The Route to Qualification

The route to qualifying as a solicitor is changing. This means that the current route of completing a qualifying law degree or a law conversion course, followed by the Legal Practice Course (LPC), will disappear and be replaced with the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Regardless of the route, we will ensure that you are well prepared and ready to hit the ground running when you start at the firm.

CURRENT ROUTE (FOR TRAINING CONTRACTS BEGINNING IN 2022)

If you do not have a qualifying law degree, you will be required to complete some or all modules of the law conversion course, the Post Graduate Diploma in Law (PGDL), before completing the accelerated LPC (which must be completed by all graduates). We ask our future trainees to study at BPP Law School; the PGDL can be completed at any branch and the accelerated LPC must be completed in London. We pay all tuition and examination fees for the PGDL and LPC and provide you with a maintenance grant while you are studying. On completion of the LPC, you will begin your training contract with us, joining as part of the March or September intake. If you wish to take time off beforehand, you can usually opt to defer your start date by one year – any time off must be taken before you begin the LPC though.

The LPC is split into two stages. The first stage includes Business Law and Practice, Property Law and Practice and Civil Litigation. The second stage consists of Corporate Transactions, Debt Finance and Equity Finance. It also covers key legal skills such as drafting, writing and research.

SQE ROUTE TO QUALIFICATION (FOR TRAINING CONTRACTS BEGINNING IN 2023 OR LATER)

We will be working closely with BPP Law School to design a pre-entry training programme to prepare students to pass the SQE assessments and acquire all the additional knowledge necessary to ensure that you are well prepared to undertake your training contract at the firm. It is too early to say exactly what this preparatory programme will look like, but we anticipate that it will be similar to the current programme in length. We will continue to offer a rotational two-year period of training – the training contract.

We will update our website once the specifics of the SQE have been confirmed. You might also like to check the SRA website for the most up-to-date information.