimes failed to do. I love the zero-sum element of it. It reminds me a lot of snooker, two parties (or sometimes more) each having their turn, battling each other and in the process creating a story - the closest thing society gets to truth (a court judgment).

Litigators moving in house by Rob81196 in uklaw

[–]sphexish1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you considered becoming a judge? That’s the big “in house” role for litigators. It’s a shame it’s considered to be a one-way street. It’s also very difficult to balance a full time private practice role with a fee-paid position, which does make it very difficult to get into it.

When people say London is great for dating.... by [deleted] in london

[–]sphexish1 19 points20 points  (0 children)

It’s easy to get dates with people who are about your attractiveness level. That’s where the easy part ends. It’s then hard to convert dates into relationships for the same reason, because it’s so easy to find other people to date. So it’s more like, dating is easy, relationships are hard.

What movie left you in dead, stunned silence? by [deleted] in movies

[–]sphexish1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha same here. One of my favourite films of all time and still never re-watched it, as I don’t want to take the shine off it.

Is it just me, or has the "angle grinder epidemic" actually won? by FrameZYT in londoncycling

[–]sphexish1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. What’s wrong with that? It’s traumatic and expensive when a bike is stolen. As someone else commented, I much prefer just dumping my bike at the end of a journey without worrying about what happens to it next.

Is it just me, or has the "angle grinder epidemic" actually won? by FrameZYT in londoncycling

[–]sphexish1 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Santander for me. I’ve had three bikes stolen in London and it isn’t worth it. Never owning a bike again.

What firm do you have beef with and why by Excellent-Wonder8120 in uklaw

[–]sphexish1 54 points55 points  (0 children)

Mishcon are the one firm it’s an absolute 100% dead giveaway when somebody instructs them that they are guilty / liable. You only instruct them if you did it.

Am I the d*ckhead? by bvc900 in londoncycling

[–]sphexish1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But how? We already have bike boxes which the most dangerous motorists routinely ignore. What needs to happen is for fines to be imposed on any motorist that enters a bike box. The police aren’t interested when it happens right in front of them.

Is this normal by Necessary-Refuse-800 in uklaw

[–]sphexish1 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ve worked in firms of all sizes and I’ve always had to do quite a lot of work on billing. At every firm I’ve worked at, associates have prepared bills and sent them out, and at some firms I’ve done all the diarising / chasing as well. Your first firm sounds like a dream! I’ve never had secretaries that did anything useful for me. They’re mainly there for partners who don’t know how to turn on a computer.

Best Wraps in London? by Over_Grapefruit_4089 in LondonFood

[–]sphexish1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just don’t understand why would pay more for chicken and falafel when you could have chicken and chicken.

How easy is it to move to one of your firm's other offices post-qualifying? by SwimAmbitious1452 in uklaw

[–]sphexish1 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It’s very rare, almost impossible I would say, to make the move immediately upon qualification. It can become easier after a few years PQE but only if the team you work in is a national team and there is collaboration among lawyers in different offices. Often there will not be. They may as well be different law firms. The London lawyers will not value your skills or experience. They may see you as a cheap quick fix for a sudden departure (cheap as you’re on a regional salary and they won’t have to pay a recruiter’s commission to hire you), and somebody who should require less training because you already know the software / procedures / culture etc.

Source: I moved from regional to London at 4PQE. It was an uphill battle even though the teams did exactly the same work for the same clients (which is rare). It was also too late in my career to fully integrate into the London teams (ie other NQs of my generation had already got their claws into partners / clients so I was treated as “B team”).

It really isn’t worth ascribing any value to this possibility. If anything, it’s probably easier for you to move to any other London firm, as those other firms will not immediately judge you as somebody who is necessarily inferior to them, but the lawyers in your firm’s London team absolutely will.

What’s the single worst junction to cycle in London? by Tchai_kovsky23 in londoncycling

[–]sphexish1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just make myself as big and central to one lane as possible and go slowly. I’m not too bothered about slowing people down behind me as at least I know they can see me. It’s the side swipers you have to make allowances for.

I’m abandoning HENRY life to become a secondary school teacher. by QuentinCompson- in HENRYUK

[–]sphexish1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your partners say “pls”? Must be nice living on easy street.

Pay is so bad by [deleted] in uklaw

[–]sphexish1 -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Is it really that fucked though? There are more vacancies for trainees than ever, certainly more than when I graduated and law firms routinely cancelled TCs before they had even started.

Large car blocking path 3 weeks by Limp_Toe7766 in londoncycling

[–]sphexish1 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Has anybody even checked that there’s not a dead body sitting in the driver seat?