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29 April 2021 / Jason O’Malley Lunn
Issue: 7930 / Categories: Features , Profession , Training & education , Diversity
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The case for solicitor apprentices

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Jason O’Malley Lunn, director of talent learning & knowledge at Plexus Law, explains why it’s time to embrace the solicitor apprenticeship pathway
  • Explains how solicitor apprenticeships can benefit a legal services company or law firm.

Solicitor apprentices have been working in the legal sector for nearly five years now and, in 2022, we will see some of the original cohort admitted to the roll after taking the Solicitors’ Qualifying Examination (SQE).

Parts of the profession have been quick to embrace apprenticeships, and apprentices can now be found across the legal sector from the high street through to large corporate law firms. In 2012 my firm, Plexus Law, took on seven of the first legal services apprentices, four of whom are now on the solicitor programme. We have since grown the scheme, recruiting more than 170 apprentices with an 85% retention rate.

For legal services firms, apprenticeship programmes have several benefits.

Retention

The solicitor apprenticeship lasts about six years, and the first benefit is retention. This is

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NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
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From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

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