Soaring university fees are proving to be a boon for some law firms, which are stepping in to offer apprentice jobs to talented youngsters barred from traditional degree-led routes into the profession. Neil Hodge reports

For decades, the well-trodden path to a legal career has been to take a law degree or a post-graduate diploma and work in a law firm until becoming qualified. That probably won't change for most lawyers. But firms are now promoting another option: entering the profession as an apprentice when leaving school.

As part of a big push by the Government to boost British apprenticeship numbers and promote greater diversity in the professions, there are two sets of nationally recognised qualifications. The Higher Apprenticeship in Legal Services, launched in April, has been described by Alan Woods, chief executive of training provider Skills for Justice (SFJ), as a "watershed moment", which could change legal businesses "absolutely for the better".

This new legal apprenticeship, developed by skills and educational trainers SFJ, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX), Damar Training and Pearson, is equivalent to the first year of a degree and offers school leavers a professional pathway to becoming a qualified fee earner or paralegal. It will be more widely known as 'CILEX Level 4′.

With the recent jacking up of university fees making people from less wealthy families wary about the traditional entry routes, Britain's law firms are eager to tap into what could be a large pool of bright young things. 

Caroline Wilson, HR director at Kennedys, says the reluctance of youngsters to rack up heavy debts "should not mean these people are barred entry from having a career, and we feel that [our apprenticeship] scheme not only helps them get a good grounding in the profession, but also helps us bring talented people into the firm".

Kennedys and Shoosmiths are among the first to offer such schemes, while JNP Legal and Admiral Law – one of the alternative business structures (ABSs) of insurer Admiral – are set to provide training this September in Wales. Supporters say the scheme means law firms now have "alternative recruitment choices".

CILEX has also developed a lower entry-level qualification – the Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Legal Services – which went live in September. It is designed to offer high-calibre school leavers a non-graduate route into a paralegal career.  

The training provider estimates it will take 18-24 months to complete a Level 3 apprenticeship (the minimum term for apprenticeships is a year) and the initiative is already attracting interest from legal providers such as Thomas Eggar, Addleshaw Goddard, DAC Beachcroft and Browne Jacobson. Some firms are using CILEX 3 as a stepping stone from the Level 2 Apprenticeship in Legal Administration. 

Rethinking recruitment

As well as worries over university fees, the apprenticeship trend is being driven by the Government's recent lifting of the age requirement for young people in England staying in education or training. From 2013, they will need to stay until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17, and until their 18th birthday from 2015. 

Both factors mean there is a growing, young and educated workforce that may be tempted into law as a career straight from school – if they can get a break. 

And of course there is another incentive for firms canny enough to recognise the opportunity. The mushrooming of legal processes such as claims handling and paralegal work has meant graduates and fee earners taking on more administrative and paper-based duties, but this could be passed instead to school leavers. Bringing in apprentices could then free staff to work in more profitable areas.

Therese Tyson, HR manager at DAC Beachcroft, says the increasing use of paralegals to cope with the volume of claims work has made the firm look at how it recruits and trains staff. "We employ a lot of paralegals and we thought there was an opportunity to bring in non-graduates to do some aspects of that work and get school leavers into a career in law," she says.

DAC has recruited two apprentices for its Newport office and three in Bristol (see picture, below). This year is effectively a pilot scheme, but the firm plans to roll it out to other offices if successful. To be considered, candidates need 280 UCAS points – equivalent to BBC at A level. 

Most applicants were local, but one new recruit is moving to Bristol from the north east. "She's a bit of a star actually," says Tyson. "She took the view that since her friends were leaving home to go to university, she might as well leave home to start a job."

Apprentices can expect to start on £10,500 for the first two years, after which "they can expect a significant salary increase and the market rate for the job of a junior fee earner, which is the level at which we recruit many graduates", she adds.

Addleshaws' transaction services team – its centralised pool of paralegals – has made 10 £12,000-a-year CILEX Level 3 apprenticeships available for A level students this year. Starting this autumn and based in Manchester, each apprentice will have a dedicated supervisor and mentor and will receive intensive in-house training, as well as tailored assessment and training from an external provider to develop the skills to progress into other roles. 

Addleshaws hopes some apprentices will become qualified solicitors in the long run. It also hopes to increase the intake next year. The provisional aim is for apprentices to make up between 15% and 20% of the TST.

Initially, its apprentices will be doing administrative tasks – completing standard forms, processing documentation and creating reports. However, they will progress and become involved in legal work; for example, checking documents for quality, consistency and content, carrying out research and undertaking document reviews in litigation cases or corporate due diligence exercises.

With more than 90 paralegals, the TST does routine assignments either in a stand-alone way or alongside qualified lawyers. Andrew Chamberlain, the firm's head of client delivery, says it was introduced "as an alternative, more efficient approach to the conventional delivery of standardised processes by law firms that have become outdated and do not need to be done by qualified lawyers".

"We're excited about providing students with an alternative path into an international law firm," Chamberlain adds. "Going to university is not the right option for all, and we think that there are plenty of aspects of legal process work that do not require graduates to carry out. School leavers can do it equally well and get a first step on the career ladder into law by training as paralegals." 

Others say there is more to apprenticeships than merely finding more paralegals and claims workers. "Our decision to offer apprenticeships is part of a long-term commitment we want to instil whereby people are trained to meet the future needs of our business – it is not about recruiting people for short-term needs," says Lisa Keating, recoveries manager at Shoosmiths.

Keating says her firm is offering four two-year Level 4 apprenticeships. Candidates will work in the recoveries department – an expanding area of business – in Northampton, with a starting salary of £11,000. "We want to support different routes into the profession," she says. 

Nottingham-based firm Browne Jacobson has been operating its apprenticeship scheme for a year. Developed with West Nottinghamshire College and CILEX Law School, it was launched in its Nottingham office in September 2012 and took on 10 apprentices within six months. They are paid £185 per week, which will probably increase once they have completed their first two years training.

"We recognised that the profession is changing and that there is a large talent pool that could be potentially wasted," says Sally Swift, the firm's legal services manager and apprentice co-ordinator. "We see this as a viable and valuable step towards a career in law."

The overall success of the scheme has drawn the attention of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who sought the advice of Browne Jacobson partner Susan Mabbott for an apprenticeship summit looking at the increasing importance of such initiatives for the job market. 

Other firms have had similar apprentice schemes running for the past year. Wilson at Kennedys says her firm began developing its apprenticeship scheme in autumn 2011 and launched it in September 2012 with an intake of nine 18 year olds fresh from their A levels. Apprentices get a starting salary of £14,000 (£18,000 in London), moving up to £16,000 after two years (£20,000 in London). 

Kennedys puts candidates straight into CILEX 3 for a year, and then they move onto CILEX 4, which takes another two years. Wilson says the work is not dissimilar to that of a typical trainee in their first year. Two of the apprentices have decided to leave the scheme and go to university, but Wilson says the firm is "delighted" to have retained seven to go on to Level 4. 

Kennedys intends to develop its apprenticeship scheme over the long term, and wants to increase the number of candidates and embed the programme in its standard recruitment and training programme. Wilson says the scheme will help improve employee diversity, and thinks it is a strong viable alternative for students with A levels. 

Adapting to the ABS era

Some legal services providers are also incorporating apprenticeship schemes into a wider programme of internal skills development and learning for all employees, not just school leavers. On 2 September Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) launched a new academy in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), which will let employees progress from being an apprentice to becoming a qualified lawyer via the CILEX qualifications, while also providing a 'talent pipeline' for the company. 

The academy – which is not only open to school-leaver apprentices, but existing and more mature employees – has been designed to reflect the changing shape of the legal services market and create a workforce that is more aligned to the rise of the ABS, says Gill Bailey, head of HR at CLS. 

"As an ABS, we are not a traditional law firm, and we do not offer the same range of services, so we need different skills from our legal teams," says Bailey. "We believe that apprenticeships can provide a solid grounding in legal processes while also enabling school leavers to get some fantastic work experience in a great career." 

Bailey says CLS has just taken on three school leavers as part of a two-year apprenticeship where they will complete the first four units of the CILEX Level 3 qualification. They then have the choice of going further, completing the other CILEX qualification levels and modules over the next three-four years – or going further still until they become a solicitor.

"Our partnership with MMU will ensure our academy provides employees with the right skills, knowledge and experience to help us achieve our business purpose of making the law as accessible and unintimidating as possible," says Bailey. "I believe the academy will provide our workforce with the right skills for the future of the legal services market and will set a new industry standard for legal training and development."

Bailey – like other HR heads– believes the attitude of the legal services sector needs to adapt to reflect the changes in the UK education system. 

"University fees mean that some talented people will not be getting degrees, and law firms should recognise that there's going to be a lot of talent out there that they can benefit from," she says. 

"Training is a key retention tool, so apprenticeships that foster and harness that talent, provide qualifications and develop skills will surely produce long-term benefits and produce a more diverse workforce." 

Big international firms are also getting in on the action. Mayer Brown's London office announced plans this month to launch an apprenticeship scheme for school leavers in partnership with City Gateway, a youth training charity. This will be in non-legal business services but the one-year placement comes with a £15,000 salary.

"Apprenticeships haven't traditionally been associated with law firms but I am encouraged by the growing number of apprentices that are now being recruited," says Sean Connolly, Mayer Brown's London senior partner. "We need to expand access to opportunities across the sector to appeal to the widest pool of talent."