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An alternative route

31 July 2015
Issue: 7663 / Categories: Features , Training & education , Profession
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CILEx examines why employers are embracing on-the-job training

The changing legal marketplace, rising university tuition fees and the sheer volume of law graduates vying for the ultimate prize, the training contract, has led to savvy graduates opting for an alternative route to qualification.

These days funding an LPC or BPTC is harder than ever and a large proportion of law students will unwittingly end up joining the ever-increasing “paralegal club” with hopes of career progression and one day, perhaps, a practising certificate.

A growing proportion of graduates are now considering the Graduate Fast-track Diploma route from the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) which leads to qualification as a chartered legal executive lawyer. This on-the-job qualification is a fraction of the cost of the traditional postgraduate options and develops a law graduate into a specialist lawyer tailored to the needs of their employer.

It’s not just graduates who see the benefits in the alternatives—employers do too.

Clive Thomas, managing partner at Watkins & Gunn Solicitors says that the CILEx route “provides an ideal opportunity [for

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
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