Eversheds Sutherland has launched an ‘SQE Academy’ to allow its paralegals to qualify as solicitors.
The two-year training programme will run alongside the firm’s traditional training contract and its existing apprenticeship route, and will take 10 candidates a year from the firm’s paralegal pool.
The move has been sparked by the introduction of the Solicitors Qualification Exam (SQE) which allows for diverse routes to qualification as a solicitor. Practically, the route taken by the ‘Academy’ paralegals will be very similar to that taken by traditional trainees: both need two years of qualifying work experience, a degree or equivalent and to pass the two parts of the SQE.
Lorraine Kilborn, the firm’s chief people officer, said: “By opening up a new route to a legal career for candidates who will come through from more diverse backgrounds, we are reflecting the communities we operate in and meeting the demands of our clients who look to our firm to invest in and shape the future of legal services.”
Eversheds has also upped its traditional trainee intake size by 10, with the number it recruits per year set to rise from 40 to 50.
While smaller firms commonly recruit trainees from their paralegal pool, the largest City firms have traditionally been wary of advertising paralegalling as a potential foot in the door to a training contract. In 2016, research by Lawyer 2B found 1 per cent of Allen & Overy’s trainee intake has been recruited from its paralegal cohort, as opposed to 60 per cent of DAC Beachcroft’s.
