Historically the only way into a top law firm was by graduating with a law degree – more than likely from an elite university – and spending two years completing a training contract. However, the new government-backed Trailblazer scheme looks set to challenge the traditional route to becoming a qualified solicitor by creating an entirely new pathway into the profession.

From school to the legal profession

The new school-leaver scheme, which combines part time qualifications with on the job paralegal level work, looks set to carve out a new route into the profession. While some can be completed in as little as two years, others will give students the opportunity to fully qualify as a solicitor in just six years. Unlike many elite institutions which require students to hold three A-levels at A’s or above, legal apprenticeships on the whole only require applicants to hold an average of three C’s. The lower entry requirements will undoubtedly open the door to students from more diverse backgrounds.

From apprentice to lawyer

Global firm, Eversheds, looks set to pioneer the six year apprenticeship, and are now taking applications for 2016 starters. The internationally renowned law firm, which ranks 15th in the UK in terms of revenue, has announced that it will take on eight apprentices in September, all of which will be offered positions with the firm upon qualification. Successful applicants will be paid a starting salary of £15,200 outside London and £17,200 in London, a figure which will increase year on year.

Other firms such as Clyde & Co are offering level 3 trailblazer apprenticeships across the practices in its London, Manchester and Guildford offices. The ‘earn-while-you-learn’ scheme will see apprentices become qualified paralegals in just two years. International law firm DWF also recently announced it would be offering the level three paralegal apprenticeships in its Manchester head office across the firm’s commercial and insurance teams.

The benefits of apprenticeships will undoubtedly be felt by both candidates and employers. Successful applicants will need to be dynamic, tenacious and committed, but in return will receive fully qualified solicitor status without accumulating any of the debt associated with a law degree. While practices are likely to benefit from the increased social diversity that offering a new route into the profession will bring with it.

Want to find out more?

We run career events throughout the year for legal professionals at all stages of their career. Check out our events pages for more information

OK, not everyone wants to be a partner. But, for many solicitors, a partnership is the logical reward for the years of study and hard work that comes with a commitment to the legal profession.

But what do you need to know about the partnership experience, how can you prepare for it and how can you maximise your chances of attaining it? Here are Clayton Legal’s five top tips:

Are you ready?

Long ago, perhaps when most solicitors wore pinstriped suits and hats during all their waking hours, it may have been true that admission to a partnership meant a life of clubbable lunches and rounds of golf. Those days have, unfortunately, been consigned to the rubbish bin of history. Partners now need to justify their position and reward on a daily basis. And if you are not ready for this, then perhaps you need to wait for the time when you are.

Are you in the right place?

Working for a firm and effectively being a shareholder in it are two very different experiences. This is a major financial, commercial and personal commitment so ask yourself if this really is the right environment to make it in. Do you have complete faith in the direction the firm is taking and its ability to gain and retain clients? Will you be able to get along with your partners on both a social and business level? Do believe they are not just competent lawyers but also have the commercial acumen to sustain and develop the practice? These are all questions best answered before rather than after you find yourself at the partnership table.

Have a Plan

A partnership doesn’t just fall into your lap because you have managed not to get fired. Think through and implement a strategy – a series of timed steps tailored to your target firm – your current one or one better attuned to your goals – that will bring you to the inner circle by a defined deadline.

Get and retain business

Of course you need to be a highly capable lawyer to merit entry to partnership, but now legal professionals are judged as much on their business development skills as they are on their technical ones. A masterful understanding of Rylands v Fletcher or Donoghue v Stevenson is unlikely to get you to any partnership table, and even if it did it wouldn’t keep you there very long unless you could also bring in new clients.

Play the game

Partnerships, whether we like it are not, are political environments so recognise this and act accordingly. Network, support, socialise, fit in. Remember that your potential new partners will not just be thinking how clever you are and how good you are with clients but whether you are the sort of individual they will be comfortable working with, possibly for the rest of their careers.

We are presenting at this year’s Legalex Show on the skills needed for 2017 – don’t miss what will be an insightful and informative presentation.

Despite the wide range of opportunities for lawyers at all levels across the North of England, there is still a largely unspoken feeling within the profession that London is still the career hub for the brightest and most ambitious. But is this finally set to change?

Opportunities abound in the north

The idea of ‘near-shoring’ among major law firms is not a new one. Herbert Smith Freehills and Allen & Overy were the first to bite the bullet and establish business support centres in the UK in 2011, both electing for Belfast as the base for the new ventures. Since then several others such as Hogan Lovells, Mills & Reeve and CMS Cameron McKenna have followed suit with centres in Birmingham, Norwich and Bristol respectively. And now Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is following in the footsteps of the BBC to develop a centre in Manchester which will, at least initially, house some 300 business service roles. When a firm like this one, which has been wedded to the City of London for so long, moves a key part of its operations to the north-west it’s a strong indicator that this is not some ‘flash in the pan’ phenomenon, but the beginning of a significant trend.

New Manchester hubs

The reasons behind the move are obvious and perhaps somewhat more prosaic than the Beeb’s desire to fend off criticisms of being too London-centric. Office space in Manchester is currently around half the cost of that in Central London and salaries are also significantly lower. While the team that staffs the Manchester office will largely be made up of paralegals and support specialists from non-legal disciplines such as IT and HR in the early stages, there are some commentators who are wondering whether the move could be part of a more significant shift in the deployment of all professional roles. Freshfields has already signalled that it is keeping ‘all its options open’ as to office accommodation after its London lease expires in 2021. And the ongoing commitment to HS2 by almost everyone with a chance of forming a government in the foreseeable future may finally break the undue influence exercised by the capital in the profession.

Whether we will see a major migration of talent to the north in the near future is of course up for debate. Any attempt at a really serious redeployment of roles out of the south-east would most likely face the sort of challenges that Auntie faced when trying to persuade its management and ‘talent’ to swap the metropolis for Salford Quays. However, one thing is certain. For the ambitious and capable legal professionals  any level, London is most certainly not the only career option any more.

Career events in the north

We run a series of career events across the country -including the north west so why not take a look at the programme – it could be the best move you ever make!

The number of employers implementing agile working policies has climbed sharply in recent years, and as city firms battle to attract and retain top legal talent, a range of practices are introducing policies which give lawyers greater flexibility over their work/life balance. In a profession that is known for its exceptionally long hours and substantial focus on productivity, the prospect of working flexibly will likely be welcomed by many.

Understandably many firms have broached the prospect of agile working somewhat tentatively with the notable exceptions of two city practices in Schillings and Mishcon de Reya, who have both introduced new and innovative flexible working practices. Schillings recently announced that lawyers only need to come into the office two days a week, while Kevin Gold, the managing partner of Mishcon de Reya, allows lawyers to work from home as many or few days as they want.

Ultra – agile – the way to retain top legal talent?

Mischon De Reya pioneered the ultra-agile working trend when its managing partner Kevin Gold told lawyers they could work as many or few days in the office as they want, in addition to being able to take unlimited holiday. Gold claimed that the policy stemmed from wanting to foster greater gender balance within the firm, and encourage female talent to return to the profession after taking a career break to have children. Interestingly Mischon De Reya was one of few firms to post 100% autumn retention scores.

Following the upheaval of its existing flexible working scheme, Schillings is set to eliminate all fixed desks from its offices in favour of a new ‘desk booking system’ that enables lawyers to book a spot for a specific day or week. Christopher Mills, Shillings’ COO said that the scheme aimed to improve collaboration between the firm’s various teams, including cyber security and intelligence. He also highlighted recruitment and retention as a key driver behind the implementation.

Flexible working – the way ahead?

According to a recent study by Grass Roots, 49% of employees claimed that flexible working arrangements and work-life balance are their most valuable benefits. Interestingly the same study found that while 84% of all respondents indicated that their benefit package was important in keeping them in their current role, that figure rose to 93% for 25-44 year olds. These figures support the growing consensus that younger generations are increasingly beginning to value holistic benefits packages over additional cash compensation.

While the take up of flexible working arrangements in law may not be a quick as in industries such as media and tech, it’s evident that more and more practices are coming to realise the value of such policies. And with millennials searching for ever more holistic benefits packages agile working polices may set one firm out above the next when professionals are searching for a new role.

Historically, professionals looking to move into the legal sector would have to possess highly impressive qualifications at A-Level and a commercial awareness at the very least if they wanted to make their mark on the profession. However, one firm is conducting its graduate recruitment slightly differently and feels that its trend could soon be more commonplace in the profession. Here’s what it means for aspiring lawyers.

Fishing from the same pool of talent

Founder, Adam Moralee created the intellectual property and sport firm Brandsmiths after an extensive career at Mishcon de Reya where he was partly involved in its hiring of graduates. However, he soon noticed that firms seemed to be after the same group of high performing people year after year. He found this problematic, “If everyone has three As and a First….and if they are all being brought into the same workplace then it can’t help but be dysfunctional,” he suggested.

He also outlined that the issue is particularly acute with legal firms who want to find “a diamond in the rough”, but at the same time don’t want to recruit paralegals as they think it could make them look like a second class firm. As Moralee outlined, this is made even more difficult as you need to be a “bit of a rough with 3 As and a First.”

Growing the legal talent pool

In order to diversify his practice, the founder has asked potential candidates for his trainee/paralegal position to create a two or three minute video explaining why they should be interviewed for the job. This means that candidates who may have slipped up on their exams for whatever reason but who may otherwise be a perfect cultural fit for the organisation aren’t overlooked as they historically may have been, which automatically shrinks firms’ talent pools even further and could prevent gifted professionals from working in the field. “There are these stupid, outdated barriers in place,” Moralee suggested. “Of course academic achievement is important – if two candidates are the same and one has As and one Cs I am going for the one with the As – but it is not the be all and end all. It is not even the most important thing.”

With more and more firms likely to adopt this type of approach as they look to diversify their talent pools, it falls into the laps of graduates and potential trainees to consider what makes them employable. Rather than firms solely looking for public school old boys with academic success on their CV, they’re likely to be seeking a combination of this along with commercial awareness and a personality, something which may have been slightly overlooked by many practices in the past. Graduates should therefore consider what makes them stand out from the crowd and how their personality can potentially be the recipe for success. Rather than solely focusing on preparing for exams, they should now also consider their wider profile and what they can do to make themselves more employable. Otherwise, if this trend does continue to grow, we could see rising numbers of smart professionals, who have failed to consider the importance of personality, fall by the wayside.

Need some pointers for you next career move? Checkout our advice pages and career events

Unfortunately, the outside perception of recruitment isn’t always an overwhelmingly positive one. All too often the media paints the picture of unscrupulous recruitment firms and materialistic recruiters – both of which are incredibly misleading. In reality it’s only a very small number of firms which give the profession a bad reputation. Recruitment can be an incredibly rewarding career and many professionals are motivated by the satisfaction of placing candidates in their dream role rather than the cash remuneration on offer, as many critics might have you believe.

Recruitment firms are not all alike

No two recruitment firms, let alone recruiters, are the same and unfortunately even a small minority unethical individuals can drag the reputation of the entire profession downwards. Often when people think of recruitment companies, even those who have had positive experiences with recruiters, they remember being bombarded with useless content, or called about jobs they aren’t interested in or suited for. In reality many people’s career paths are shaped by recruiters, and often they can offer a substantial amount of valuable advice and guidance.

Many recruiters are experts in their field and will work to understand what it is that you’re looking for in a new role, and the kind of company culture you’d be best suited to. That’s because the majority of recruiters are truly passionate about their role, and are supported by an employer who fosters their personal growth and provides them with valuable training.

Work hard, play hard

While it’s true that at many firms an individual’s earning capacity is limited only to their own tenacity, most recruiters are driven by the fulfilment of finding a hardworking candidate their ideal role and satisfying their clients. And the suggestion that all recruiters drive luxury cars and take four holidays a year simply isn’t realistic, the role can, at times, be incredibly demanding and recruiters need a strong sense of resilience. The idea that all recruitment firms heavily scrutinise their staff simply isn’t true either, most recruitment firms work hard to support their staff, provide them with thorough training when needed, and regularly reward them for their hard work.

Here at Clayton we know that our people are our greatest asset and we are always looking for passionate and hardworking individuals to join our team. If you are a dedicated and committed professional looking for your next challenge don’t hesitate to contact us!