Law
examination (SQE), before doing two years in the firm as a trainee. “The big difference for our apprentices is that by the time they qualify as a solicitor, they’ve had six years’ experience,” Contardo enthuses. “They know the firm much better, they know our systems and they’ve built relationships with so many colleagues within the firm. It’s the best-possible start to their legal career.” Taylor Wessing is a global law firm with offices in London, Cambridge and Liverpool and 25
colleagues, it’s a big part of the job. Those soft skills are just as important as academic achievements.” The firm recommends that school-leavers apply to the location they’d ultimately want to work in after their apprenticeship. “We have a ‘one team’ approach which means whichever office our lawyers are in, they’re all working together on the same work,” Contardo says. “You don’t have to be in London to get the best client work – you’ll be working on those same deals and for those same clients whether you’re in Newcastle,
overseas offices, and has recently launched its own solicitor degree apprenticeship programme. The firm works with clients in a number of sectors including technology, media & communications, life sciences, real estate and private wealth. Nicola Micklewright is the firm’s senior early talent manager. “Our
Manchester or Birmingham too.” The solicitor apprenticeship at Eversheds Sutherland is structured so that apprentices spend the first four years in one team within the firm, and then in the final two years rotate around the firm, moving every six months. “They work with their team four days a week and then have a study
We launched the apprenticeship because we wanted to open-up more opportunities in the profession
solicitor apprenticeship has been running since 2023 and we offer two or three apprenticeships a year, in addition to the 20 graduate trainees we recruit annually,” she explains. “In our first year, with only a small amount of publicity, we had over 300 applications. The
day each week, where they’re out of the office with our legal education apprenticeship provider,” says Contardo. The solicitor apprenticeship takes the same time as doing a conventional law degree, then a year at law school to complete the solicitors’ qualifying
58 Degree Apprenticeships
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online