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International Edition

TCs up for grabs at UK top 30 firms fall by 11% over three years

Aspiring lawyers are facing an increasingly tough battle to secure a training contract with a top UK law firm, as Legal Week research shows the total number of contracts on offer at top 30 firms has shrunk by 11% over the last three years. The research, which analyses graduate recruitment trends at 27 of the UK's top 30 firms, also highlights the vast differences in popularity between the firms, with Linklaters emerging as the firm securing the most applications for training contracts.
3 minute read

International Edition

Fit for practice - the new hurdles for overseas lawyers taking the QLTS

The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) has paved the way for numerous overseas solicitors to practise law in England and Wales since it was created in 1990, but after setting the standard for 20 years, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) recently decided that the time had come to reform the system. With the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) now in play as of 1 September 2010, new applicants face a number of hurdles.
8 minute read

International Edition

Training and education: Join the queue

As the latest band of students enters the milkround, they join increasing numbers of graduates struggling to make their way onto the career ladder, with rafts of companies cutting back or closing their doors altogether to graduates as they weather the downturn. For the City's largest law firms, which typically recruit for training contracts two years in advance of would-be lawyers walking through their doors, maintaining the right flow of trainees to match predicted future workflows has always been something of a juggling act.
13 minute read

International Edition

QLTS: improving standards, increasing costs

The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) came into effect on 1 September, replacing the old Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) route to requalification as an English solicitor. While there is only one word different in their colloquial titles, the detailed differences are significant. The old QLTT route was taken by significant numbers of entrants to the profession annually but it needed updating to ensure entrants were rigourously assessed in broadly the same way as entrants following the domestic route. There were questions over the value of the work experience requirements imposed on some QLTT entrants and there was a need to broaden the list of 'eligible jurisdictions'.
4 minute read

International Edition

BPP set to launch new branches in Cambridge, Newcastle and Liverpool

BPP Law School is set to open up new branches in Cambridge, Newcastle and Liverpool next year, it has been confirmed. The centres will primarily deliver the Legal Practice Course (LPC), which will be taught both full and part-time. They will also provide distance learning support classes for the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). The new branches are still subject to validation from the SRA.
2 minute read

International Edition

Elite City firms lead the curve on take-up of accelerated LPC

The accelerated Legal Practice Course (LPC) has yet to gain traction outside an elite band of City firms, with just seven of the UK's top 30 firms opting to give trainees the chance to complete the course in seven months. Two-thirds of the UK's top 30 law firms have opted not to offer the course - permitted since 2009 - as yet, according to Legal Week research.
3 minute read

International Edition

Simmons brings in psychometric testing in graduate intake overhaul

Simmons & Simmons has overhauled its recruitment process, extending elements in a bid to better filter applicants. Applicants will now visit the firm twice as part of the initial recruitment process but will only be interviewed by a fee earner if they pass a first-round assessment consisting of a number of written tests, including a newly-added psychometric testing element.
2 minute read

International Edition

Holman Fenwick signs up to exclusive LPC deal with Kaplan

Holman Fenwick Willan has signed an exclusive deal with Kaplan Law School to provide the Legal Practice Course (LPC) for the firm's trainees. The deal, which came into effect last month, will see Kaplan tailor the LPC to include a specific insurance module for the firm's trainees.
2 minute read

International Edition

College of Law backs proposals to open up tuition fees market

The College of Law has thrown its support behind Lord Browne's review of student funding, which could see the removal of the cap on UK university fees. The College has rallied behind Browne's proposals for a free market for higher education fees, which is intended to increase competition and deliver higher standards of education. Browne's review, published today (12 October), suggests that the government should remove the £3,290 fee cap on tuition fees, allowing universities the freedom to decide how much to charge students.
2 minute read

International Edition

Herbert Smith hands graduate recruitment brief to real estate partner

Herbert Smith has appointed real estate partner Matthew White as the firm's new graduate recruitment partner He will replace corporate partner Chris Parsons, who has chosen to step down after six years in the role.
2 minute read

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