19 Apr 2022
A law training contract is a mandatory period of practical training in a law firm for law graduates before they can qualify as a solicitor in the United Kingdom (UK). The training contract usually lasts 2 years, and the trainee solicitor’s tasks are the following:
- Drafting: emails and letters to clients; legal documents and contracts
- Attending interviews with clients
- Preparing and attending court proceedings
- Proofreading documents
The trainee solicitor receives a salary. A big part of Law training contracts is what is called contract seat periods. Meaning the trainee solicitor will, during limited periods of time, rotate between the different legal departments. These periods may vary depending on the size of the law firm or its area of expertise, however, usually, trainee lawyers gather experience in both contentious and non-contentious departments. Then, there is what is called a secondment, it is a period as inhouse counsel, within a client’s legal team.
Finally, the last step of a Law training program is the Professional Skills Course (PSC). During the PSC, trainee solicitors take elective modules on areas of the law which interest them. One can elect between contentious and non-contentious modules from various specialisms including criminal law, corporate law or arbitration law.