Groundbreaking college scheme sidesteps training contract
Northumbria University Law School has joined forces with national firm Irwin Mitchell to pilot a groundbreaking scheme to train future lawyers.
It now offers a full-time five-year Master of Law (Solicitor) degree, combining the academic, vocational and training stages of qualification as a solicitor, at the end of which graduates can apply to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for enrolment as a solicitor.
The course, made possible by the SRA initiative designed to pilot work-based learning, incorporates a qualifying law degree with the Legal Practice Course and work-based learning, instead of the traditional training contract.
Professor Philip Plowden, dean of Northumbria’s Law School, said: ‘The MLaw (Solicitor) degree is the first law degree of its kind. It will see students starting as undergraduates and graduating with the education and training requirements which will make them eligible to join the roll of solicitors.’
Plowden said the key to the new degree was the university’s award-winning Student Law Office programme, whereby students experience ‘law for real’ under the supervision of practising academics, coupled with its close relationship with existing training providers.
Clare Gilligan, head of education and training at the SRA, said: ‘The new MLaw (Solicitor) degree option is an innovative and interesting variation of the work-based learning pilot. Over the coming months, we will observe students’ progress with interest and monitor the feedback we receive from the candidates themselves, the provider and the employer.’
Angela Kirtley, clinical negligence associate at Irwin Mitchell’s north-east office, said: ‘It will mean that, for the first time, students will complete part of their training to be a solicitor while based at university and continue their academic studies while on placement. We believe this holistic approach will prove to be of enormous benefit to the profession in the future.’
Comments
That's is what I called
That's is what I called killing two birds with a stone!
It was long-time due to avoid to paying exorbitant fees from independent LPC providers since most university lecturers are well-established practitioners themselves and are in a unique position to teach the law with a practical insight and relevant procedures.
Just wish I could have been in that generation!
Well Done!
This is good news. This will
This is good news. This will pobably bring an end to the exploitation maybe. What about all the others who have already completed the LPC out there working for free, loads of experience. SRA can at least help out.
Not so sure
While breaking the grip of the law schools and ending their exploitation of aspiring lawyers would be a good thing, I'm not sure that this initiative is the answer.
Ultimately, if it's considered successful (and who knows what criteria the SRA will apply), the law schools themselves will start offering something similar anyway. In fact, it's probably playing into their hands because the CoL funded think-tank (can't recall its name) was actually advocating the abolition of the training contract a few months ago and proposing that completion of the LPC be the trigger for admission to the Roll. So, if it circumvents the TC, they'll be all for it.
What it comes back to (every time) is that there are too many aspiring lawyers, who are allowed to progress too far down the path to becoming a solicitor (at considerable personal expense), when actually there aren't sufficient solicitor jobs to go round. Having masters students emerging as 'solicitors' will exarcebate the problem and probably further depress salaries in the paralegal and NQ solicitor markets. The only real solution (which is anathema to the law schools and unpalatable to the political agenda behind the SRA) is to further restrict access - in short, to let aspirants cut their losses before they're in too deep (emotionally and financially).