Preparing for my LPC final exams, I could not be further from war torn Basra city sweltering in 50 degree heat. A couple of years ago I was on my second tour of duty in Iraq with the British Army, now I am preparing to start a training contract with international law firm, Bird & Bird.

Having completed a degree in Applied Marine Biology and a short stint as a research scientist, I joined the Army looking for adventure. I spent a year in officer training at Sandhurst and joined an Infantry regiment. It turned out to be an exciting time to join the forces. Within a few months I was deployed as a peacekeeper to Kosovo helping to control ethic violence between Serbs and Albanians. Over the next few years I worked in countries all over the world including Canada, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, Gibraltar, New Zealand and the Middle East.

As far as I know, at the comprehensive school I attended no one in my year considered law as a profession. It was not until my regiment was hastily deployed to Iraq for the 2003 ground war that I developed an interest in the subject. I witnessed society breakdown and the desperate requirement for the rule of law in the aftermath of conflict in the country. As the fighting finished I was involved in building up one of the first post war courts in a town called Az Zubayr.

Within 12 months of returning from the war, we were sent back out to Iraq for six months to assist with the first post conflict elections. To pass time between patrols I started a distance learning Masters in Business Administration with the Open University. I was 29 and had spent almost 8 years as a solider but with my interest in both business and law growing; I resolved to make a career change. I was keen to exploit my MBA and science degree in a commercial firm with an excellent IP department. Bird & Bird was top of my list and fortunately offered me a training contract just before I left the Army to start the GDL. I had feared I would stand out in a group of early twenty some-things, but I have been impressed with the diverse mix of trainees at the firm. Access to and awareness of the profession seems to have improved since I left school over a decade ago.

There are many factors that older career changers to the legal profession must carefully consider. It is important to realise just how long it takes to qualify as a lawyer. , It can also seem costly particularly if you forfeit an existing career to start again and on the first rung of the career ladder. These factors seem more real when friends entering other professions are getting promoted before you have even sat your first set of law exams! However, I have recently been working on an IP pro bono project at law school advising a client on a small IT start up business. I feel that my experiences have been useful when advising on practical issues and hope this will continue when I begin working at Bird & Bird in September. I have no regrets about my decision to change career and to return to full-time education. To finally be on the verge of practising law is immensely fulfilling and as exciting as heading out on a foot patrol in Basra city!