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Sabina Hegerty

Legal Costs Accountant at Mid West Legal Costs Accountants

Sabina Hegerty

Background

After my leaving certificate I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do career wise, I decided to study Arts in NUIG in order to keep my options open. I studied legal science as part of my Arts degree and I really enjoyed it. After my BA I continued on to complete an LLB.

While studying for my FE1 examinations, I held a variety of jobs and undertook accounts and computer courses which provided me with the necessary skills required to work efficiently in an office environment.  I obtained a traineeship in a busy general practice where I was exposed to a large variety of files which provided me with great experience.

Career

I qualified as a Solicitor in the middle of the recession.  I secured employment with a firm of Legal Costs Accountants in Dublin and remained there for a number of years. I enjoyed this position and working in Dublin. However, my family life was in Limerick. Travelling up and down along with long hours at work was proving difficult. I obtained a role as a Litigation Solicitor with a firm in Limerick, where I remained for almost five years and gained a vast amount of experience. I utilised the skills and experience obtained while working as a Legal Costs Accountant in my role as a Solicitor, where along with my other duties, I drafted, negotiated and Taxed Bills of Costs.

Increasingly, colleagues, became aware that I had expertise in the area of Legal Costs and would contact me for advice. A seed was planted that there was demand for a Legal Costs Accountants firm serving Limerick and the surrounding areas. After carrying out research and taking colleagues opinions on board, I took the plunge and set up a Legal Costs Accountants practice. It’s early days yet but the future looks promising. Collectively, the experience that I gained in the administrative courses undertaken while studying for my FE-1s, my training and work as a Solicitor and my training as a Legal Costs Accountant have been of great benefit to me and I would not be where I am today without any of them.

Advice

Every job or course that you do provides you with skills and experience that will stand to you in the future and could open opportunities to you that would not otherwise be available. It is important that you keep your lines of communication open and that you take on board good advice when it is offered to you. 

Other Stories

For other career success stories, see Career Spotlight.