My Career: ‘I wanted to be a solicitor when I was 10’

Name: Michelle Cross

Age: 30

Lives: Carrigaline, Co. Cork

Job title: Solicitor (specialising in corporate and commercial law)

Salary bracket: €60,000+

Education background: Undergraduate Law Degree (BCL) and Masters in Law Degree (LLM) in University College Cork. Professional Practice Course I and II with the Law Society of Ireland.

Hobbies: I enjoy running and swimming. I joined a couch-to-5km running programme with Carrigaline Athletics Club in 2023 and have been running ever since, including the Cork City Half Marathon last summer. I have made friends for life through my involvement with the club and have also joined the committee as treasurer.

Describe your job in five words: Challenging, rewarding, innovative, engaging and collaborative.

Describe yourself in five words: Ambitious, resilient, hard-working, empathic and a good communicator.

Personality needed for this kind of work? While most law firms will naturally have a variation of personalities amongst their solicitors, I think most are hard-working individuals who have a certain level of resilience which enables them to deal with challenging situations both professionally and promptly.

Solicitors also tend to be determined and ambitious people, which is needed in order to progress through the rigorous training process and also to effectively represent clients.

I think solicitors need to have a certain level of empathy and understanding and most importantly be a good communicator. It also helps to have good interpersonal skills and be a team player while also having the ability to work independently.

How long are you doing this job? Three years.

How did you get this job? As strange as it sounds, I wanted to be a solicitor since I was about 10 years old. My parents divorced when I was in primary school and in what was a very stressful time for my family, I associated my mother’s solicitor as a person who was fixing problems and making things better at the time for our family. I recall sitting in the reception of the solicitor’s office and listening through the wall at the conversation my mother was having about custody and access and I was intrigued by it all. I knew since then I wanted to pursue a career in law and help other families going through a separation just like my mother’s solicitor had done for us. Little did I think I would be practising in corporate law rather than family law 20 years later!

I sat my Leaving Certificate in Carrigaline Community School in 2013 and was successful in achieving enough points to study Law at University College Cork. I completed my undergraduate law degree in 2016.

When I was in my final year of my undergraduate degree, I was selected for a work experience role with Cork City Council’s legal department. When my placement ended, I was kept on as a legal assistant in a part-time role.

While I was working for Cork City Council, I was also doing my Masters in Law at UCC and studying for my FE1 exams so that I could study at the Law Society of Ireland to become a solicitor.

During this time, I was also on the search for a law firm that would provide me with a training contract. I was determined to stay in Cork and did not have much interest in pursuing a career in Dublin in one of the ‘Big 5’ firms. I heard through a colleague that J.W. O’Donovan Solicitors was looking for a trainee solicitor. The firm had a great reputation for its professional standards whilst also having a very personable approach with its clients and colleagues. I applied for the position and following an interview I was successful in securing a training contract with the firm.

After successfully passing all my FE1 exams, I started my traineeship in January, 2019, and attended the Professional Practice Courses (PPC) with the Law Society in September, 2019. The PPC was an in-person course and I moved to Dublin for seven months to attend it.

I sat my FE2 exams at the end of PPC1 and returned to the office in March, 2020. I continued with my in-office training programme until April, 2021, when I had to attend the second part of the PPC. After sitting my final FE3 exams in July, 2021, I completed the end of my in-office training and qualified as a solicitor in December, 2021.

I thoroughly enjoyed my training experience and was delighted when J.W. O’Donovan Solicitors offered me a role on their corporate and commercial team. I continue to work on this team and have steadily progressed in my career over the past three years. Since qualifying, I have also become a member of the Law Society’s Younger Members Committee and I am also the Younger Members Representative for the Southern Law Association.

Do you need particular qualifications or experience? Not many people know this, but when you complete your law degree or even a Masters in Law, you are not a qualified solicitor. In order to qualify as a solicitor, you need to study at the Law Society of Ireland. There is another misconception in law that becoming a solicitor is a pre-cursor to qualifying as a barrister which is not correct.

In order to study at the Law Society of Ireland, I was required to pass eight entrance exams known as FE1 exams, a law degree is not sufficient or even necessary. I also needed to secure a training contract with a solicitors firm who would employ me and undertake to train me for a period of three years.

The FE1 exams are extremely difficult and I think most, if not all, solicitors will agree that passing these is by far the hardest part of the qualification process.

Describe a day at work: I usually arrive to work at 9am and check my emails. I check my diary for upcoming meetings with clients or colleagues I need to prepare for in advance. If I have meetings, I spend some time reviewing the file and recent correspondence.

As I work in the corporate and commercial team, my work varies on a day-to day basis and could involve anything from drafting a share purchase agreement and completing a company acquisition, to reviewing a loan agreement or drafting terms and conditions for a company.

At lunch, I always meet up with colleagues such as solicitors, auctioneers or accountants from other firms and grab a coffee or go for a walk. It is important to foster relationships with colleagues and maintain ongoing regular contact.

I am heavily involved in business development and regularly have meetings with the Law Society Younger Members Committee and the Southern Law Association to plan events for solicitors.

I check in with the partners on my team each day to see if there is anything I can assist with and to get guidance on any matters I might need help with. I update my to-do list at the end of the day and log off at around 6pm.

How many hours do you work a week? Usually between 40-45 hours a week depending on how busy the week is. I try to maintain a good work-life balance as much as possible.

What do you wear to work? I am known in my office for my collection of blazers from Zara. I tend to wear a dress or fitted trousers with a blazer each day. I like to dress more formally if I am meeting clients or attending events with my office.

Is your industry male or female dominated? Since 2014, the solicitors’ profession has had a female majority, according to the number of practicing certificates issued by the Law Society each year, however, the area of corporate and commercial law seems to be more male-dominated in practice.

Is your job stressful? How? Rate it on a scale of 1-10: It is definitely a stressful job and is not something I would recommend for the faint-hearted! Solicitors work tirelessly for their clients and there can be an expectation that they are available on demand to clients through emails and Teams calls at all hours of the day. The weeks and days leading up to completing a large transaction can be particularly stressful, although I must admit I get an adrenaline rush on these days and enjoy the chaos of it all!

Do you work with others or on your own? I work in J.W. O’Donovan LLP, which has 16 solicitors and 12 administrative staff. There are four solicitors on my team.

When do you plan to retire or give up working? Not for a very long time. I am very happy with my career and the firm I work in so I don’t plan on giving it up any time soon!

Best bits: I really enjoy meeting clients and being involved in their business decisions and transactions. It is a great feeling knowing your legal skills and expertise have assisted a client to achieve a desired outcome.

I think the best part of my job is having the privilege to work in such a collegial, encouraging and forward thinking profession. Working alongside experienced and supportive colleagues, both in my own office and in other offices, certainly plays an important role in why I enjoy this career so much.

Worst bits: I find that it can be hard to switch off from the job and maintain a good work-life balance at times.

Advice to those who want your job? I would strongly advise anyone who is thinking of becoming a solicitor to get work experience in a law firm before committing to a law degree. I did work experience when I was in transition year and again when I was in college and it opened up my eyes to the realities of being a solicitor, which is very different to Suits!

I would also advise anyone doubting their ability to pursue this career, to stick with it. You don’t need to be from a family of lawyers or have attended a private school to succeed in this career. I was raised by a single mother in a working class family and was the first in my family to attend college.

There were many times I doubted my place in the legal profession but with the right support and determination, I think anyone can succeed in this career if they want it enough.