Applications for apprenticeship contracts are becoming more and more competitive and since you can only apply once a year, you can apply for an apprenticeship contract in the company of your choice for a few years. To gain experience as a paralegal, you will need to work in a law firm, including paralegals, articling students, partners and partners, especially alongside articling students with the same responsibilities. While paralegals are certainly beneficial, those who sign an apprenticeship contract must remain realistic about their chances. Many companies view paralegals as a less expensive alternative to hiring fully qualified lawyers and do not necessarily hire them with the intention of offering them a short- and medium-term training contract, if at all. Nevertheless, the equivalent path to qualification as a lawyer is a must-have option for paralegals who previously did not have enough control over their career development. „The main positive I`ve found from experience is that power over your career prospects is largely taken out of the hands of a law firm and placed between yours,” says Shaun. „Graduating and completing CAP is very expensive, so it`s a bad situation when people fail at the last hurdle just because they couldn`t get a piece of paper that says `apprenticeship contract.` If people have the necessary qualifications and experience, they should be able to qualify as lawyers without a law firm having to say so, so I think that route is really welcome. „The best way to transition your job from paralegal to partner (assuming you qualify) is to do a great job as a paralegal and not fix it until you`ve proven your worth. If you have not yet completed CAP, this is also an opportunity to finance your studies. Not to mention, you can of course learn from other people around you who may have already signed an apprenticeship contract or signed the LPC. The article tells the story of Peter Neenan`s journey, who joined the firm as a paralegal in 2006 and became an aviation partner in 2015. You can read more about this here.
The word „paralegal” is an umbrella term that covers everything from support work (administration, paperwork preparation and court preparation) to earning fees, and the requirements to become a paralegal vary from employer to employer. It is an unregulated profession and it is up to employers to set their own requirements. The role can offer many benefits, but perhaps most important of all is the invaluable knowledge you gain from working as a lawyer at a law firm. Other key benefits include: If you`re hoping to secure an apprenticeship contract and are looking for paralegal experience in the meantime, it`s important that you have an open conversation about your goals and priorities with your recruitment consultant and potential employer. In this role, you will assist the Senior Paralegal in drafting legal documents such as supplier contracts, commercial contracts, leases and briefs. Many more paralegals are applying for training contracts at companies other than the one they currently work in. Again, legal professional experience is usually crucial to obtaining a training contract, so the experience of these paralegals should benefit them. Unfortunately, intense competition for a limited number of apprenticeship contracts means that paralegals, whether you`re applying internally or externally, are a great way to improve your resume, but no guarantee of career success. Most law firms offer open positions for paralegals, which means there are a variety of practice areas where you can gain paralegal experience. They can be placed in a specific practice area and work primarily on a specific case.
Or you could be a more general paralegal supporting a number of areas. The two years it takes QWE to qualify as a lawyer with equivalent funds and SQE itineraries can be completed in up to four different roles and investments. Currently, employment as a paralegal is almost the norm for successful candidates for training contracts, so the paralegal is certainly a valuable entry into law. „Working as a paralegal has allowed me to get my foot in the door of the legal profession,” says Shaun. I moved from Leeds to London in 2012 and applied for various paralegal positions in an effort to gain experience during CAP. Working and studying at the same time was difficult, but it definitely gave me the experience I needed to move forward, without which I would have had a much harder time qualifying as a lawyer. Legal apprenticeship was introduced to enable a „professional” path in the legal field. After A-level studies, students can start a six- or seven-year program that works full-time alongside the studies and can qualify as a lawyer without the need for a 2-year training contract.
Apprentices usually qualify as paralegals or legal executives or recipients of fees, but there are plans to introduce a training program leading to the qualification of lawyer. Becoming a paralegal can help you build your legal resume and help you prove to recruiters that you`re ready to become an articling student. The maximum period for shortening your apprenticeship contract is six months. Paralegal work is accepted on a 2:1 basis. This means that two months of eligible paralegal will give you a one-month discount on your apprenticeship contract. You must therefore work as a paralegal for one year to get a six-month reduction in your apprenticeship contract. For example, a general paralegal may be required for commercial disputes in banking, corporate and other areas, or it may be specific to family law, for example. My advice for anyone unsure whether to apply for an apprenticeship contract or not even whether to take the LPC would be to apply for paralegal positions first (although an increasing number of paralegal roles require candidates to have completed the LPC). If you would like to apply for an apprenticeship contract with Howes Percival, please contact our graduates.
Check out our paralegals` guide to learn more about the benefits of paralegalization There are many reasons to apply for a paralegal position after completing your law degree or conversion course. We interviewed two FSP graduates and an articling student at Mills & Reeve about the benefits of paralegal work and whether it can be a stepping stone to an apprenticeship contract. Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of paralegal experience is that you work as a professional in a law firm and show that you are already familiar and familiar with the formalities of everyday life in a law firm. At the end of the CILEx process, you qualify as a legal executive lawyer rather than a lawyer. While this is a less traditional way of practicing law, the responsibilities of both roles are largely the same, and licensed executive lawyers can enjoy rewarding and rewarding careers. However, the economic downturn, combined with the growing number of law graduates, means that competition for apprenticeship contracts is fierce today. The number of graduates entering the apprenticeship market is almost three times higher than the number of jobs. In addition, the associated application process, which requires extensive research and preparation, can be difficult to manage alongside a law degree, which can encourage students to explore other options.
Paralegals are a good entry into the legal profession for many university graduates and school leavers. Law graduates and candidates undergoing legal transformation often work as paralegals to gain significant legal work experience before applying for an apprenticeship contract. In each of our departments, both in London and Leeds, paralegal positions are created from time to time. Our vacancies for paralegals can be found here. In addition, working as a paralegal can sometimes lead to a training contract with the same company. Some small and medium-sized firms conduct in-house research and identify and recruit articling students from their pool of lawyers.