Solicitors

Our Solicitors’ Representative, Sehar Shah, links our Members with practising solicitors, creating practical opportunities and guidance on qualifying routes and specialisms. She organises all of the solicitor networking opportunities, the solicitor mentoring scheme, panel talks, application workshops, and more!

What is a Solicitor?

Solicitors provide day-to-day legal advice across a wide range of issues, taking instructions from individuals, groups, private companies and public sector organisations and advising on appropriate legal courses of action. They are often the first point of contact for people seeking legal assistance and work closely with clients to understand their needs and objectives.

Solicitors’ work is commonly divided into contentious and non-contentious areas. Contentious work involves disputes that may lead to litigation, arbitration or other forms of dispute resolution. Non-contentious work is primarily advisory or transactional. For example, drafting agreements in a company merger or handling commercial contracts.

Qualifying as a Solicitor

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is the primary route to qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales. 

After completing an LLB, law students can progress directly to the SQE. Non-law graduates will usually complete a law conversion course before taking the SQE. To qualify, candidates must pass SQE1 and SQE2, complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE), and meet the Solicitors Regulation Authority's character and suitability requirements. 

The SQE

The SQE consists of two stages: SQE1 and SQE2. You must pass SQE1 before you can take SQE2.

  • Tests your Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) through two assessments, each containing 180 multiple-choice questions based on realistic legal scenarios.

    Assessment 1 (FLK1):

    • Business Law and Practice

    • Dispute Resolution

    • Contract

    • Tort

    • Legal System of England and Wales

    • Constitutional and Administrative Law

    • Legal Services

    Assessment 2 (FLK2):

    • Land Law

    • Property Practice

    • Trusts

    • Wills and Estates

    • Solicitors' Accounts

    • Criminal Law

    Professional ethics and conduct are assessed throughout both assessments.

  • Assesses your practical legal skills through 16 written and oral exercises. Skills assessed include:

    • Advocacy

    • Client Interviewing

    • Legal Research

    • Legal Writing

    • Legal Drafting

    • Case and Matter Analysis

    These skills are assessed across:

    • Criminal Litigation

    • Dispute Resolution

    • Property Practice

    • Wills and Estates

    • Business Organisations, Rules and Procedures

  • Under the SQE, you must complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). This can be completed before, during, or after taking the SQE assessments.

  • QWE can be gained with up to four different organisations and must be confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP).

  • QWE may include paralegal work, placements, university law clinics, or a traditional training contract.

Qualifying Work Experience (QWE)

Training Contracts (TC’s)

A training contract is a structured graduate programme offered by many law firms and is one way of completing the two years of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) required to qualify as a solicitor. It typically lasts two years, during which you will gain practical legal experience while applying your legal knowledge in real-life scenarios.

During a training contract, you will usually rotate through different practice areas, known as 'seats', which typically last around six months each. This allows you to experience a range of legal work and develop the skills needed to become a well-rounded solicitor. Many firms offer seats across both contentious and non-contentious practice areas.

Many law firms now recruit the majority of their trainee solicitors directly from their vacation scheme cohorts, making a vacation scheme one of the most common routes to securing a training contract. Some firms also recruit through direct training contract applications. Recruitment timelines vary by firm, with many firms recruiting trainees one to two years in advance, so it is important to check each firm's website for application deadlines.

Experience at University

Vacation Schemes

A vacation scheme is one of the best ways to gain an insight into life at a law firm while demonstrating your suitability for a training contract. These structured work experience programmes are designed for students interested in pursuing a career as a solicitor and are typically open to both law and non-law students. Most schemes last one to two weeks, although this varies between firms.

During a vacation scheme, you will undertake real work alongside fee-earners, including legal research, drafting and proofreading documents, attending meetings, and completing practical tasks. You will also attend presentations, workshops and networking events with partners, associates and trainees, giving you valuable insight into the firm's culture, practice areas and people. Strong performance can often lead to a training contract offer at the end of the scheme.

As vacation schemes are highly competitive, researching firms before applying is essential. One of the best ways to develop your understanding of a firm and strengthen your application is by attending networking events, Open Days and Insight Schemes, where you can learn about the firm's culture, practice areas and people while building valuable professional connections.

Vacation schemes are most commonly held during the summer, although many firms also offer winter and spring schemes. Application deadlines vary by firm, with many summer schemes closing between January and February, so it is important to check each firm's website for the latest deadlines.

Open Days & Insight Schemes

Open Days and Insight Schemes are your gateway to learning more about law firms, their culture, and the different practice areas they offer, whether that's Corporate, Banking &Finance, Disputes, Intellectual Property, Real Estate, or beyond. Insight Schemes are typically aimed at first-year law students and second-year non-law students, while Open Days are often more flexible and usually take place over a single day.

During these programmes, you can expect to attend presentations, workshops, panel discussions and networking sessions with partners, associates and trainees. Although they do not involve real client work, they provide valuable insight into a firm's work, culture and values while allowing you to ask questions and build professional connections. Attending these programmes also puts you in a much stronger position when applying for vacation schemes, as you can draw on your own experiences and conversations to write more authentic, well-informed applications rather than relying solely on a firm's website.

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