A raft of leading law firms and in-house teams have helped the UK government develop new apprenticeship standards for the legal profession, helping to create a potential new route to qualification.

Firms including Addleshaw Goddard, Mayer Brown, Eversheds and Simmons & Simmons, and in-house teams from Barclays and RBS were among those to have participated in the development of the Trailblazers Apprenticeship in Law initiative, which could lead to qualification as a solicitor.

The proposed new standards could have a profound impact on legal training, opening the door to lawyers qualifying into the profession without requiring a university education.