From Ladbrokes to the Law for Sorcha Monaghan

It was a lucky day for Sorcha Monaghan when Sukh Saini, the Managing Partner of leading regional law firm Pictons decided to place a fun football bet in a Ladbrokes betting shop near his office.

Sukh picks up the story. “I’m football mad so a fellow Partner suggested we place a one off bet on the Cup Final back in May this year. We went into Ladbrokes and I was so surprised to see that a really helpful young girl behind the counter was reading a business law and practice book. I asked her if she was studying for the LPC (Legal Practice Course). When she said yes I was intrigued and wanted to find out more about her. I gave her my card and suggested she sent me her CV.”

Sorcha Monaghan takes up her story. She recalls “I was taken aback when Sukh asked me about my LPC studies. I’d been working at Ladbrokes for some time as a customer service manager to fund my post graduate LPC course at the University of Law in Bloomsbury. Although I was awarded a partly funded scholarship I still needed to pay for some of my tuition and travel expenses.

“I sent Sukh my CV and he invited me in to do some work experience at Pictons. I was so delighted. I completed my LPC and I got a full time job at Pictons as a paralegal / legal assistant in the conveyancing department.”

Although Sorcha got excellent grades at school, in her final year she had been thinking of a career in hairdressing. She was advised by her teachers that she should study something more challenging and she chose the law.

She studied law at the University of Liverpool and on graduation she returned to live in her home town of Luton. She says “I never thought that meeting Sukh in Ladbrokes that day would eventually lead to me securing a job at a top law firm. I also didn’t think the skills I acquired at Ladbrokes would give me a competitive edge when applying for training contracts but Sukh said he was really impressed at how I dealt with customers, and my initiative in getting a job to fund my LPC . He said Ladbrokes is probably quite a stressful environment to work in at times as it’s so busy and with so much customer contact I had got plenty of experience in client care already.

“He said Ladbrokes is something I should talk up and mention more! I love my job at Pictons and now work in the Commercial Property Department. I just finished working at Ladbrokes so that I can focus entirely on my legal career. I am now looking for a training contract, which is the next step. I know securing a training contract can be difficult, as the legal sector is an extremely competitive environment with an increasing amount of students graduating every year, however the end result will be more than worth it”