Solicitors and Barristers

However your legal career begins, remember that many people change employer or practice area if they find something that suits them better. Some barristers re-qualify as solicitors, some solicitors retrain as barristers. Some jobs suit either profession and many qualified lawyers are welcomed into other professions if they choose to leave law. So your first legal job is not the end of it - many options remain open.

Becoming a Solicitor

So what is a “training contract” then?

How does timing work in a training contract?

Should I take the SQE exams anyway, even if I’ve not got a training contract?

Should I simply qualify as an English solicitor by taking SQE 1 and using my overseas qualified legal experience to gain an exemption from SQE 2?

Becoming a Barrister

The Role of the Inns of Court

What do the Inns do?

The steps to become a UK barrister

Becoming a Solicitor

The basic qualification route is simple. It requires no law degree, no conversion course (for those without an LLB), and no training contract. However, simply ‘being qualified’ may not give you the best chance of a decent job. How best to approach qualification will depend on your personal circumstances and the practice area you wish to work in.

Below the basics set out here, there is an explanation of how these steps are affected by a traditional training contract, and how you might approach things if you are already qualified overseas.

Requirement 1: Complete your degree in any subject Any undergraduate or Masters degree from the LSE (or any recognised overseas degree)

Requirement 1A: For those without UK LLB or significant overseas common law experience, a Law Conversion Course is highly recommended While not technically mandatory, this is recommended to prepare you for the English legal knowledge tested in the SQE. Many firms require their non-law graduate trainees to take this course.

Requirement 2: Pass the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) The SQE is a two-part centralised assessment for all aspiring solicitors. Exemptions from SQE2 are often available for those with significant overseas qualified experience. You can do these exams before, during or after your QWE.

• SQE1: Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) This is a multiple-choice examination testing your broad legal knowledge on topics like Contract, Tort, Criminal Law, Land Law, and more. You must pass SQE1 before you can attempt SQE2.
• SQE2: Practical Legal Skills This assessment tests your practical skills through simulated legal tasks, including client interviewing, advocacy, legal writing and drafting, and case analysis.

Requirement 3: Complete Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) You must complete two years of full-time (or equivalent) QWE. This is a very flexible requirement. QWE can be completed at up to four different organisations, such as a law firm, an in-house legal team, or a law clinic and can theoretically be satisfied by any work with legal content (eg law clerk, paralegal etc.). It can be undertaken before, during, or after your SQE exams and does not have to be completed in the UK.

Requirement 4: Meet Character & Suitability Requirements and Apply for Admission

You must pass the SRA's character and suitability assessment before applying for admission to the roll of solicitors.

So what is a “training contract” then?

Before QWE was introduced, every solicitor had to qualify by successfully completing a training contract. The name remains, but from a technical perspective, today’s training contracts simply satisfy the QWE requirements by providing the QWE at one place, with a commitment from the employer to provide it for the full two years, alongside a commitment to train you in their areas of specialisation. The training contract remains a mark that a lawyer has been properly trained which is not necessarily the case if you qualify without one.

How does timing work in a training contract?

Many law firms (and all major City firms) will require their trainees to pass the SQE exams before they start the training contract. Some firms (and in-house departments) will even pay for the law school fees and maintenance while you take these SQE exams (and the conversion course if relevant), but they may also require you to take the training through a particular provider so that they are comfortable with the style and content of your teaching.

The traditional application window for training contracts opens each September, with many firms closing their books well before the year end. Some remain open into the New Year to catch late applicants, and some key players reopen for a short time in June for law students only. In almost all cases, successful candidates applying in the autumn or spring of any academic year, will start their training contract in September or March of the academic year three years later, after spending one (or two for non-law graduates) years at law school.

Many larger firms offer vacation schemes. These are highly competitive and serve two purposes. They are an opportunity for you to see if you like the firm and the type of work, but they also serve as a prolonged interview allowing the firm to see your work before committing to take you on. Some firms only recruit trainees from their vacation schemes.

Should I take the SQE exams anyway, even if I’ve not got a training contract?

That depends on the area you want to work in, what alternatives there are for making you attractive to future employers, and the opportunities for training and development that are offered by your particular paralegal experience.

Some, but by no means all, paralegal roles will require you to have completed at least SQE 1 before you would be considered even for that role. Paralegal experience of any type can make you more attractive in training contract applications.

If you wish to work in the less well funded parts of the UK legal profession, such as crime, immigration or human rights, then it is unlikely that any employer would be able to pay for your SQE studies. Very often they are expecting their future lawyers to complete the SQE exams part time while working as a paralegal. A willingness to pay for it yourself, and having the exams already done, may therefore tip the odds in your favour. But remember that these parts of the profession do not generally have funding to sponsor candidates who need a work visa. If you are hoping to gain a UK training contract at a decent commercial firm, the chance of success will generally not be increased by taking the SQE exams. Your judgement may even be questioned as you may gain more useful experience as a paralegal or other commercial role. The firms often prefer candidates to do the SQE through their chosen provider in a cohort of future trainees for that firm, and the costs of the students doing so are already built into their model, so you are unlikely to gain any preference by choosing to pay for the course yourself. Very few training contracts are available that allow an earlier start date, even if the SQE exams have been passed.

Should I simply qualify as an English solicitor by taking SQE 1 and using my overseas qualified legal experience to gain an exemption from SQE 2?

Whether it makes sense for you to attempt to take the SQE exams alongside or after your LLM, will depend on your personal circumstances. However, it is worth noting:

• If the material is largely new to you, preparing for the SQE exams requires significant effort that may prejudice your LLM outcome if you opt for the January sitting.
• The mere passing of the SQE exams and becoming ‘qualified’ using overseas experience will not of itself, mean you are treated as a useful qualified lawyer. For many candidates qualified overseas, three years of ‘qualified experience’ is knocked off because they have not done two years of a UK training contract, and they have not practiced at all in the UK.
• If you have significant well respected overseas experience, over and above the initial three years, and you are working in a practice area where your work is was similar to the work in the UK (eg M&A), and there is demand for practitioners in that area, then it may well be worth completing the SQE exams simply to remove a hurdle that your lack of qualification might present, and to show your commitment to working in the UK. However, the firms will often take on foreign qualified lawyers to practice UK law even without this step, if the candidate is strong enough.
• If instead you are hoping simply to go home having qualified in the UK by passing SQE 1 and then using significant overseas experience as a qualified lawyer to gain exemption from SQE 2, it is a relatively easy way to qualify as an English solicitor.

Becoming a Barrister

Governed by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), the path to the Bar is structured around three core components: academic, vocational, and work-based learning. This roadmap outlines your journey, whether or not you have an English LLB. A unique and essential part of this journey is membership of an Inn of Court.

The Role of the Inns of Court

Before you can be a barrister, you must belong to one of the four historic Inns of Court (Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Gray’s Inn). These are not just buildings - they are the heart of the profession's collegiate and educational community. Every aspiring barrister must join one before starting the vocational component of their training. The Inns welcome students members, allowing many opportunities to mix and learn from qualified barristers. Since all are only a few minutes away from campus, LSE students are well placed to take advantage of this. Which Inn you apply to is normally determined by where you best meet the Inn’s scholarship criteria.

What do the Inns do?

They "Call" you to the Bar: Only an Inn has the power to perform the ceremony that formally qualifies you as a barrister.

Provide Scholarships: The Inns are a major source of funding, offering scholarships each year to help students fund the expensive Bar Course and pupillage stages. Gaining a scholarship is an important indicator of your likely success in gaining pupillage, even if you are able to fund the study yourself.

Offer Essential Training: You must complete a number of 'Qualifying Sessions' with your Inn. These are a mix of training, formal dinners, and networking events that introduce you to the culture and ethics of the Bar.

Provide a Professional Community: From your student days throughout your entire career, your Inn provides advocacy training, mentoring, and a vital professional support network.

The steps to become a UK barrister

Step 1: The Academic Component

You must obtain:

EITHER at least a 2:2 in a “qualifying law degree” (basically only a UK or Irish LLB). An LSE LLM and all other overseas law degrees DO NOT COUNT as a qualifying law degree for these purposes;

OR at least a 2:2 in any undergraduate degree PLUS a law conversion course to give you the basic foundation in English law (the Graduate Diploma in Law). This course is available through numerous specialist law schools, on a full time or part time basis and on a full time basis, takes a year to complete.

Step 2: Join an Inn of Court

You must apply and be accepted as a member of one of the Inns of Court before you begin the next step.

Step 3: The Vocational Component (The Bar Training Course)

You must pass the Bar Training Course, approved by the Bar Standards Board, to build your core skills in advocacy, case preparation, opinion writing and legal ethics. This one year (or two years part time) course can be taken at numerous specialist law schools.

Step 4: Be "Called to the Bar"

If you pass the Bar Training Course, you will be formally "Called to the Bar" by your Inn. This ceremony makes you a barrister, but you cannot yet practise independently.

Step 5: The Work-Based Learning Component (Pupillage)

This is the final, practical stage of your training. You must secure and complete a one-year pupillage in a barristers' chambers or another approved organisation. Pupillage is essentially an apprenticeship under an experienced barrister. The first six months ('first six') are spent shadowing your pupil supervisor, while in the 'second six' you may begin to take on your own cases and clients.

Step 6: Gain Tenancy

After successfully completing pupillage, you can apply to become a tenant in a chambers or secure a permanent role as an employed barrister, allowing you to practise independently.