A north London legal aid firm has won an award for an apprenticeship scheme set up only last year for school leavers and graduates.

Wilson Solicitors picked up an award in the legal category at the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards this month.

Katy Robinson, a partner and head of the community care team, told the Gazette the firm has a long history of training new solicitors and set up the apprenticeship scheme to support aspiring lawyers unable to afford the hefty costs associated with the traditional route to qualification.

After speaking to human rights firm Leigh Day, which has an apprenticeship scheme, and a training provider, Wilson set up a graduate apprenticeship scheme. Apprenticeships were offered to existing caseworkers and trainees, who are now preparing to sit the SQE1 exam. Following a successful start, the scheme was extended to school leavers.

Apprentices work four days a week and study for one day. Wilson, which currently has eight apprentices, pays 5% of the SQE course and exam fees. The government funds the rest through the apprenticeship levy.

The apprenticeship levy, which was introduced in 2017, is paid by employers with a pay bill of over £3m. They pay 0.5% of their total annual pay bill. Unspent levy funds are used to support existing apprentices to complete their training and fund apprenticeship training for smaller employers.

Managing partner Matthew Davies said: ‘We’re a small business so we do not need to pay the apprenticeship levy, but we can still access the money.'

However, the firm still has to pay apprentices’ salaries. ‘It’s not without its cost but it’s worth doing if you want to attract good quality candidates who are really committed to legal aid [and] who are going to stay with you for a good few years. They will repay that commitment to them,' he said.

 

Pictured above: (L-R) Zara Haleem (solicitor apprentice), Shahailya Stephenson (associate solicitor and co-chair of the firm’s ethnic minority committee) and Isaac Abraham (graduate solicitor apprentice and committee co-chair)