Nicholas Blomfield is the founder of EQML, a qualified lawyer in England, Wales and Ireland, working in financial regulation, funds, banking and asset management. He has worked with leading companies in these areas, including Credit Suisse, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BlackRock. EQML aims to help people who wish to qualify with equivalent means; For more information, visit the EQML website. When I mention that I qualified along the way, the first question people usually ask me is, “Is it like CILEX?” Most people I talk to really don`t know what it is or that paralegals can qualify as lawyers that way. So it`s an article about what it is and how I did it. Topics vary from institution to institution, but among the most common are advanced courses in the compulsory modules, as well as personal injury, family law, labour law, housing law, immigration law, inheritance and private clients, commercial law, social law and industrial property law. Some topics are repeated through the teaching of all course topics and may appear in all exams. These include professional conduct, restricted activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act, 2000, business accounts and taxes. If you have already signed an apprenticeship contract, you may have been asked where to study. Otherwise, there are 34 institutions that offer CAP in different forms, and you need to choose the one that`s right for you. To see what`s on offer, take a look at the Solicitors Regulation Authority`s list of approved LPC providers.
To make a decision, find out about the institution`s reputation, fees, electives offered, and how the course is taught. Certainly, not all paralegals do the same job as articling students, so if you`re considering this, you need to be prepared and know what to work towards. A major difficulty is that paralegals are often only part of one team, whereas a potential lawyer must have experience in three different areas of law, so it may be necessary to change teams or firms. The equivalent is a period of recognised professional experience (e.g. working as a paralegal or in the legal profession), which means a shorter path to qualification. Here is a more detailed overview. The next step is the application, which requires the candidate to demonstrate experience in 45 different areas of legal practice. The areas are largely correlated with standards of competency to practice, e.g. advocacy, negotiation, dispute resolution. Evidence such as employment contracts, role descriptions, redacted work deliverables, training protocols, or references can be used to prove experience.
Level one must be studied with a course provider, but level two can be studied with more than one authorized provider. It seems to me that the equivalent qualification is indeed much stricter than the average training contract. Maybe qualifying in this way should actually bring a higher salary! I am a trainee lawyer, but due to some changes in my personal circumstances, I am now considering applying for matching funds. I have trouble with the form. I am just wondering if I can get the sample of your form. That will help me tremendously. By means of equivalent means, it can be used to meet the requirement of “recognised duration of training” without concluding a training contract. However, this is not a simple shortcut: work experience must always meet the same key requirements set out in the SRA Practical Competency Standards. It must correspond to the experience required in a training contract. If the work of the interns has been transferred to the paralegals, it is more likely that this is the right work standard.
However, Rule 2.2 of the Training Regulations, 2014 states that the SRA may recognize that “the results of knowledge and skills (and the standard to which they are to be acquired) may have been achieved by an individual through other assessed learning and on-the-job learning.” Simply put, this means that a LPC graduate who has worked as a paralegal can apply to the SRA for an exemption that allows them to bypass the traditional training contract and qualify as a lawyer. The evaluator is crucial for a candidate who qualifies by equivalent means. Treat them with courtesy, respect and professionalism. You are a professional who does a professional job and, moreover, the fate of this application is in your hands! Communication with the reviewer (and everyone) should be concise, polite, professional and, most importantly, helpful – making their lives easier when writing and processing the application will naturally put you in a stronger position and show that you will be a valuable addition to the profession. There is no room for rudeness or intrusion into a professional environment. A CPE provider may grant partial exemptions from one of the seven foundations of legal knowledge and an additional area of law study based on your certified or work-based learning. There is no doubt that the legal market is saturated with graduates and that an increasing number of aspiring lawyers are turning to paralegal work to secure this elusive training contract. Depending on the type of business and department they work in, paralegals often work as articling students and beyond, and it`s no surprise that some want to use this experience to their advantage. Full-time courses typically last one year, while part-time courses last up to two years. Electives can be taken over a longer period of time, together or separately. Here, the paths separate.
Most potential lawyers will sign a training contract at this stage. If not, that`s fine, but there is a selection of criteria you need to meet if you want to qualify. As a prerequisite, the SRA requires that all candidates have met certain criteria before applying. This includes the ability to demonstrate legal experience in three different areas and to prove that the applicant`s overall experience is greater than two years. Rules on equivalent remedies are available in the SRA Training Regulations 2014. More information is available in the “Information on equivalent means” folder of the SRA. If you are considering an equivalent path, you should be on the ball from the start to properly record your training and, if possible, ensure that your work experience meets the criteria.