LC.N TCPH 2020

Becoming a solicitor

Solicitors provide legal advice and representation. They work directly with their clients and are usually the first point of contact for anyone seeking legal advice. In general practice, solicitors may be called on to advise on issues ranging from crime, personal injury, contracts and wills to buying houses and taking over a business. Increasingly, solicitors and firms specialise in certain areas of law. A run-down of various specialisations can be found in “Solicitor practice areas” on p151. One important thing to note: the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is due to be introduced in 2021. It is a new assessment which all would-be solicitors will have to pass in order to qualify. The SQEmeans that new courses are currently in development to replace the LPC, but the current systemwill remain in place until at least 2021. Find out more in “Postgraduate trainning” and on LawCareers.Net. Currently the most common routes to become a solicitor are to do a law degree, followed by the Legal Practice Course (LPC), followed by a training contract, or a non-law degree, followed by the Graduate Diploma in Law, then the LPC, then a training contract (for more, see “Career timetable” on p146). Training contract/period of recognised training The traditional training contract – or ‘period of recognised training’ – is a two-year traineeship with a law firm or other approved organisation. Trainees put into practice all the knowledge and skills they have acquired so far, with the firm assessing the trainee’s suitability for retention upon qualifying. Trainees may also study elective LPC modules if they begin the training contract upon completion of the initial core LPC modules. Structure The training contract format varies between firms. Most (although not all) firms operate

a ‘seat’ system, in which trainees spend six months in four different departments. As far as possible, firms will try to accommodate trainees’ seats preferences, although they have to consider the overall needs of the firm as well as those of the other trainees. The SRA has guidelines that also need to be followed. In some firms, trainees may also have the opportunity to spend a seat in an overseas office or on secondment to a client. Training contracts may be less structured in smaller and high-street firms than those with the larger commercial firms – an approach that might appeal to those who fear a ‘conveyor- belt’ training mentality in the City firms. As many small firms cannot offer detailed training over a wide spread of specialisations, trainees are sometimes permitted to undertake consortium training, fulfilling different training seats in different firms. Content What trainees learn during the training contract will depend on the type of firm. Clearly, the practice areas you learn about as a solicitor working at a commercial firm in the City are going to differ from those learnt by your peers at regional high-street firms. The smaller firms that mainly concentrate on a single area of work will obviously provide the most limited experience, but conversely can offer the most responsibility. Trainees must experience at least three distinct areas of law over the course of their training. Assessment and support Trainee solicitors are assessed continuously throughout their training contract, which means that any problems can be addressed early, not left until qualifying. Almost without exception, firms have a three and six-monthly appraisal for each training contract seat. In this way trainees get good feedback about their performance both during and after a seat, and get to

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