Frustrated Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) candidates are calling on the SRA to increase accessibility to the appeals process after a results error saw 175 candidates mistakenly told they had failed their exams. On Monday last week, the SRA announced that 175 candidates who sat SQE1 in January and were told they had failed on 14 […]
The Lawyer‘s Christian Smith, Catrin Griffiths, Richard Simmons, Katy Dowell and Charlotte Lear are joined by College of Legal Practice CEO Giles Proctor for this emergency episode of The Lawyer Podcast as they discuss the latest Solicitors Qualification Exam debacle: marking errors that led to 175 students being incorrectly told they had failed. What went […]
Nearly 200 law students were incorrectly told they had failed their first set of Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) exams, in what the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has called “the most serious operational mistake that we’ve made in the last two and half years.” Kaplan, the exam administrator for the SQE, has […]
As pass rates for the first stage of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) stagnate at a 52 per cent average for 2022/23, City firm recruiters and early careers leaders are voicing concerns about their future pipeline planning. Certainly, a consistent pass rate confirms the goals of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to create what it […]
Newly-qualified solicitors (NQs) at Shearman & Sterling are set to miss out on an extra £20,000 in salary when the firm merges with Allen & Overy next month. A decision has been made to align NQ salaries with A&O, where NQs are currently on £125,000. NQs at Shearman are currently on £145,000. Not only will […]
The UK’s next generation of solicitors is performing well in SQE across ethics and professional conduct… but what’s going on with legal services and wills? The Lawyer dives into the most recent round of SQE performance statistics.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is set to hike fees for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) for the second time in two years, while glossing over issues in the rollout of the exam in its latest annual report. From September this year, the cost of the SQE exams will increase by 5 per cent across […]
Name: Ainslie Cranwell Organisation: Volvo Group Role: Group Litigation Counsel Based: London Trained at: Dentons (formerly Fisher Jeffries – Adelaide, South Australia) Year qualified: 2010 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? I was sent on quite a few errands as a trainee. I took the view that they were nice breaks from […]
Name: Spencer Davis Organisation: Lifezone Metals Role: Group General Counsel Based: London Trained at: Lewis Silkin Year qualified: 2002 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? There are so many. Playing cricket in a square behind Fleet Street, running down to the RCJ to pay fees, microfiches and bundling at all hours, learning […]
Controversy surrounding rescinding training contract offers from future trainees after they fail the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) on their first try has divided elite City firms. Where Clifford Chance and Slaughter and May have been reported to have rescinded training contract offers from future trainees who have failed SQE1 on their first attempt, Freshfields Bruckhaus […]
The new episode of The Lawyer Podcast is out now! Grabbing the attention of aspiring solicitors and spectators alike, criticism of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination has torn through the media over the weeks following the most recent set of results. From City firms dropping training contracts from offer holders after failing on their first attempt, […]
Trowers & Hamlins has become the latest firm to offer an innovation seat to its trainees as a part of its training contract. From the beginning of April, trainees at Trowers will have the option to sit in the innovation team and develop their competency in legal tech. Trowers’ training contract is divided into four […]
Slaughter and May has retained 35 of its 37 final-seat trainees, giving it a retention rate of 94.6 per cent. It puts the firm behind only Herbert Smith Freehills in terms of the spring trainee retention round. After Slaughters, Freshfields is the best performing magic circle firm, with 84 per cent retention. Spring 2024 retention […]
Online stars are everywhere in law now – but is that a good thing? Lucie Cruz investigates.
Bird & Bird is planning to significantly expand the range of its agile working policies by formalising mandatory remote days for its summer vacation scheme students. The move is an indication of the extent to which the firm believes agile working is now a permanent part of business life. It also indicates the belief among […]
TL career clinic March 2021 from The Lawyer on Vimeo.
We’ve all been there. You finish university, perhaps your LPC too, only to find that you cannot get any work experience (voluntary or paid) because you don’t have any experience. It’s a vicious circle which can be hard to break out from. In 2016, the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) worked with the Law Society to […]
Trainee recruitment has come a long way from the days when Mishcon partner and Hot 100 2024 member Adam Rose got asked at interview if he “was the sort of chap who would train and then run off to Israel”. Thankfully, it is a long time since being the right sort of chap rather than […]
Unconscious bias rules broken after Bar Council’s Pupillage Gateway portal malfunctions.
Klara Slater, a new tenant at 4PB, provides some tips for tackling the pupillage application process and making the most of your first six when you get there.
Applying for training contracts and vacation schemes can be a daunting process for any student or graduate. With so many firms out there and lots of information to digest, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are some tips to help you with your applications. Do your research Research is paramount when […]
Fieldfisher is looking to move away from considering A Level results as part of its recruitment assessment, mirroring similar decisions happening in other firms. The move comes as the firm introduced last year a new situational judgement assessment with Capp, a psychometric testing services consultancy aimed at measuring behaviour and attitudes in relation to work-related […]
Never mind the headlines. Graduate recruiters at some of the top law firms have been cooling for a while on the importance of applicants having top A Level grades. In fact, if you were to look at the recent trainee intake of an example firm, broken down by top three A Level grades achieved, you’d […]
Powered by Lexis Nexis, and featuring experts from the University of Law and Bird & Bird, this webcast explores the future of the legal profession. It looks at the developments currently taking place in the legal market, what those changes will mean for the future, and how students can develop the skills that will […]
Is there still a social mobility problem in the UK legal profession? How can applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds get ahead? And what effect will the forthcoming to legal education and training have? Experts voice their opinion in our webcast
In this webcast, our expert panel discusses burning trainee concerns, such as: how to go about choosing your area of law, what support to expect from your law firm developing your business and commerce sense should you take a year out after an LPC? how not to feel intimidated by the unfamiliar work environment The panel […]
Powered by Lexis Nexis, and featuring experts from the University of Law and Herbert Smith Freehills, this webcast will help candidates make themselves employable in the eyes of law firms and barristers’ chambers, and land that first job in law. The content covers how to build a CV that can’t be ignored, personal presentation and […]
As the “Wagatha Christie” stage show prepares for its UK tour, The Lawyer speaks to the barrister-turned-actress playing Mrs Justice Steyn.
When Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s Penny Madden QC met with government officials late last year to discuss then Iran captive Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, she detected an unfamiliar sense of optimism. “It felt like there was some scope for optimism but that it was very measured. And because there were so many false starts in the past, […]
Harini Iyengar is a barrister at 11KWB, specialising in employment, discrimination and equality, education, partnership, data protection and procurement law. She is the Women’s Equality Party’s candidate for Vauxhall in the upcoming general election.
