Solicitor Traineeship

solarplexus

Hi Alll,
I completed my FE1's back in 2009. I have been working in solicitors office for 7 months now getting amazing experience. The principle solicitor is interested in taking me on for traineeship only they are only qualified 2.5 years themselves. At the moment the Law Society stipulate that to take a trainee on you need to be qualified 4+ years. I really don't want to have to wait another year before I get a traineeship.

Any advice, would Law Society bend their rules in such a situation?

nuac

LS may oblige, worth a try.

If they are reluctant a more senior solr might be willing to commit to a shorter period in addition to your proposed trainer.

I have done this myself twice = i.e providing some provincial experience to someone training in the city
.

blueythebear

solarplexus wrote: »

Hi Alll,
I completed my FE1's back in 2009. I have been working in solicitors office for 7 months now getting amazing experience. The principle solicitor is interested in taking me on for traineeship only they are only qualified 2.5 years themselves. At the moment the Law Society stipulate that to take a trainee on you need to be qualified 4+ years. I really don't want to have to wait another year before I get a traineeship.

Any advice, would Law Society bend their rules in such a situation?

Not to sound smart but... I would imagine the Law Society would be the correct party to ask. I think that the Law Society can can make exceptions in relation to the requirements for Training Solicitors but you would need to get your proposed training solicitor to make an application to the Law Society seeking consent to be your training solicitor.

hession.law

You need to make an application to the education committee at a cost of €80, I think there is only certain times you can make applications to the committee so I would ring in the morning.

jblack

hession.law wrote: »

You need to make an application to the education committee at a cost of €80, I think there is only certain times you can make applications to the committee so I would ring in the morning.

Next meeting of the Committee is mid May afaik, application is €75 but you will not have to pay this for two reasons;
Firstly it is not an application you are making but rather a request for information on the possibility to enter indentures, and secondly, and I am sorry to say this, it is highly unlikely that they will bend.

They have recently dropped the pqe period of the training solicitor to 4 years following a raft of similar requests, therefore the likelihood os success is very small.

Having said that, no harm in giving it a lash.
Speak to Fiona Fox in there first if you can and plead your case to her.

nuac

OK, 4 years PQE is a bit short for a master ( as we used to be called ).

LS may accept what I suggested - i.e part of the time to be spent in a longer established office

hession.law

OP did you make an application, find out any more info and this matter?

solarplexus

Hi All,
Got onto the law society .. unfortunately they cannot help me. Not sure what Im going to do now. So close but yet so far

blueythebear

solarplexus wrote: »

Hi All,
Got onto the law society .. unfortunately they cannot help me. Not sure what Im going to do now. So close but yet so far

I don't know how you were told the news and who gave you the news, but unless you've made a formal application and been formally refused, I wouldn't necessarily accept that. If you completed your FE1s in 2009, is this year not your last chance before you have to resit your FE1s?

That being the case, I'd make a formal application and making concerted efforts to arrange a secondment with a more experienced solicitor...

Delancey

Perhaps a tad off-topic so I beg moderators forgiveness in advance but the reference to a fee being payable to the committee ( as well as other threads ) has me thinking that it seems impossible for a Solicitor or Trainee Solicitor to have any contact with the Law Society without getting screwed on all sorts of fees/charges ?

blueythebear

Delancey wrote: »

Perhaps a tad off-topic so I beg moderators forgiveness in advance but the reference to a fee being payable to the committee ( as well as other threads ) has me thinking that it seems impossible for a Solicitor or Trainee Solicitor to have any contact with the Law Society without getting screwed on all sorts of fees/charges ?

The very simple answer is "no".

The Law Society very much continues to believe that the profession of solicitor is an extremely lucrative one for all of its' members so it charges accordingly.

solarplexus

blueythebear wrote: »

I don't know how you were told the news and who gave you the news, but unless you've made a formal application and been formally refused, I wouldn't necessarily accept that. If you completed your FE1s in 2009, is this year not your last chance before you have to resit your FE1s?

That being the case, I'd make a formal application and making concerted efforts to arrange a secondment with a more experienced solicitor...

They informed me that it had been reduced from 5 years to 4 in recent years due to the number of inquires and that is the minimum.

I completed FE1's in 2009 so 2014 is last year... Is it not? I'm freaking now.... its 5 years isn't it from completion of FE 1's

blueythebear

solarplexus wrote: »

They informed me that it had been reduced from 5 years to 4 in recent years due to the number of inquires and that is the minimum.

I completed FE1's in 2009 so 2014 is last year... Is it not? I'm freaking now.... its 5 years isn't it from completion of FE 1's

Yeah it is five years. Thought the initial post said 2007. Still though, an extra year is not necessarily the worst thing considering the state of the profession. There are literally no jobs out there for the newly qualified and I don't really see that changing soon. Perhaps in three years time, things will be better. You probably don't see it now, but it really might be a blessing in disguise to have to wait a year.

solarplexus

blueythebear wrote: »

Yeah it is five years. Thought the initial post said 2007. Still though, an extra year is not necessarily the worst thing considering the state of the profession. There are literally no jobs out there for the newly qualified and I don't really see that changing soon. Perhaps in three years time, things will be better. You probably don't see it now, but it really might be a blessing in disguise to have to wait a year.

Awh phew.... Well i see it as whats for me wont pass me so if I have to wait another year so be it. I'm in a practice I love and the experience is invaluable so we will see how it goes...

murrayp4

solarplexus wrote: »

I completed FE1's in 2009 so 2014 is last year... Is it not? I'm freaking now.... its 5 years isn't it from completion of FE 1's

It would be 31st Dec 2014, no?

solarplexus

murrayp4 wrote: »

It would be 31st Dec 2014, no?

well the solicitor I'm with at moment has guarenteed me traineeship sept 2013.

hession.law

Do they have a friend who would take you for post PPC 1 even if they shared you between offices [I don't know if this is allowed] and you could do your secondment with your current solicitor then?

murrayp4

I wonder would it be better to have the solicitor you're working with contact the LS. There may be a chance that he/she may know someone there or will have dealt with someone there before. It might allow for a little bit more lee-way on the LS's part...

solarplexus

murrayp4 wrote: »

I wonder would it be better to have the solicitor you're working with contact the LS. There may be a chance that he/she may know someone there or will have dealt with someone there before. It might allow for a little bit more lee-way on the LS's part...

Thanks Murray, She said she is going to do that so fingers crossed.

DaleWinton

solarplexus wrote: »

Thanks Murray, She said she is going to do that so fingers crossed.

Worst case scenario, you start your trainee contract in 16 months instead of 4.

First world problems.