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Deciding to become a solicitor is not a decision that should be taken lightly. There are many stages and academic requirements that are involved so if you do decide to pursue a career in law you may be interested to know what the stages and requirements that you will have to adhere to.


Law Society is the body that governs all trainee and fully qualified solicitors and they have helped to develop the Training Regulations 1990. These are rules which set out all aspects of qualifying as a solicitor.

The primary qualification you need under the regulations is a Law Degree (LLB) and must cover the seven foundations of legal knowledge which are:

• Equity and Trusts
• Law of the European Union
• Obligations 1 (Contract)
• Obligations 2 (Tort)
• Property/Land Law
• Public Law (Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Human Rights Law)

It is possible to become a solicitor without having completed a degree in law but a degree in another academic subject is required and you must also complete a Common Professional Examination Graduate Diploma in Law (CPE). Under the CPE you are, again, required to pass the seven foundations of legal knowledge as well as one other area of legal study.

Once the degree or CPE has been completed the next stage in your academic training is the Legal Practice Course (LPC), also known as the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice This is the vocational stage of your legal education. The course teaches you how to apply your legal knowledge in a practical way as you would be expected to do in practice. The LPC can be taken in many different formats including full-time and part-time, on week days, evenings, and weekends. The course will vary depending on where you study, so as a great deal of thought should be given to which institution you study at for your LPC.

There are very few funds or grants available to fund the cost of the PLC (fees range from £6,000-£11,000) and many students fund theirs privately. A small proportion of students may have their fees and some living expenses paid for by future employers having secured a future position with them as a trainee solicitor under a training contract.


As you conclude your time in further education, you may be finishing your law degree, you may even be concluding your studies for the Legal Practice Course, you should now be focusing on what lies ahead of you upon leaving the education system and seeking employment. If it is a career in law that you want the most important thing to consider is the training contract. This is a two year placement with a law firm that will train you from being a law graduate into a qualified solicitor by giving you a background in several areas of law.

Among many would be solicitors, the training contract it is seen as the final hurdle to be overcome before becoming a fully qualifying solicitor and thus demand is high amongst an annually increasing number of law graduates with the number of training contract applicants seriously outnumbering the number of vacancies.

When applying, expect to have your CV come under great scrutiny, especially if applying to a Legal 500 firm. You will be expected to have a 2:1 or above at degree level for most firms to consider you with many even having specific A-Level grade requirements.

Something that will always be mentioned in relation to this subject is that it is never too early to apply. If you know that you want a career as a solicitor and are beginning your degree course, now is the time to start applying. If you are looking to start your training contract straight after finishing the LPC (many firms start their trainees in September to coincide with the end of the academic year) then you should start applying in the first and second year of university as many firms will recruit 2 years in advance.

 

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