Career timetable: solicitors
Before we launch into this chapter, you need to be aware that in 2021, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is introducing a new ‘super exam’, which all prospective solicitors will have to pass in order to qualify. The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is due to be introduced in September 2021, although it has been delayed previously and could be again. Anyone who starts a law degree, GDL or LPC before the SQE is introduced in 2021 should not be affected unless they choose to be. There will be a long transition period of several years from 2021 in which candidates who are already on one of the former courses will be able to qualify as solicitors in the ‘old’ way. However, although the SRA will continue to recognise the LPC until as late as 2032, candidates won’t necessarily have that long to qualify while avoiding the SQE. The training committee of the City of London Law Society, which represents City firms, has said that firms will not want to run two separate qualification systems alongside each other and are therefore likely to insist that all future hires take the SQE from 2022. The message is, if you start a law degree in 2020 or 2021, you might well have to take the SQE, but anyone currently in the middle of a LLB, GDL or LPC in 2018 will not be affected. Until at least 2021, the information below remains correct. For more on the SQE, read the SRA chapter on p139 and keep alert to things by going to the SRA’s website, www. sra.org.uk/home/hot-topics/Solicitors- Qualifying-Examination. First-year law and second-year non-law students What does it mean to be a solicitor? Am I cut out for the work? Why do I want to be a solicitor rather than a barrister? Do I want to practise in London or the regions? In which practice area? These are the questions to be asking around this time. Delve into the
law section of your university careers centre, attend your university’s law fair (usually held in October/November) and join your student law society. You should try to arrange some summer work experience to begin checking out the different types of firm. In addition to informal work experience, some of the bigger firms now run formal work placement schemes specifically aimed at first-year law students. Above all, work at achieving and maintaining good grades – even first-year results matter to law firms. Second-year law and final-year non-law students Autumn term, winter holidays and spring term Go to the careers advice service and discuss the profession generally with a careers adviser. Attend law firm presentations on campus and at firms’ offices, and research and apply for work placement schemes for your summer vacation – 31 January is a significant deadline. It’s a good idea to do a few schemes in order to get a feel for the range and types of practice available to you. Note that some firms also offer winter and spring holiday work schemes. In addition to work experience, you may also apply for a training contract. There are no limitations on when firms can make training contract offers – some students even secure a training contract in their first year. Virtually all university law career fairs take place in October/November. They represent your best chance to meet firms face to face. It is sensible to have done some preliminary research so that you can ask intelligent questions. Many firms also organise on-campus presentations during these two terms.
Look into the funding possibilities for your postgraduate legal training (eg, local
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