Starting your legal career
Are you a school leaver, career changer, law student, overseas professional, non-law graduate, and anyone interested in qualifying as a lawyer in England and Wales? Sign up and start your journey today!
Starting your legal career journey
Starting your legal career can be daunting, as there are so many areas of law and different places you could work. Before you start applying for QWE, think about the kind of work you enjoy most and what kind of law interests you. You are far more likely to succeed in the profession if you pick an area of law you enjoy. Try our Know your Legal Self quiz in the All About You section to give you a sense of what might suit you best. Get some work experience before your QWE. Many organisations and law firms offer insight days, shadowing, 1-2 week work experience and formal vacation schemes to those interested in a legal career. Want to test the waters before an in-person experience? Try free virtual work experience placements and simulations offered online directly via law firm websites or through organisations like The Forage and Springpod. You can also see what lawyer advocates do in their day jobs by attending court and seeing them in action.
TOP TIP You will find helpful guidance on how to get into law via the LawCAB site at www.lawcabs.ac.uk, including an overview of a range of career options.
Think about your future career before you start QWE
There are certain skills you will be expected to have on day one of your new role. There are others you will acquire over time.
Also think about any transferrable skills you have from prior roles, not necessarily legal roles. Think about the skills you want to emphasise and the kind of career you really want.
Skills and attributes it will help you to have on day one of your new role
Here is a list of our Top 10 skills and attributes employers tell us you should highlight on your CV because you will probably need these on day one of your new role.
- Analytical mind - Attention to detail - Excellent communication - 'Can do' solutions focussed attitude - Logical thinking - Ability to work with a team of people - Professional service orientation - Resourcefulness, creativity and ability to think laterally - Resilience and flexibility - Sense of decency - Sense of responsibility - Work organisation and planning
Pathways to entering the profession
Apprenticeships start when you have completed your A levels or at graduate level. The LPC route is now limited and only applicable to students who meet the transitional arrangement criteria set by the SRA. These arrangements apply to anyone who, before 1 September 2021, had completed, started, accepted an offer of a place, or paid a non-refundable deposit for the GDL, the LPC, or a training contract.
Whether you are a qualified lawyer overseas, a qualified CILEX Lawyer/ Practitioner or a Barrister, you can apply to join the roll of solicitors in England and Wales by following the SRA's SQE route to qualification. Although, qualified overseas lawyers are exempt from the two-year Qualifying Work Experience requirement.
Routes to qualifying as a solicitor
You can start your career as a solicitor apprentice after A levels, working and studying for a law degree. Or, you can graduate from university and then decide to follow the SQE route, completing two centralised assessments overseen by the SRA — SQE1 and SQE2 - and work experience as a graduate solicitor apprentice, trainee solicitor or paralegal.
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CHARACTER AND SUITABILITY FOR ADMISSION?
Find out more about the SRA Character and Suitability Rules
When should you start QWE along your career journey?
It is advisable to start your QWE while you are doing your SQE assessments, or earlier if working as a paralegal or in a law clinic. The SRA will assess candidates on issues that come up in QWE so doing them together will ensure you get the most from combining your learning and experience.
QWE can be through employment or other work placements, with up to four different employers, with no minimum length of time for each post and totaling two years. Combining your studying with practical work experience is the best way to learn.
What different careers are there in the legal sector?
There are many different types of careers within the legal sector. So it's really up to you and depends on which area of law or industry you want to work in, for example: -private practice -the public sector -the charitable sector -in-house solicitor -solicitor advocate
Voluntary work counts as QWE if it meets the competencies.
Is the legal profession really for you?
Being a solicitor is not for everyone. Even the areas of law vary hugely so it really pays to know where your skills lie and what areas of law interest you before you start applying.
Employers often tell us many candidates do not have the right skills for the role and sometimes struggle in the departments they have been assigned to.
How much could you earn?
Paralegal roles can pay, on average, a starting salary of £18,000 per annum up to around £35,000 per annum - depending on your experience and where you are based. In other routes, such as the solicitor apprenticeship, employers usually pay around the living wage in the first few years. So, for example, a solicitor apprentice's starting salary in London might be £24,000 per annum and then rise incrementally per year across the entire six-year programme. Charitable sector salaries tend to match some of the starting salaries of high-street firms, but this often depends on the size of the charity. Higher salaries are achievable for graduate solicitor apprentices and trainee solicitor roles but often come with less flexibility and work-life balance.
Sometimes paralegals can earn more than trainee solicitors but this tends to be at small/medium-sized firms. Wherever you work, if your intention is to qualify as a solicitor, you can expect a considerable jump in salary from a paralegal position to a trainee solicitor position and again once qualified.
What's a typical day in the life of a solicitor look like?
A day in the life of a solicitor largely depends on where they work. If you are a criminal solicitor, you will be frequently going to court and advocating for your clients. If you are an IP solicitor, you will spend a great deal of your time in the office working on complex contracts. It really depends on a combination of what type of work you enjoy most and where your talents specifically lie.
You could be representing clients at the police station for serious offences or seeing clients in custody on prison visits in the morning Then back to the office to maybe see some clients and do some case preparation. This could include legal research and taking witness statements, working with barristers, forensic experts, Crown Prosecution Service, and Judges. You will also be expected to go to court and do the advocacy for the simpler hearings in the magistrate's court or maybe the crown court for more complex ones if you see yourself as a budding solicitor advocate!