Blog

Introduction 

The legal industry has evolved to demand more flexible, reliable, and targeted legal resourcing. Accuflex, founded and managed by solicitors, stands out as a unique solution to this challenge. Understanding the legal landscape, the demands of commercially viable legal services, and the partnership ethos of the profession, Accuflex is poised to deliver quality where it matters. 

Why Accuflex? 

Sensitivity to the Legal Industry: Run by solicitors, Accutrainee is immersed in the complexities and nuances of the legal profession. This intimate knowledge ensures that our offerings are tailored to the specific needs of law firms and legal departments. 

Quality Assurance: Since July 2012, Accutrainee and Accuflex have been building close relationships with top universities and training providers, amassing a vast pool of quality junior legal resources. Our robust selection process ensures that we have ready access to outstanding paralegals, trainee solicitors, and qualified lawyers. 

Solving Resourcing Challenges: Finding the right legal talent is often costly and time-consuming. Accuflex’s unique approach allows clients to quickly adapt to market changes and ensures a perfect match between resource supply and needs. 

Flexibility and Reliability: No matter the project, large or small, short, medium or long term, our flexible contracts and thorough background checks provide a fast and reliable solution for all your legal resource needs. 

Our Brands 

Accutrainee: Focused on the journey to qualification, Accutrainee develops and nurtures the next generation of lawyers. Our training contract model frees clients from lengthy and costly selection processes, changing qualification routes and regulatory requirements. Instead it delivers eager, committed and engaged junior resources keen to show you what they can do. 

Accuflex: Catering to all junior lawyers, from paralegals to qualified specialists with up to 5 years post-qualification experience, Accuflex fills key resourcing needs efficiently. It ensures good business continuity and delivers on a wide range of legal projects. 

How It Works 

Engagement with Accutrainee and Accuflex is simple and personalised. Our partnership approach helps meet short-term needs and supports longer-term resourcing goals. We provide a one-stop shop solution for ALL your junior legal resourcing needs. You just tell us your requirements and we do the rest. 

Competitive and Value-Driven 

Accutrainee was founded to revolutionise the qualification process, broaden opportunities for aspiriing solicitors and improve diversity in the legal profession. We have remained committed to delivering value through unwaivering professionalism and integrity. With competitive rates and a mission to be your partner in law, we offer unmatched solutions in the market today. 

Conclusion 

Accutrainee stands out in the legal resourcing landscape as a provider deeply rooted in the legal profession’s dynamics. Our sensitivity to industry needs, quality assurance, and innovative solutions offer a promising bridge between challenges and solutions. Whatever your needs, we are ready to provide quality, reliable resources quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. Don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more. 

In a world where change is the only constant, the legal industry stands as no exception. Disruptive technologies, shifting regulations, and economic turbulence have made the need for adaptive legal resourcing all the more imperative. This article delves into the contemporary challenges facing legal firms and departments, exploring the methods they are using to manage resources effectively in these ever-changing times. 

A Dynamic Legal Landscape 

The landscape of legal services is in a state of flux, moulded by global trends and major events. The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly shifted the traditional working paradigm, giving rise to remote work and the accompanying issues of collaboration, data protection, and mental well-being. Additionally, major geopolitical occurrences such as Brexit and an uptick in global regulatory scrutiny have called for a renewed focus on planning and allocating legal resources. 

The Pressures on Legal Resourcing 

The waves of change are compelling law firms and internal legal departments to reevaluate their resource strategies. Competitiveness is at an all-time high, and the quest for efficiency, cost control, and nimbleness is paramount. 

With growing client expectations, legal resources face mounting pressures, calling for an agile and fluid approach. The goal now is to deliver unparalleled value by skilfully juggling workloads and resources, all while maintaining the highest level of service quality. This balancing act calls for a combination of in-house resources, external support, and cutting-edge technology. 

Building Resilience: Key Strategies 

  • Adaptability: To traverse uncertain terrain, embracing flexibility is essential. This means a workforce that can pivot to new working methods, employing flexible staffing like contract legal experts to manage varying workloads or fill specific skill gaps. 
  • Technological Investment: Digital tools are reshaping the industry. AI-enabled legal research, contract management systems, and collaboration platforms can enhance efficiency, foster fluid remote working, and lighten the human resource load. 
  • Skill Diversification: Versatility is prized in volatile times. Ongoing professional development ensures that legal teams are adept in risk management, data privacy, and regulatory compliance. 
  • Outsourcing and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO): Delegating regular or specialised tasks to external providers can control costs and optimise efficiency, freeing internal teams to focus on strategic work. 
  • Well-being Focus: The stress of an uncertain environment impacts the mental health of legal staff. Support and resources for mental well-being reflect a recognition that employees are an organisation’s most valuable asset. 

Conclusion: A Time for Innovation 

Uncertain times call for resilient legal resourcing strategies. Adaptable, tech-savvy, diverse, and people-focused firms and departments will be best positioned to thrive. The current environment isn’t just a challenge; it’s an invitation to innovate and lead in an ever-shifting legal world. 

Accutrainee: A Partner for the Future 

Accutrainee and Accuflex are actively meeting these challenges by offering bespoke solutions aligned with today’s legal needs. We provide on-demand paralegals, trainees, and qualified legal counsels, positioning ourselves as a one-stop shop for all your flexible and permanent resourcing needs. 

Our approach resonates with the principles of agility, efficiency, and flexibility, vital in today’s landscape. By evolving with our clients and helping them directly meet their needs in real-time, Accutrainee and Accuflex delivers for an industry under transformation. 

If you’re part of a law firm or in-house legal team seeking support, we invite you to discuss your challenges with us. Our seasoned team can craft a tailored solution to meet your precise needs. 

Introduction

The legal profession in the United Kingdom has always been highly regarded and sought after. The process of finding and selecting top-quality trainee lawyers has become increasingly challenging in recent years. The legal industry faces numerous obstacles in attracting and retaining talented individuals who possess the necessary skills, dedication, and adaptability to thrive in this demanding field. With over 10 years’ experience recruiting Trainee Lawyers for our clients, Accutrainee is well placed to explore some of the key challenges encountered when seeking out exceptional trainee lawyers in the UK. 

Intense Competition

One of the primary hurdles faced by law firms and in-house legal teams in the UK is the sheer level of competition for recruiting trainee lawyers. Law remains an attractive career choice for many aspiring professionals, leading to a large pool of applicants for a limited number of training contracts. This intense competition poses a challenge for law firms and in-house legal teams as they sift through numerous applications and strive to identify candidates with exceptional potential. This is where Accutrainee works so well for our clients, enabling them to focus on the important tasks associated with their business and knowing that we will be able to source a selection of hungry, high potential trainees & legal professionals that will suit their corporate culture. 

Costly Recruitment Process 

The recruitment process for trainee lawyers is not only time-consuming but also financially burdensome. Companies invest significant resources in advertising vacancies, reviewing applications, conducting interviews, and evaluating candidates. The costs associated with recruitment, including advertisement fees, recruitment agencies, and staff involvement, can be substantial. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the selected candidates will successfully complete their training and ultimately join the firm as qualified lawyers, making the recruitment process inherently risky. At Accutrainee we eliminate that risk, delivering high-quality candidates in a completely flexible way, ensuring you have access to a diverse, tightly curated pool of elite legal resources available when you need them. 

Demand for Specialist Skills 

The evolving nature of the legal industry requires trainee lawyers to possess a broad range of skills and knowledge. Today’s legal landscape demands expertise in areas such as technology, data privacy, intellectual property, financial instruments and many more. Finding candidates who possess both the traditional legal foundations and expertise in specialised fields can be a significant challenge. The demand for these specialist skills often outpaces the supply, making it challenging for law firms and legal departments to find suitable candidates with the right blend of legal acumen and specialised knowledge. Accutrainee completes regular assessment centres throughout the year which enables us to have a large pool of high-quality legal professionals ready to go, not simply in March and September of each year.  

Retention and Attrition Rates 

Once a law firm or legal department successfully recruits trainee lawyers, retaining them can be another uphill battle. The attrition rates among trainees in the legal profession are substantial, with many individuals leaving before they qualify as solicitors or barristers. Long working hours, high stress levels, and limited work-life balance contribute to the attrition problem. Companies must provide an environment that fosters professional growth, mentorship, and a healthy work-life balance to retain their trainees and attract talented individuals in the first place. Accutrainee’s model gives both candidate and client the chance to assess the suitability of the trainee for the demands of the role within the firm, ensuring that any candidate that is extended a permanent offer is already bought into the company and its culture. 

Diversity and Inclusion

The legal profession, like many others, faces the challenge of promoting diversity and inclusion within its ranks. Efforts to recruit and retain a diverse pool of trainee lawyers have gained momentum in recent years, but progress remains slow. Law firms especially must actively work to eliminate unconscious biases in their selection processes, create inclusive workplace cultures, and establish mentorship programs to support underrepresented groups. Increasing diversity and fostering inclusivity not only enriches the profession but also contributes to a wider range of perspectives and experiences, ultimately benefiting clients and society. Accutrainee has already dealt with this through our Scholarship Programme, ensuring that any client wishing to address D&I can do so without the cost and burden of creating their own D&I initiative, thereby contributing to a healthy and inclusive hiring process. 

Conclusion 

The challenges of finding exceptional trainee lawyers in the UK are multifaceted and complex. Fierce competition, costly recruitment processes, the demand for specialist skills, high attrition rates, and the imperative of diversity and inclusion all contribute to the difficulties faced by law firms and legal departments in this regard. Addressing these challenges requires a proactive approach from legal organisations, including adopting innovative recruitment strategies, nurturing talent through comprehensive training programs, and creating inclusive and supportive work environments.  

Working with Accutrainee can help deliver all those benefits and more whilst crucially being sensitive to budget restraints and overcoming any headcount freezes. Leaving clients time to focus on the practice of law, getting results and nurturing their future workforce! 

www.accutrainee.com 

+44 (0)20 7871 2822 

Introduction

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to significant changes across various industries, and the legal profession is no exception. Law firms and legal departments are increasingly using AI and machine learning tools to automate tasks, analyse large datasets, and even predict legal outcomes. But should lawyers be worried about AI encroaching on their territory? Let’s explore the potential impacts, challenges, and opportunities. 

The Benefits of AI in the Legal Field 

Efficiency and Automation: AI can automate mundane tasks such as document review, legal research, and contract analysis. This can save a significant amount of time, create efficiencies and essentially enable lawyers to deliver a better, more cost effective service to their clients. 

Data Analysis: AI algorithms can sift through vast amounts of data to uncover patterns and insights that might be difficult or time-consuming for a human to detect. This can aid in legal decision-making and strategy formulation. 

Predictive Analytics: Some AI tools can predict legal outcomes based on historical data, helping lawyers to make more informed decisions about how to proceed with a case. 

Accessibility: AI-driven legal tools can make legal assistance more accessible to individuals who may not be able to afford traditional legal services. 

Contract Drafting: Legal contract management platforms are getting smarter. While it might be an area for concern, it can also be a huge benefit for lawyers who need to create compliant commercial contracts fast. 

The Challenges and Concerns 

Job Displacement: The fear that AI could replace human lawyers is a common concern. While AI can handle certain tasks, the complex and nuanced nature of legal work means that it’s unlikely to replace lawyers in the foreseeable future. 

Ethical Considerations: The use of AI in legal decision-making raises important ethical questions, such as bias in algorithms and the potential loss of human oversight and judgment. 

Legal and Regulatory Issues: The integration of AI into the legal profession requires careful consideration of legal and regulatory constraints, including issues related to data privacy and security. 

Skills Gap: The adoption of AI necessitates a shift in the skillset required for legal professionals, emphasising technological literacy alongside traditional legal expertise. 

The Opportunities 

Collaboration Between Humans and Machines: Rather than viewing AI as a threat, lawyers can consider it a valuable collaborator. The combination of human insight and machine efficiency can enhance the quality and reach of legal services. 

New Roles and Specialisations: The rise of AI opens up new roles and specialisations within the legal field, including legal technologists and AI ethics experts. Electronic discovery is a recent example that demonstrates the balance shift between legally trained professionals to those with a more technical skillset.  

Democratisation of Legal Services: AI can make legal services more affordable and accessible, contributing to a more just and equitable legal system. 

Conclusion 

The integration of AI into the legal profession is a complex issue filled with potential benefits, challenges, and opportunities. While concerns exist, the growing consensus is that AI is more likely to augment lawyers’ work rather than replace them. 

In this rapidly changing landscape, organisations like Accutrainee are mindful of the shifts in legal technology, specifically AI. Committed to developing the skills of junior lawyers, Accutrainee is actively exploring opportunities to equip legal professionals with the knowledge required to navigate an increasingly complex legal environment. 

Working closely with partners we are adopting and developing advanced technology platforms ourselves to be part of this transformation. The focus is not just on understanding technology but integrating it into legal practice to foster innovation, efficiency, and accessibility. 

If you are keen to explore how a partnership with Accutrainee would benefit you in embracing the future of law, please get in touch. The future is not about a battle for territory between lawyers and AI but a partnership that can drive positive change. Collaboration, adaptability, and ethical consideration are keys to unlocking the potential that this synergy offers, and Accutrainee stands ready to work with those companies willing to embark on this exciting journey. 

www.accutrainee.com 

+44 (0)20 7871 2822 

Introduction 

In the ever-changing legal profession, there exists a significant gap that many law firms and legal departments struggle with; resourcing lawyers who are newly qualified up to 5 years post-qualification experience (PQE). This specific range represents a critical phase in a lawyer’s development and is often where the demand and supply mismatch are most pronounced. Accutrainee’s Accuflex service is tailored to address this unique challenge, providing a flexible lawyering solution that meets the needs of modern law firms and legal departments. 

Understanding the Gap: Newly Qualified to 5 Years PQE 

The journey from being newly qualified to reaching 5 years PQE is pivotal for lawyers, encompassing growth, specialisation, and establishing their place in the legal industry. This period is often marked by a high demand from law firms seeking specialised skills, coupled with a desire for flexibility from the lawyers themselves. The traditional staffing models often fall short in catering to these nuanced requirements, creating a gap in the market that Accuflex is designed to fill. 

Accuflex: A Tailored Approach 

Accuflex offers a seamless solution for law firms and legal departments seeking to resource lawyers in this specific career stage given our specialist expertise and enviable nurtured candidate pool. 

Our services include: 

  • On-Demand Resourcing: Access a curated pool of lawyers who are newly qualified to 5 years PQE, ready to contribute to diverse legal projects. 
  • Flexible Engagement Models: From project-based engagements to long-term partnerships, we offer flexible arrangements that align with both the lawyers’ and the clients’ needs. 
  • Specialised Expertise: Our network includes professionals with specific skill sets and experiences which are carefully matched to your requirements, ensuring successful engagements. 

Benefits of Partnering with Accuflex 

  • Strategic Talent Acquisition: Accuflex ensures we find the right fit for your specific requirements, bridging the talent gap effectively. 
  • Cost-Effectiveness: By offering on-demand access to specialised talent, Accuflex eliminates the overheads associated with permanent staffing. 
  • Adaptability: Our flexible approach ensures that law firms and legal departments can swiftly adapt to changing needs and market dynamics. 
  • Diversity and Inclusion: Accuflex’s passion and mission for improving diversity within the legal profession offers law firms and legal departments access to an incredibly diverse pool of candidates.    

Accuflex’s Impact on the Legal Industry  

Accuflex’s innovative solution is transforming the way law firms and legal departments approach resourcing for this critical segment of the legal profession: 

  • Alignment with Modern Needs: By recognising and addressing this specific market     gap, Accuflex enhances alignment with today’s legal demands. 
  • Fostering Growth and Development: Our support in this critical phase which follows on from our role in developing trainee lawyers facilitates the growth and development of lawyers, enriching the overall legal ecosystem. 
  • Enhancing Client Satisfaction: Accuflex enables law firms to deliver specialised services without delay, boosting client satisfaction and loyalty. 

Conclusion 

Accuflex by Accutrainee is a visionary approach addressing an often-overlooked gap in the legal profession. By focusing on the unique challenges and opportunities associated with newly qualified to 5 years PQE lawyers, we are crafting a future where law firms and legal departments can operate with greater efficiency, agility, and foresight. 

If you recognise this gap within your organisation and are looking to bridge it effectively, reach out to us at Accutrainee. Together, we can shape a legal profession that’s responsive, resilient, and reflective of the complex, dynamic world we live in. Experience the future of legal resourcing with Accuflex. 

www.accutrainee.com 

+44 (0)20 7871 2822 

Spring is finally here; the clocks have gone back, and we hurtle towards Easter…and hopefully some warmer weather! While we enjoy the additional hours of daylight and start thinking about our chocolate egg options, we are delighted to share with you our reflections on the strong start we have had to the year, as these past months have been focused on change and on our continued growth as an organisation.

The start of 2023 saw a number of Trainees from our cohort qualify and begin their journey as NQs in their new roles. We were sad to see them leave, but proud and excited to have played a part in their career progression, and thrilled to welcome them officially to the VERY exclusive Accutrainee Alumni Members Club!

We have been overwhelmed with interest around the launch of Season Two of the Accutrainee podcast series, Conversations in Law. As our Episode 0, we released the recording of our recent, and immensely successful, in-person panel event, held in March at our HQ. This featured two panels of experts sharing their thoughts, wisdom and detailed insights into the “Secrets to their Success”! Themes debated and discussed included: The power of harnessing your network, and the positive impact of strong stakeholder engagement How to always remain curious and have open and transparent communication Having a career plan Embracing failure as a critical step in the path to growth and development Remembering to focus on health and that wellness is non-negotiable! 

A huge shout out to those GCs, Partners, Alumni and Trainees who offered their time to join us and make the evening a massive success: Mark Donald (Managing Director, Brotherton), Robin Fisher (GC – EMEA, Randstad), Gareth Jones (Head of Legal, Uber Boat by Thames Clipper), Veronika Koroleva (Partner, Gunnercooke LLP), Jessica Bannerman Arnold, (current Accutrainee at the time of the event – now an NQ at Christies!), Maria Doran (Associate, CMS), Amy Cunningham (Associate, Boutique Law) and Oliver Knight (Legal Counsel, Shard Capital).

If you have any junior legal resource needs we can help with, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us using one of the links below or simply call 020 7871 2822.

This Valentine’s Day, let Accutrainee find YOUR perfect Lobster…

PHOEBE: “C’mon you guys. It’s a known fact that lobsters fall in love and mate for life. You know what, you can actually see old lobster couples walkin’ around their tank, ya know, holding claws like…”

Quality and diversity are what make Accutrainee tick. We are extremely considerate and selective about the candidates we put forward to clients offering quality assurance to our shortlists.  Here is a selection of some of our current paralegals, trainees and lawyers available to assist you and your team:

Trainees

Candidate A (Trainee)

A-Levels: AA*A*, Degree: University of Nottingham, LLB, 2:1; SQE1: Completed. Candidate A has strong commercial contracts experience having worked as a litigation paralegal in the litigation team at a global telecommunications company. He previously acquired experience at a Silver Circle firm where he was able to develop his understanding in mergers and acquisitions. He has further solid commercial in-house experience under his belt from his Accutrainee seat. Candidate A came across as balanced and considered during assessments. He is a motivated candidate who has proved his willingness to work hard to meet tight deadlines.

Candidate B (Trainee)

International Baccalaureate: 40; Degree: University of Bristol, LLB, 2:1. Candidate B comes across as bright, competent, confident and engaging with a strong academic background and international outlook. Candidate B is highly articulate and able to think on his feet. He displayed an impressive level of commercial awareness and attention to detail during Accutrainee’s selection process and was able to ask and answer challenging questions throughout.

Paralegals

Candidate C (Paralegal)

A-Levels: A*AA; Degree: University of Durham, LLB, 2:1; LLM with SQE: In Progress. Candidate C comes across as very confident and demonstrates maturity and professionalism. He has good experience under his belt and is keen to progress in his career, ideally in a commercial environment. Candidate C is interested in the areas of financial services and technology.

Candidate D (Paralegal)

A Levels: A*AA EPQ: A; Degree: University of Sheffield, LLB Law European & International, First; Post Graduate Degree: KCL, LLM International Business Law, Distinction. Candidate D is bright and has a solid academic record. He comes across as diligent and eager to gain paralegal experience before starting a training contract with a Silver Circle firm in September 2023.

Lawyers

Candidate E (Lawyer)

A-Levels: AAB; Degree: University of Southampton, LLB, 2:1; LPC: Distinction; Media Law and Business Affairs Diploma: Commendation. Candidate E is currently completing her final seat in an international law firm, where she gained two consecutive placement extensions, in the corporate transactions team and with an in-house client. Prior to this, she completed her first seat in a US firm focusing on trade finance and banking. Candidate E is professional, polished and demonstrated an excellent work ethic. She is proficient at business level in French.

Candidate F (Lawyer)

A-Levels: ABB; Degree: Aston University, LLB, 2:1; LPC LLM in Professional Legal Practice: Commendation. Candidate F has strong presentation skills and is able to communicate in an effective and engaging manner. She is a conscientious, professional and hardworking candidate. She completed her training contract in a housing company with seats in corporate, regulatory and compliance, procurement and development.

Since our founding in 2011, Accutrainee has remained at the cutting edge of the legal resourcing space. Our hand-selected cohort now numbers more than 30 trainees and we remain committed to the innovation and diversification of the legal industry.

With this in mind, Accutrainee is proud to formally announce the launch of our one-stop digital qualification interface, Pathways. Named to reflect our continued support for the increasing variety of non-linear routes into the legal industry, Pathways represents the product of 18 months of development and over a decade spent guiding and supporting trainees through every stage of the qualification process. In the face of the ever-changing landscape of the legal industry, we created Pathways to be the first and last word in SQE qualification – a multifaceted interface that allows trainees to log QWE (Qualifying Work Experience), arrange appraisals, access important educational content and contact their mentors, all using one elegant, easy to navigate, web-based platform. 

Core to the Pathways platform is our purpose-built A.I-driven training portfolio. This enables trainees to record, monitor and track their QWE against the SRA requirements, whilst receiving updates on their progress in real-time. Our trainees have long agreed that a primary benefit of choosing to qualify with Accutrainee is the access to monthly meetings with an experienced senior mentor figure who can offer invaluable advice and guidance in an informal capacity. Pathways aims to expand on this concept by allowing mentors and supervisors to seamlessly communicate, evaluate and appraise trainee development, throughout the course of the two-year process. 

Additionally, Pathways will give users access to a curated library of courses and masterclasses from leading institutes of legal education. Courses will go through a broad range of topics and soft skills such as SRA knowledge, emotional intelligence and attention to detail. This allows our mentors and training principals to ensure that Accutrainees qualify as well-rounded professionals with comprehensive experience and adequate insight into many different areas and aspects of their industry.

A lot has changed in the world since we first launched all those years ago, however, one thing remains constant. We still strive to ensure that all those who call themselves Accutrainees represent the industry-leading standard of quality, integrity and professionalism. Ultimately, we hope that our new platform will help us continue to deliver this gold standard and simultaneously refine (streamline?) the Accutrainee process for all those involved. We are thrilled to be breaking ground in this space and look forward to supporting thousands of aspiring lawyers as they embark upon their unique Pathways toward qualification in the decades to come.

8 years of removing barriers

At Accutrainee, diversity has never been an initiative or something we do alongside our core business. Diversity IS our business. In 2012 when we created our model, a training solution to remove existing barriers and give solicitors another way to qualify, we did this driven by the need to diversify the trainee pool, to create opportunities for great graduates in a market where it seemed increasingly hard to do so. At the same time, we wanted to ensure legal services providers had access to this diverse talent pool. From these two market forces, Accutrainee was born.

And in the past 8 years we have helped over 100 trainees to qualify as solicitors. Our track record for diversity is solid with 38% of our current cohort identifying as BAME and 65% of candidates who come from outside of the Russell Group.

But we can and need to do better.

We need to take action urgently. And we all need to be part of this.

Diversity matters

We could devote this entire blog to the importance of diversity in business. Variety of perspective, higher innovation, better decision-making, increased creativity, reduced employee turnover, better company regulation, improved hiring results, higher employee engagement all leading to increased profits – just some of the benefits to workplace diversity.

Diversity matters.

Yet we continue to battle against a lack of diversity in the legal profession.

As with all change, approaching diversity and inclusion in a meaningful way can feel overwhelming, especially for smaller legal service businesses or in-house legal departments. Where do you start with action?

But if we all, as members of the legal profession, commit to do just one thing, there is such power in collective action, in the little and often. We all have a responsibility and the power to use our business privilege and platform to help create a more diverse legal profession.

A lot of the businesses we speak with at Accutrainee are under pressure to do more with less. As always, we wanted to remove barriers and make it easy for legal leaders to do their part. So over the past months, we have been proudly working up our new scholarship programme which enables sponsors to easily support diversity and inclusion in the legal industry whilst having access to exceptional diverse talent.

Introducing the Accutrainee Scholarship Programme

Our new scholarship programme is more than work experience. It has been created to offer deserving candidates from minority backgrounds the opportunity to have their solicitor examinations paid for whilst gaining the necessary work experience in an in-house legal department or a law firm to help them achieve their dream of becoming a qualified solicitor. Our law firm and in-house legal department sponsors contribute to the cost of SQE fees and exams and for the placement of a highly talented and motivated legal resource, who is fully supported by Accutrainee’s quality development programme. In other words, we’ll take care of all the training, mentoring and regulatory requirements, so our sponsoring law firms and in-house teams can benefit from highly motivated and diverse trainees.

Our training programme is so successful, a huge percentage of our clients decide to keep their Accutrainees on once qualified. So this is an investment in talent for the long term.

FinTech Focus

Whilst the programme is designed to run across all sectors, we have an initial focus on FinTech. As one of the fastest-growing regulated sectors, it is one that attracts a lot of interest from potential trainees. It is also one we align with at Accutrainee as a company looking to drive change in a traditional industry. Through working in this disruptive market, candidates will gain skills in modern financial and tech regulation, which will equip them with strong core skills from the outset to ensure they become the business partners of the future of this fast-growth sector. And sponsors who offer candidates the opportunity to work for their legal departments will benefit from all the commercial advantages whilst supporting diversity in legal.

2021 Launch

We are excited to get our first scholarship underway in 2021. Our programme will only be as successful as the support we are given by participating law firms and in-house legal departments, so this is our call to arms to law firm and in-house legal leaders. Take one small, but meaningful action and invest in our scholarship programme to make a significant difference to our scholars.

Will you join Accutrainee and help us create a more equal and diverse profession with opportunities for all in 2021?

Let’s take action and make a difference together.

Susan Cooper

CEO and Founder, Accutrainee

susan.cooper@accutrainee.com

Further information

If you would like to know more about becoming a sponsor, we would love to hear from you. Contact our founder Susan Cooper on susan.cooper@accutrainee.com.

If you would like to apply to be one of our Accutrainee scholars, please visit our career page where you will find more details about the programme and eligibility.

SQE in a nutshell

As many in the legal industry are aware, next year sees the arrival of the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE).

The SRA will introduce a common assessment for all aspiring solicitors to ensure consistency of standards at the point of qualification by using a single national licensing exam. The SQE replaces the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and in removing some of these costly barriers to qualification, is said to promote diversity in the legal industry. This is of course to be applauded, although at this stage there are still a few concerns on the overall long-term impact on those from lower income families.

Another aim of the SQE is to remove the “bottleneck” of qualification, given the difficulty many candidates have in securing training contracts – an all too familiar story to us at Accutrainee. This is something that is core to our purpose and the very reason we founded our business, creating bespoke training contracts which offer flexibility to both legal service providers and graduates. For the past eight years we have successfully employed great trainees and paralegals and seconded them to in-house legal departments and law firms, helping aspiring solicitors to qualify in the process. We know how well this works from both a client and a trainee perspective.

So from Autumn 2021, the SQE will form a significant portion of the qualification criteria in England and Wales. Individuals will have to pass both stages of the SQE assessment: SQE1 on legal knowledge and SQE2 on practical and legal knowledge skills. They will also have to complete two years of qualifying work experience (QWE) which replaces the training contract. QWE can take place in up to four different organisations with each placement being signed off by a solicitor who is familiar with the work they have done.

Although SQE2 was intended to test skills learnt during the QWE, there is in fact no requirement on when the QWE can be completed. In fact, the SRA are encouraging students to complete some of their QWE before the SQE is even introduced: https://www.sra.org.uk/trainees/qualifying-work-experience/qualifying-work-experience-trainees/.

In my mind, this raises some serious concerns around the quality of QWE for candidates, a point well made in Greg Smith’s insightful JLD blog, “Cutting through the Gordian Knot of SQE” – worth a read here. Greg brilliantly highlights some of the concerns and confusions surrounding the SQE but I am hopeful that through innovation and adaptation we will overcome these, I think we must.

Change is the law of life  

The SQE represents a new route to qualification, a major change for the legal industry. We know, as QWE trailblazers at Accutrainee, that diversity of practical work experience ensures trainees develop the skills needed by our next generation of lawyers, equipping them with a mix of commercial and technical skills and a focus on service delivery and managing client needs and expectations.

We see so many talented trainees who are stuck in the “bottleneck” who then join Accutrainee and go on to train and enjoy success through our bespoke programme. Opening up regulation and reducing red tape is a huge tick in the box for enabling innovation. But we must also ensure that we maintain the legal profession’s appeal. If the profession is opened up to the extent that the only one key to entry is having demonstrated the minimum standard of competence, the legal profession may begin to lose its lustre. We may struggle to entice the best candidates to join the industry?

Quality is everyone’s responsibility

Having worked with trainees now for nearly a decade, I have seen first-hand how they develop and what they need. Which is guidance, assurance and time. All of which are oddly lacking and unrequired by the SRA in the new qualifying process.  

The sign off process for the QWE is that trainees have simply had the opportunity to develop some or all of the prescribed competences for solicitors during the work experience. Surely organisations should be made accountable for the training they deliver with clear guidance from the SRA on what best practice looks like? The SQE will allow any ‘legal work’ to count as QWE regardless of the level of supervision or the quality of work. So a trainee who sits with a highly experienced solicitor who invests time in their learning, training and developing will be considered exactly the same as a trainee sitting with 50 other trainees completing a heavily repetitive document review task with no real supervision.

Does this essentially create the competency and consistency we are seeking to achieve?

Possible exploitation is another concern. At Accutrainee, we believe that taking on a trainee and being instrumental to a young professional’s development should be a privilege and one that is taken seriously. We need to guard against the possibility of trainees being left to fend for themselves in understanding what competencies and skills they need to attain and whether they have accomplished them. With no organisation ultimately responsible for overseeing their QWE, this could be a risk.

So with many of these barriers down, should we be doing more to ensure the quality of QWE as part of the new SQE?

And on those bottlenecks…

Whilst a bottleneck of any kind is never desirable, it is worth acknowledging that in this instance it’s a factor of a highly sought-after career path. Not everyone gets in, so yes, this does mean that success can be elusive and coveted. Removing this bottleneck could impact on how we attract the best talent. We absolutely need to support trainees to reach their dreams and find ways to improve access to the legal profession whilst ensuring we do not compromise industry standards for both the sake of our clients and the future of the profession.

No progress without change

So as the saying goes, progress is impossible without change, and a change with the new SQE is welcome on many levels. The SQE undoubtedly looks set to create exciting opportunities for significant improvements and innovation in the way we prepare and shape our future lawyers.

With the first SQE trainees qualifying in 2022, it is a watching brief as to what works well and where we might need more thought. It’s encouraging that the SRA and the Legal Services Board are mindful of this and open to continual development. If that is genuinely the case, then I am optimistic that in time and with tweaking, the SQE could become the new jewel in the profession’s crown.

Bring on 2021, the year of the SQE!

Susan Cooper

CEO and Founder, Accutrainee

susan.cooper@accutrainee.com

If you are interested in working with one of our talented trainees in your business, please drop us a line on info@accutrainee.com.

In the last newsletter I discussed our approach to training and development which is paramount to developing lawyers that can meet the business and social demands of the 21st Century. This type of forward planning and innovative thinking is very much part of Accutrainee’s DNA.

When Susan started Accutrainee in 2012, she had to overcome many obstacles to develop our unique, innovative and pioneering training contract model. It is no surprise therefore that our model so closely resembles the SRA’s new qualifying work experience aspect of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). We welcome the changes the SRA is making as an edification of our model, which positions us as the market experts because whilst everyone else is catching up, for us in many ways, it’s business as usual.

SQE Update

On the 28th October 2020, the SRA confirmed the Legal Services Board (LSB) has approved, in full, the introduction of the SQE from the 1st September 2021. While this decision serves as a good marker for the legal education’s biggest shake up in many years, it has, like many changes in the legal world taken a long time to get to this point. The SRA has stuck to its plan and is pushing this through when it would have been so easy to delay given the current pandemic. In an industry that extols the need to be perfect, the SQE will undoubtedly be imperfect and will take time to shape and refine. Accutrainee knows this better than anyone as we have over the last eight years perfected our model to deliver the very best alternative to a traditional training path.

It is a testament to Susan that the major milestone of helping over 100 trainees qualify as solicitors passed with very little fanfare, but it does act as a marker that you can have success challenging traditional thinking in Law. While it is major achievement for which she should personally be incredibly proud, she has kept the team focused on our future planning and development, some of which I am keen to share with you.

Next Steps

With many of our early goals achieved, the Accutrainee team has been focusing on the next stage in our journey. We have already had a soft launch of our flexible staffing solution, Accuflex, which offers our clients the opportunity to hire paralegals and qualified lawyers on a completely flexible basis for specific projects. Over the coming months we are excited to announce that we will be delivering on two major milestones for Accutrainee. A scholarship programme aimed at increasing diversity in Law and an advanced tech platform that will support legal professionals with their training and development needs.

The Accutrainee Scholarship Programme

Our track record for supporting diversity and inclusion within law is already good with 38% of current trainees identifying as BAME and 65% having come from outside Russell Group Universities. However, we recognise there is still work to be done…

We are taking the same approach as we did back in 2012 as we look to remove the major obstacles and make it easy for legal leaders to do their part and support diversity and inclusion in law. Utilising the SQE, we have designed a scholarship programme that goes beyond simply giving work experience but offers deserving candidates from minority backgrounds the opportunity to have their solicitor examinations fully paid for and, crucially, gain the necessary qualifying work experience to realise their dream of becoming qualified solicitors. We will be launching this over the coming months so watch this space!

Tech Platform

Accutrainee is evolving as a company and realises how important technology can be to the success of a business. While we cannot give too many details away at this early stage, we believe our new tech hub will offer candidates an incredible resource during the early stages of their development.

Podcast

We are also very excited to announce that we will be launching a new podcast series, Conversations in Law, with one of our aspiring trainees Hobz DeCaux as the host. This series of podcasts will cover a wide range of subjects with pre-selected guests giving their valuable insight and commentary into the world of law. Listen to the podcast now.

Introducing some of our talented graduates

Quality and diversity are intrinsic to Accutrainee. We are extremely selective about the candidates we put forward to clients. Applicants are required to successfully complete our thorough selection process giving quality assurance to the shortlists we prepare for clients.  Here is a small selection of available candidates.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate A
Candidate A gained ACC at A-levels with a 2.1 LLB from Brunel University. She subsequently obtained a Commendation for her LPC from the University of Law.
Candidate A has recently finished her second seat at a well-known law firm where she has worked on a wide variety of commercial disputes and civil fraud matters.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate B
Candidate B gained ABB at A-levels and a 2.2 BA in music from City University. Candidate B is completing his second seat at a highly rated boutique law firm gaining experience in business crime, corruption, bribery, and extradition. Prior he gained in litigation, dispute resolution experience in a variety of patent and trademark matters.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate C
Candidate C gained AAB at A-level and a 2:1 LLB with a year abroad from The University of Warwick. She also gained a Distinction at her LPC. Candidate C has work experiences in real estate, litigation and immigration law and is currently working as a paralegal.

Accuflex Spotlight

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate A
Candidate A achieved AAB at A level and completed a 2.1 from the University of Exeter in his LLB. He recently completed his LPC achieving a distinction.
Candidate A is seeking further work experience as a paralegal. He has had prior work experience in civil litigation and family law having worked for a regional law firm.

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate B
Candidate B is an experience commercial property lawyer with over 6 years’ experience dealing with a wide range of commercial property matters for an International law firm. Having left private practice recently, she is now looking to secure interim work or an in-house position. 

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate C
Candidate C is an 8 year qualified Solicitor who has worked a number of public enquiries and is a go to resource for a number of major international law firms as a document review team leader. After completing an 18-month document review she is now looking for her next project.

If you would like to review these or other candidate CVs, or you would like to discuss how we could help with your resourcing needs, then please contact us.


Key Dates

Thursday 12 November
Digitization accelerated – perspectives from the judiciary, Intellectual Property Office, and practitioners
Location: Online Webinar

Wednesday 18 November – Thursday 19 November
Managing Risk and Litigation Conference
Location: Online

Thursday 10 December
Diversity and inclusion in the legal profession – regulation, and practical approaches for recruitment and workplace culture, wellbeing and progression
Location: Online

Autumn road

August has been a productive month for Accutrainee; we saw a significant increase in demand for trainee and paralegal requests, as well as developing new partnerships with several new clients, ultimately offering even more opportunities to our aspiring lawyers.

While providing opportunities for legal professionals is one of our founding principles, we are a training company at our core which means we spend a considerable amount time developing and mentoring our trainees. It is only natural that we think carefully about the skills and experiences our trainees need to thrive in the constantly evolving legal eco system.

I make no apologies for sounding grandiose when I say that the legal system is and will continue to be one of the most important support systems for humankind to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. That is why this month I have decided to share my thoughts on some key concepts we are looking to imbed in our training and development programme.

Who is the 21st Century Lawyer?

In recent years there has been mounting pressure for lawyers to reinvent themselves. Richard Susskind, a renowned legal futurologist and author of the book ‘The End Of Lawyers’ is one of the most obvious examples of this call to action. While I might not agree with the deliberate eye-catching title, the concepts in the book are worthy of serious consideration.

One idea that has gained popular support among legal commentators is the ‘T-Shaped Lawyer’. The ‘T-shaped’ professional is not a new concept and was referenced by McKinsey & Company as far back as the 1980s as the ideal recruit for their business. The concept being that it wanted to find individuals with strong core skills and an ability to learn quickly. These T-shaped professionals would excel in their main responsibilities, possessing deep technical knowledge, but also contribute to the growth of the business as a whole by demonstrating strong core skills like communication, collaboration, flexibility in approach, creative thinking and solid project management and organisational skills. It is no surprise that this has made its way into the legal world where deep technical knowledge is a bare minimum to survive and core skills an opportunity to thrive.

Perhaps even more interesting is the rising popularity of ‘The O-Shaped Lawyer’, the brainchild of Network Rail General Counsel, Dan Kayne. This pushes the envelope even further away from the traditional view of a lawyer, focusing on the idea that we should develop and care about the person first and the lawyer second.

Both concepts are interesting to us at Accutrainee because they align with our goal of developing our lawyers’ core skills. One of the unique aspects of what we do is to offer qualifying work experience within different law firms and legal departments. While it is not a new concept to send trainees on secondment, Accutrainee was the first and still the only organisation that was approved by the SRA to specifically foster this type of training contract.

Our recent review of Accutrainee alumni revealed that our trainees can comfortably thrive in both in-house or law firm settings post qualification, something we are very proud of and continue to nurture through our working practices.

Training Contracts of the Future?

The origins of the training contract can be traced as far back as the 1300s, but gained more rigor after the Attorneys and Solicitors Act of 1728 which specifically stated no man could practice as a Solicitor unless his name was on the Roll, and significantly, no man could practice as a Solicitor unless he had undertaken an Articled Clerkship for at least a term of 5 years.

As we approach the biggest single change in the way our trainees qualify in modern history with the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), we consider this a great opportunity to build on our success, taking the necessary steps to further enhance our model and develop our lawyers in the best ways possible moving forward.

By encouraging creative thinking, innovation and better collaboration with business colleagues, we will insure our aspiring solicitors against whatever changes may come in the future, ultimately adding more value for our clients by delivering the shape of lawyer they want and need. So perhaps given our logo, we will actually be delivering the shaped lawyer!


Introducing some of our current talented trainees/candidates

Quality and diversity are intrinsic to Accutrainee. We are extremely selective about the candidates we put forward to clients. Applicants are required to successfully complete our thorough selection process giving quality assurance to the shortlists we prepare for clients. Here is a small selection of available trainees/candidates.

Accutrainee Spotlight

Icon candidate orange

Candidate A
Candidate A gained AAB at A-Levels and completed a BA in History at Trinity College Dublin with a 2.1. She then went on to obtain Distinction in her GDL and LPC.
Candidate A is looking for her second seat after completing her first seat in a top law firm working with the Corporate team.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate B
Candidate B gained AAA* at A-Levels and completed a BA in Human, Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge with a 2.1. She is in the process of completing her LPC. Candidate B is looking for her first seat and has experience in dispute resolution and criminal law.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate C
Candidate C gained ACC at A-levels with a 2.1 LLB from Brunel University. She subsequently obtained a Commendation for her LPC from the University of Law.
Candidate C is currently finishing her second seat at a well-known law firm where she has worked on a wide variety of commercial disputes and civil fraud matters.

Accuflex Spotlight

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate A
Candidate A achieved AAB at A level and completed a 2.1 from the University of Exeter in his LLB. He recently completed his LPC achieving a distinction.
Candidate A is seeking further work experience as a paralegal. He has had prior work experience in civil litigation and family law having worked for a regional law firm.

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate B
Candidate B is a General Counsel, DPO and Company Secretary with extensive legal experience. Specialising in commercial law, gained from government, in-house and private law firms, including magic circle firms. Areas of expertise include drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, insurance, IT, advising start-ups, digital technology, Intellectual Property Law, Consumer and e-commerce law, GDPR, B2C and B2B.

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate C
Candidate C is an experienced in-house lawyer with 27 years’ experience in the technology, software, and the IT industry. Candidate C has broad legal and commercial experience with strong corporate/commercial background. Significant exposure to a varied range of commercial contracts for Telecoms, IT, Software, Construction, Mining and Renewable Energy industries. Candidate C is a Certified member of International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM), an CEDR accredited mediator and recognised legal trainer.


Key Dates

8 September 2020 – London
GC Powerlist UK 2020

28 September 2020 – London
The Lawyer – Business Leadership Summit

28-29 September 2020 – London
Enterprise GC 2020

SQE Background

In June 2020, the SRA Board agreed on the final structure of the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) concluding a nine-year review of solicitor training. It also confirmed that the Covid-19 crisis will not delay its introduction in September 2021. It has been a topic of hot debate in recent months which is one of the reasons we have decided to cover it in our newsletter; giving you essential information and ensuring you know that Accutrainee will continue to be your trusted partner throughout this major change in the legal profession.

By offering this centralised assessment for all aspiring solicitors, the SRA hopes to deliver greater assurance of consistent, high standards at the point of admission and the development of new and diverse pathways to qualification. While there has been plenty of negative headlines surrounding the SQE, such as the Law Gazette’s ‘Childs Play’ headline that outlined a law school deputy head’s 15 year old daughter achieving 48% in the first 25 questions of SQE part 1; it is too early to judge the exam. With any new examination structure there will undoubtedly be refinement and lessons to learn. What is clear is that the SRA’s SQE should be judged on whether it can achieve its goals.

Qualification Basics

Anyone looking to become a solicitor under the new system will need to:

  • have a degree in any subject (or equivalent qualification or experience).
  • pass two stages of SQE assessment, SQE1 and SQE2.
  • gain two years’ qualifying work experience that must be signed off by a solicitor.
  • meet the SRA’s character and suitability requirements.

The Structure

The SRA has confirmed the final structure of the SQE will consist of:

  • SQE1 which will test functioning legal knowledge across 13 areas of law and will consist of two multiple choice examinations, each with 180 questions.
  • SQE2 will consist of a single, uniform assessment for all candidates and will consist of 15 – 18 practical exercises assessing legal skills across several practice areas. It will include legal research, writing, advocacy, client interviewing and case analysis.

Timeline

The first examination for the SQE1 will take place in November 2021 and SQE2 in April 2022. The SRA intends to run a dual process for qualification until the end of 2032 during which time it will be possible to qualify under either the new SQE route or the current training contract route. Effectively, if you have started or enrolled on a qualifying law degree, law conversion or equivalent before 1st September 2021; you can choose to qualify either through the existing route or the SQE. Otherwise, you will have to qualify via the SQE route.

There is no doubt, in the short term at least, there is likely to be considerable confusion for both firms and aspiring solicitors as they adjust to the different routes to qualification available. One thing which will be certain is Accutrainee’s continued commitment to delivering quality and diversity in the legal profession. It’s about the one thing that won’t be changing!

Summary

You only have to talk to someone who’s been involved in legal innovation over the last ten years to know that effecting change in the legal industry is challenging. It is a profession that by its very nature is risk adverse, slow to adopt change and has perfectionist tendencies. The SQE will certainly bring many challenges but it will also undoubtedly create exciting opportunities for significant improvements and innovation in the way we prepare and shape our future lawyers with genuine focus on service delivery, client needs and expectations.

Accutrainee will be focused on cutting through the confusion and giving our clients and candidates the best experience when it comes to hiring and training junior legal talent. As a company we are already fully committed to diversity and will continue to develop a consistent and inclusive experience for our lawyers of the future.

If you want further information, you can listen to the More from Law podcast that featured Susan as the guest in this insightful 30-minute episode:

If you have further questions about the impact of the SQE, please do not hesitate to contact us through the normal means.


Introducing some of our current talented trainees

Quality and diversity are intrinsic to Accutrainee. We are extremely selective about the candidates we put forward to clients. Applicants are required to successfully complete our thorough selection process giving quality assurance to the shortlists we prepare for clients. Here is a small selection of available trainees/candidates.

Accutrainee Spotlight

Icon candidate orange

Candidate A
Looking for his final seat. He has a French Baccalaureate, BA in Economics, BA in French Law and master’s in international Economic Law and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having gained some great experience in trade & export finance and financial regulation respectively this candidate is keen to move into a finance related seat.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate B
Looking for his third seat. He has a Law degree from the University of Warwick and has also completed an MSc in Politics and Government in the EU from LSE achieving a Merit. His most recent experience has been working for a boutique litigation firm gaining extradition and white-collar crime experience. Open to a range of opportunities to build his experience.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate C
Looking for his second seat. He has a BA in Modern History and master’s in Law, Business and Management and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having completed his first seat at a financial consultancy firm, he has gained some great experience in financial services regulation and is open to working in any area of law to build his experience.

Accuflex Lawyer Spotlight

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate A
5 year PQE, Cambridge University educated, trained at Clifford Chance with three years’ experience at Dentons in dispute resolution and arbitration. Pragmatic and proactive team-player with excellent drafting, research and management skills. Returning from a sabbatical spent working at Unicef UK looking for interim or permanent opportunities.

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate B
Accutrainee newly qualified Solicitor. Experience at three different Accutrainee clients including two law firms. His work has involved complex contentious matters as well as financial services and regulation. Prior to joining us as a Trainee he worked for Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Reed Smith which included litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution work. Looking for interim or permanent opportunities as an NQ.


Key Dates

8 September 2020 – London
GC Powerlist UK 2020

28 September 2020 – London
The Lawyer – Business Leadership Summit

28-29 September 2020 – London
Enterprise GC 2020

Accutrainee book

Much of what I have read in the last few weeks suggests seismic changes to working practices post pandemic. It is something that concerns me because it has the potential to be particularly impactful for our Trainees and their ongoing development. We, like our clients, have worked hard to ensure business can continue through the use of remote working, but I am sure I am not alone in thinking that working from home or distance learning could not entirely replace the benefits of in person training, mentoring and working together in an office.

Whilst I think there may be some obvious changes to office working practices in the short-term, once the pandemic passes it is my hope we can all return to our normal working practices as soon as possible with of course some adjustments through lessons learnt. 

How does this affect our lawyers of the future?

It certainly got me thinking about our current group of Trainees and particularly those qualifying during this period.

There is no doubt that job opportunities have been affected across the board, the number of advertised roles on major job portals decreased by as much as 80% over the last two months. It remains to be seen how this will impact our newly qualified solicitors and we are doing everything we can to support them during this challenging time, including how our new offering via Accuflex can help in delivering more opportunities and flexibility post qualification to our current and past trainees as well as our clients.

Shortly before COVID-19 we’re really proud that some of our trainees accepted roles at top corporate law firms on qualification. This is a fantastic achievement for these Accutrainee Alumni who targeted working for such firms as one of their mid-term career goals. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to communicate with some of them during and after their successful job search. The insight I gained from being part of that process is valuable and helps to inform me of the things we are doing well, as well as areas we can support future newly qualified solicitors.

As a follow up to the original video we put out on our new Linkedin life page of Ali discussing why he chose to join Accutrainee, I am pleased that he agreed to do a follow up discussing his experiences since leaving Accutrainee and joining at top ten City law firm. You can find the link to the video here: 

Accutrainee Alumni

This encouraged me to seek out other Accutrainee Alumni and find out what they have been doing since qualification. I managed to track down quite a few of our Alumni in their current roles to ask them specifically about their time at Accutrainee and how it has impacted their ongoing careers.

I am pleased to say the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and there were many examples of Alumni landing their dream roles post qualification and feeling equipped to deliver high quality results. I wanted to highlight some of the comments that prove to me this model is getting the results that Susan set out to achieve:

  • High Quality Mentoring – ‘I valued the monthly principal meetings the most. The ability to discuss careers development, goals and concerns with an experienced independent party (not from your secondment) is priceless. The insight and knowledge I got from Elizabeth and Susan was priceless. 
  • Flexibility and Opportunity – ‘Accutrainee can sell you in ways that online application processes can’t.’ ‘They were able to help me get a training contract with a top organisation.’ ‘I will always be grateful to Accutrainee for the opportunity it gave me to complete my training in a flexible way which perfectly fit my circumstances.’ ‘I am immensely grateful to Accutrainee, my supervisors and all the people involved for giving me the opportunity to qualify. A training contract was a hurdle that I would not have been able to overcome without Accutrainee given my specific background. I knew that once I qualified I would do well. I have not had trouble securing interviews for the positions I have been interested in.’
  • Bespoke Training – ‘since qualifying, I have found an NQ position at an international law firm. In my view the main advantage of training through Accutrainee is the opportunity to shape your training contract’ ‘There are many advantages to the Accutrainee model, primarily the tailor-made training contract that was adapted to me as a professional changing career path. This enabled me to utilise the practical skills I had already gained in the workplace to my advantage as a lawyer.’ ‘My bespoke hands-on training contract supported by Accutrainee enabled me to take charge of the career I want to make for myself.’
  • Core Skills Focus – ‘I have hit the ground running in my first year of qualifying thanks to my training at Accutrainee, which prepared me for the various challenges of a career in law.’ ‘I really valued the quality of the training and the mentors provided by Accutrainee. Training part-time whilst also studying the LPC part-time was really tough however Accutrainee did not only get me across the line, they enabled me to work at the high standard required if you want to do well in the legal sector.’

This represents just a small section of the feedback I received. I am very grateful to all the Alumni that took the time to respond, thank you! 

Alumni Statistics

Finally, I wanted to share some statistics with you that give some insight to the Accutrainee model and its success.

Current employers by type and size
We broke down our Alumni by type and size of organisation they are employed by since qualification. Much like our diverse set of clients, I am pleased to see a good cross section of the market being covered. 

Qualification Sector
We also looked at the sectors our Alumni have been working in. The key stat for me being the exact split in those working within legal services (or law firms) versus the private sector, being an exact 50/50 split. You would not typically see that from Trainees at other firms so early on in their careers, representing the opportunities the model offers Trainees once they qualify to enter the sector of their choice.

I am hugely encouraged from the feedback and the statistics, reinforcing the fact that Accutrainee delivers a unique, flexible and efficient way for firms to manage and develop their future resource needs and graduates to benefit from bespoke high-quality training contracts and work experience.

As part of next month’s newsletter, I will be focusing on the key Core Skills our future lawyers need and what that really means for our clients and of course our current and future trainees.

Accutrainee Spotlight

Icon candidate orange

Candidate A
Looking for his final seat. He has a French Baccalaureate, BA in Economics, BA in French Law and master’s in international Economic Law and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having gained some great experience in trade & export finance and financial regulation respectively this candidate is keen to move into a finance related seat.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate B
Looking for his third seat. He has a Law degree from the University of Warwick and has also completed an MSc in Politics and Government in the EU from LSE achieving a Merit. His most recent experience has been working for a boutique litigation firm gaining extradition and white-collar crime experience. Open to a range of opportunities to build his experience.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate C
Looking for her final seat. She has a Law degree from Queen Mary, University of London. She has gained a variety of experience within financial services, including time at Investment Bank Goldman Sachs before getting her training seat at boutique firm and then a financial consultancy; gaining experience in fraud and extradition, privacy and data protection and most recently commercial and regulatory work. She is open to a wide range of opportunities to compliment her training contract.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate D
Looking for his second seat. He has a BA in Modern History and master’s in Law, Business and Management and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having completed his first seat at a financial consultancy firm, he has gained some great experience in financial services regulation and is open to working in any area of law to build his experience.

Accuflex Lawyer Spotlight

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate A
5 year PQE, Cambridge University educated, trained at Clifford Chance with three years’ experience at Dentons in dispute resolution and arbitration. Pragmatic and proactive team-player with excellent drafting, research and management skills. Returning from a sabbatical spent working at Unicef UK looking for interim or permanent opportunities.

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate B
Accutrainee newly qualified Solicitor. Experience at three different Accutrainee clients including two law firms. His work has involved complex contentious matters as well as financial services and regulation. Prior to joining us as a Trainee he worked for Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Reed Smith which included litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution work. Looking for interim or permanent opportunities as an NQ.

Building looking up

Accutrainee has been seeking out some specific tools that can assist in developing healthy remote working practices which we thought may be helpful to our wider audience. We have compiled a list that we or our clients have found useful to date, but we welcome any feedback or suggestions.

Learning

Linkedin – 16 free courses on remote working.

Project management and automation

Monday.com

  • Monday.com for process driven collaboration. Needs some effort to get working and sharing or data and project updates but has been very useful to us during the current coronavirus crisis.
  • Pricing based on 5 users: Basic £25, Standard £41, Pro £62 for 5 users, per month.

Airtable

  • Airtable combines the flexibility of a spreadsheet with the power of database.
  • Airtable templates for the legal industry include: Legal Case Tracking and Billing, Legal Case Analysis, Legal Matter Management, Legal Client General Intake Form.
  • Pricing: free, £8 (Plus), £16 (Pro) per user, per month.

Video conferencing

Zoom

  • Zoom Video Communications has developed cloud-based video conferencing software that offers a secure platform for video and audio conferencing, messaging, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems
  • Comprehensive guidance on effective remote working from Zoom is here.
  • 3 pricing tiers: free (personal use), £11.99 (small teams), £15.99 (SMEs) per user, per month.

Google Hangouts

  • Google Hangouts is one of the easiest and most capable video chat services. You can have a live video call with up to 10 other people, and Hangouts works with all computers as well as Android and iOS.
  • G Suite pricing: £4.14 (basic), £8.28 (business), £20 (enterprise) per user, per month.

Microsoft Teams

  • Microsoft has agreed Microsoft Teams will be free for use by businesses for collaboration which has a built-in video chat and conference call facility.
  • Pricing: Currently free.

Calendar scheduling

Calendly

  • Save time on coordinating diaries and booking meetings. It eliminates the old-school way of using email and phone tags for scheduling appointments, calls, interviews, demos by integrating with outlook to allow for direct calendar invites to be sent in emails or via outlook calendar app.
  • 3 pricing tiers: free (basic) which you have only one type of calendar invite, $8 (£6.40) (premium), $12 (£9.60) (Pro) per month, per user which allows for white labelling and more than just one meeting type.

File storage and transfer

Dropbox

  • Cloud-based storage system that allows its users to share and save documents remotely.
  • Pricing: £7.99 (Plus), £16.58 (Professional) per user, per month.

Microsoft Teams

  • Utilizing company OneDrive accounts and File sharing via Teams, secure and easy to use.

Screen sharing

Screenleap

  • Free screen sharing tool that shares your screen without requiring your viewers to sign up or download anything to view it.

As we all adapt to a new working practices during the coronavirus pandemic, Accutrainee has been talking to some Trainees about working remotely and how it is impacting them personally and professionally. We thought we should bring these together and share them.

Challenges:

  • Not as easy to feel part of a team and in nearly all cases this meant missing the social aspects of working in a team.
  • Limited internet bandwidth at home meant video calls are not always possible but feel essential to gather information.
  • There has been less business as usual work, increasing the need to be more proactive in seeking out opportunities.
  • Increased stress and a growing sense of uncertainty on the current situation.
  • Feeling of isolation and disconnectedness with the goals of the business.
  • Worries about unemployment and completing their training effectively.
  • Struggling with infrastructure at home without a printer or second screen.

We were also encouraged by some of the positive outcomes working remotely can offer and we thought it would be right to share these as well, as it is not all doom and gloom. Although some these could be at odds with the challenges listed above, Accutrainee does work with a wide selection of clients who may be adapting faster or differently.

Positives:

  • Enjoying the increased ownership and autonomy that working from home can offer.
  • Increased productivity due to there being more hours in the day not spent travelling.
  • In some instances, actually having more access to managers during the day when working on specific matters.
  • Increased efficiency where the right technology and tools had been deployed.
  • More time to research and formulate opinions and answers to queries.
  • Greater work/life balance.
  • Significant improvement in planning and collaboration across the business.
  • The world may experience a positive environmental impact from coronavirus.
  • Working practices could be positively impacted, moving towards objective based working rather than billable hours.

Sharing these seems to be a good opportunity for us to recognise that we may be all dealing with the current pandemic in different ways but share some common issues. Understanding how some people are coping better than others and modelling those good behaviours can be helpful.

Accutrainee appreciates any feedback from our wider audience on how they are overcoming some of challenges or what positive outcomes they may be experiencing right now and what good remote working practices they have adopted.

You can find other trainee opportunities with one of our jobs board partner’s here: https://uk.jooble.org/jobs-trainee

Even though we knew it was coming, the shock of the last 30 days has had a considerable impact on us personally and professionally. I am sick of reading about coronavirus in the papers; but the very fact that I am doing it in the complete safety of my own home without any need to go outside and face ‘the invisible terror’ as Trump would put it, means that I cannot fully understand how the people on the frontline cope with the stress and fear it must inevitably bring on.

I have never quoted Donald Trump before and I am not likely to again, but these are extraordinary times that we are living in and it is worth taking a moment to appreciate how lucky many of us are that can work remotely in the safety of our own homes. Being the son of the manager of an elderly care home, I understand that my Mum is wired differently than me and that her drive comes from helping others even to the detriment of her own health and personal safety. I am humbled by the selfless job the NHS, care home and other frontline staff are doing.

I am also very thankful that so many of our clients have risen to the challenge and made it possible for our trainees to continue to work remotely without any interruption to their training contracts. So, thank you… 

Changes to the business and legal world

Even if we are all keen to forget the coronavirus pandemic and return to normal, I suspect the world will not and perhaps should not be so keen to wind the clock back but actually focus on what good can come out of this once the mourning is complete.

At Accutrainee we are analysing every challenge to see how we can adapt and improve on what we do, how we do it and how we deliver, seeking ways that we may, through these enforced changes actually deliver a better service to our clients. Some of the questions we have been discussing which I think will be relevant to our clients include:

Will fixed fees arrangements increase as a preference to hourly based billing?

I am sure the initial reaction to that question might be something along the lines of, what does that have to do with a pandemic. Let me explain…

As far back as 2000, the legal press was talking about an hour of reckoning on hourly based billing. Read more

Since 2000 there has been a considerable increase in the size of in-house legal teams, a legal technology revolution and a huge number of alternative legal providers entering the space; this considerable pressure has resulted in some changes, but hourly based billing is still the norm for many law firms. 

Over the last few weeks, many firms have shifted their approach to objective based working as the most effective way of tracking their team’s progress while working remotely. They simply do not have as much insight into when, where and how their teams are doing the work. Objective based working provides an opportunity for teams to focus on the result with strict deadlines enforced as a way of ensuring delivery. This could have a profound impact for law firms and law departments, especially if it proves successful. The benefits are clear for all concerned, Law departments can manage their costs more effectively, law firms will provide more accurate estimates and lawyers can finally move further away from hourly billing that is so often maligned within the industry. 

Is it possible to complete a training contract remotely?

Over the last four weeks I have been reaching out to many of our Trainees to talk about their experiences while working remotely and how it is potentially impacting them personally and professionally. In fact, I did a post on LinkedIn recently which covered exactly this subject: An insight in to our challenges and positive outcomes during the pandemic for Trainees.

It is crucial to us as a business to understand how we can support our Trainees during this time and fully understand their concerns. The overriding fear being whether they can continue in some semblance of normal professional working practices in such a formative part of their career, the training phase. 

I am really encouraged by the feedback received so far and especially with the firms that have taken on Trainees and onboarded them remotely. It is clear our mentors and client supervisors are making every effort to support our Trainees to give them a sense of normality during this period and that it may even be possible not only to complete distance learning temporarily but to even consider a remote training contract in the future. To date, we have successfully onboarded trainees entirely virtually which I think is pretty amazing, evidencing a more connected, technology enabled legal profession which can’t be a bad thing.

Please take a look at some of our Trainees and Flex Lawyers in our spotlight segment and look out for our new video on social media related to training and working during the pandemic. 

Accutrainee Spotlight

Icon candidate orange

Candidate A
Looking for his final seat. He has a French Baccalaureate, BA in Economics, BA in French Law and master’s in international Economic Law and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having gained some great experience in trade & export finance and financial regulation respectively this candidate is keen to move into a finance related seat.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate B
Looking for his third seat. He has a Law degree from the University of Warwick and has also completed an MSc in Politics and Government in the EU from LSE achieving a Merit. His most recent experience has been working for a boutique litigation firm gaining extradition and white-collar crime experience. Open to a range of opportunities to build his experience.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate C
Looking for her final seat. She has a Law degree from Queen Mary, University of London. She has gained a variety of experience within financial services, including time at Investment Bank Goldman Sachs before getting her training seat at boutique firm and then a financial consultancy; gaining experience in fraud and extradition, privacy and data protection and most recently commercial and regulatory work. She is open to a wide range of opportunities to compliment her training contract.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate D
Looking for his second seat. He has a BA in Modern History and master’s in Law, Business and Management and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having completed his first seat at a financial consultancy firm, he has gained some great experience in financial services regulation and is open to working in any area of law to build his experience.

Accuflex Lawyer Spotlight

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate A
5 year PQE, Cambridge University educated, trained at Clifford Chance with three years’ experience at Dentons in dispute resolution and arbitration. Pragmatic and proactive team-player with excellent drafting, research and management skills. Returning from a sabbatical spent working at Unicef UK looking for interim or permanent opportunities.

Icon Candidate blue

Candidate B
Accutrainee newly qualified Solicitor. Experience at three different Accutrainee clients including two law firms. His work has involved complex contentious matters as well as financial services and regulation. Prior to joining us as a Trainee he worked for Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Reed Smith which included litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution work. Looking for interim or permanent opportunities as an NQ.

Key Dates in the Legal Calendar

Accutrainee has put together some key dates that may interest you. Many events that are taking place in the next 3 months have moved to a virtual platform but are still charging to attend.

6th April 2020 – The Fringe Legal Summit (Rock stars of the legal profession share their best learnings, tips, and strategies to supercharge your practice). (VIRTUAL – FREE)
www.summit.fringelegal.com


14th May 2020 – The Future of Legal Education and Training Conference (LegalEdCon) 2020 (VIRTUAL – PAID)
www.eventbrite.co.uk


15th September 2020 – The Alternative Legal IT Conference 2020(Crowne Plaza Marlow, Fieldhouse Ln, Marlow) (PAID)
www.alternativelegalit.com

Building looking up

I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity by Susan to join the team at Accutrainee as the new Operations Director and I am very much looking forward to getting to know Accutrainee’s clients over the coming months. I was asked by a friend why I decided to join Accutrainee and I was able to answer without a moment’s hesitation. It is an innovative company that has created a truly winning situation for the clients, the company, the mentors and especially the trainees. Everyone I have spoken to about the Accutrainee model, without exception responds with words to the effect; wow what a great idea!

Having been at Elevate (Legal Services) for five and half years prior to joining Accutrainee, I was a crucial part of Elevate’s rapid expansion helping the company grow from 70 people to over 1400 in that time. I was responsible for setting up Elevate’s flexible lawyering solution which had over 20 of the world’s Fortune 100 companies as clients and a number of large international law firms. In that time, Elevate changed from naming itself as ‘legal processor outsourcer’, to ‘legal services firm’ to ‘law company’. I am not sure it matters what you want to be called, but it is clear to me there continues to be a need to deliver innovative and flexible legal resources to increasingly sophisticated buyers of legal services and talent.

Over my career, one of the key lessons I have learnt is that clients want to have the right resources available at the right time, but interestingly, a large number of requests made were for junior resources spanning from Paralegals to 4-year PQE.

One of the reasons Accutrainee was so exciting for me was that Susan and the team have already built up a huge pool of quality junior resources that had been through rigorous screening. So, it is now easy for us to offer our new flexible resourcing solution, Accuflex™.

Accuflex logo

Is the natural extension to our Trainee Solution which will allow our clients to hire the very best legal talent from paralegal to 4-years PQE in a completely flexible way. Whether it be Brexit repapering, regulatory change projects, maternity cover or just not having the permanent head count available, Accutrainee’s Accuflex™ solution can help.

It’s commonplace now in the legal world to hear firms claiming that they are being innovative in their approach to delivering legal services, but it’s not always clear how. As the new person at Accutrainee’s head office, it’s clear to me what an innovator Susan is and that she deserves some of the praise often lavished on those firms with the money to get themselves into the spotlight. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our clients, whose willingness to support a truly innovative idea has meant that they are trailblazers for a whole new generation of lawyers and have secured some amazing talent along the way. The impact of Accutrainee will only increase in the coming years as the company and client list grows, and we appreciate any opportunity to work with you to deliver a truly innovative and bespoke resource solution. 

SOLICITORS QUALIFICATION EXAMINATIONS 
What you need to know

We will be following up shortly with all the latest information around the Solicitors Qualification Exams (SQE) coming into effect in Autumn 2021 so stay tuned for all you need to know on the imminent qualification overhaul! 

Introducing some of our current talented trainees

Quality and diversity are intrinsic to Accutrainee. We are extremely selective about the candidates we put forward to clients. Applicants are required to successfully complete our thorough selection process giving quality assurance to the shortlists we prepare for clients. Here is a small selection of available trainees/candidates.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate A
Looking for his fourth seat. He has a French Baccalaureate, BA in Economics, BA in French Law and Masters in International Economic Law and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having gained some great experience in trade & export finance and financial regulation respectively.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate B
Looking for his fourth seat. He has a French Baccalaureate, BA in Economics, BA in French Law and Masters in International Economic Law and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having gained some great experience in trade & export finance and financial regulation respectively.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate C
Looking for his second seat. He has a BA in Modern History and Masters in Law, Business and Management and achieved a commendation in both his GDL and LPC. Having completed his first seat at Promontory, gaining experience in financial regulation.

Icon candidate orange

Candidate D
Looking for her first seat. She has an LLB from the University of Bristol and gained a commendation in her LPC. She has worked as a paralegal gaining valuable experience in commercial contracts, GDPR projects, policy and procedural changes.

If you would like to review these or other candidate CVs, or you would like to discuss how we could help with your resourcing needs, then please contact us.

Key Dates

The Future of Legal Education and Training Conference (LegalEdCon) 2020

Thursday 14 May –  08:30 – 17:30 BST
www.legalcheek.com
The Conference features sessions on areas including diversity, inclusion and social mobility; embedding technology in legal education and training; the latest Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) developments; the new Bar Course training regime; and mental health & wellbeing.
Location: Kings Place, Kings Cross, London


Flexible Working in the Legal Profession

Thursday, 25 Jun –18:00 – 20:30
www.eventbrite.co.uk
Join WLAM Kent for a discussion about Flexible Working in the Legal Profession.
Location: University of Kent, Canterbury Campus


Assessing skills under the new SQE

Wednesday 18 March – 14.45 – 16.45
www.events.sra.org.uk
SRA are talking to law firms and in-house legal teams around the country about their views on assessing skills in the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) – the new, licensing examination for solicitors of England and Wales coming in autumn 2021.
Location: Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG

Photo of Kevin O’Shea, Director of Operations

At Accutrainee, we focus on offering unique and flexible in-house training contracts. As an SRA registered training establishment, you’ll not only benefit from the opportunity to work with a variety of firms, but also receive dedicated mentoring and support throughout your training contract.

As she embarks upon her career as a fully qualified solicitor, recent trainee Lesley O’Neill shares her experience of working alongside Accutrainee for the duration of her fulfilling a hugely successful training contract.

“I recently completed my training contract with Accutrainee and am now a fully qualified solicitor about to start my first job as a data protection lawyer. During my training contract, I took the opportunity to work both within a law firm and in-house and gained high-level experience from day one. I was given real responsibility throughout and worked for well-known clients across a range of sectors in litigation, data protection and privacy seats. As well as undertaking interesting and varied work dealing with clients on a daily basis, I had the opportunity to travel and spent several months travelling to client sites in Germany working directly with a global life sciences company. The experience I gained was invaluable and I enjoyed building a rapport with key members of the client team who I met with regularly over several months.

Accutrainee supported me fully throughout my training contract and I benefitted from having a mentor with over twenty years’ experience at a Magic Circle firm as well as receiving career advice from the Accutrainee team. 

I appreciated being able to shape my training contract and was given a choice of practice areas and the opportunity to do two seats in one area (data protection and privacy) when I realised this is an area I am passionate about. I gained cutting edge experience in the rapidly evolving technology sector and as a result I received two job offers during my last seat. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the team and highly recommend applying to Accutrainee for quality work and a great learning experience.”

Are you looking for a flexible training contract that will provide you with the essential experience to get your legal career off the ground? See how Accutrainee can help you by filling in our enquiry form or by visiting our careers page.

Lesley O Neill - training contract

Is it time for employers to embrace flexible working?

By Susan Cooper, Accutrainee Founder

Earlier this year, I was on a panel at the Law Society’s Gender Equality in Law symposium to discuss how flexible working can attract and retain talent. Listening to my fellow panel members – and to the questions that came from the audience – I was struck by the correlations between flexible working and greater diversity, inclusion, talent retention and employee engagement.

Many highly skilled people leave the workforce mid-career to care for children and relatives, thus creating a ‘diversity vacuum’ in many organisations. Yet by enabling people to remain in or return to roles on a flexible basis, businesses can help turn the tide and improve the diversity of their talent.

Flexible working can undoubtedly foster employee engagement and boost loyalty. A recent CIPD survey found that workers on flexible arrangements tend to demonstrate greater job satisfaction and are less likely to quit. Although there is evidence to suggest that up take of flexible working opportunities are being hindered due to the perceived negative impact on careers. This suggests there is still work to be done on developing genuinely supportive organisational cultures.

So what about Millennials, is flexible working important to them and should employers care?

Millennials (broadly those born between 1980 to 1995) and Generation Z make up more than half the world’s population and already account for most of the global workforce according to Deloitte’s 2019 survey on Millennials so any employer ignoring their wants and needs does so at their peril.

However, that should not be seen as a problem for employers. At Accutrainee, we speak to hundreds of junior lawyers and legal graduates – all Millennials – about their career goals and aspirations.

In my view, Millennials are much braver than previous generations, my own included. They have a greater ability to challenge the status quo. They are willing to nurture and protect a slightly different set of priorities. They want flexibility. They want to be trusted about where, when and how they do their work. They want to really enjoy their work and feel that they are having a positive impact on the goals of the business. They want to have a voice.

Company culture is important to Millennials. They want to work in companies with a clear and strong corporate social responsibility.

But over and above all this, Millennials are looking for a good, healthy work/life balance. And, crucially, they are not afraid to ask for it. Employers need to appreciate these wishes. If employers are unwilling to deliver these types of working environments, Millennials are also far more likely to jump ship.

As the legal world adopts new business models such as agile working and re-evaluates the law firms’ traditional pyramid structures, ensuring that flexible working is embedded into our culture will be absolutely vital in order to minimise the continual drain of valuable talent.

The Law Society's Equality In Law International Symposium

Question:

What is the business case for ensuring that organisations are diverse and inclusive?

Answer:

Institutions from all sectors, whether they are corporates, law firms or financial institutions, to name a few, have developed diversity and inclusion policies in response to market demands. This benefits their own best practice and it makes good commercial sense given their clients’ expectations.

While lawyers and clients intuitively know that diversity and inclusion (D&I) matters, there is research supporting many key commercial benefits. This is not an exhaustive research piece but highlights some of the results from research supported by anecdotal comments from our clients.

There are a number of private and government research papers on this topic. One of the most comprehensive reports was provided by McKinsey & Co in 2017 – ‘Delivering through diversity’ expands on its 2015 research ‘Why diversity matters’ and is “based on a data set of over 1,000 companies covering 12 countries using two measures of financial performance: profitability and value creation.” There are some encouraging statistics which support the value D&I can add to an organisation. For example, “firms in the top quartile for gender diversity are 21% more likely to enjoy profitability than companies in the bottom quartile.”

The 2015 and 2017 McKinsey Reports provide detailed statistics of the correlation between diversity and inclusion and financial performance.

However, in a snapshot, this is what the research, media and companies are reporting:

Embracing D&I attracts talent
A diverse and inclusive workplace gives a company a competitive advantage. Companies recognising D&I as a priority are finding that in their hiring processes, such a priority is a favourable attraction for talented graduates, particularly in terms of their flexible working policies, parental leave policies and commitment to providing an inclusive work environment.

D&I improves client understanding
If a company is pitching a deal and there is a diverse cultural viewpoint on the transactional team similar to the cultural background of the client’s deal team, then such a diverse view provides a valued part of the decision making and execution process. Many law firms have also recognised this, for example, Clifford Chance: “As a leading law firm….it is essential to our commercial strategy that we foster an inclusive culture so that we provide our clients with the best advice.”

D&I promotes creativity and innovation
Companies have found that if a client is looking for a creative solution, having members of the team with varying gender, ethnic and cultural backgrounds can lead to more creative solutions. Research supports that this is particularly relevant in the technology sector. From Accutrainee’s own experiences, we have seen time and time again the value our clients place on the ability to develop teams from diverse backgrounds and the advantages that are gained from having teams who are more likely to approach problems in entirely different ways, leading to more innovative solutions. This diversity can be achieved through recruiting from different pools of candidates who have been shortlisted using different processes and interviewers.

Embracing D&I enhances the firm’s image, brand and reputation
Companies who are leaders in the D&I space have benefitted from an enhanced reputation extending “beyond their employees to their customers, supply chain, local communities and a wider society,” according to McKinsey & Co. D&I, as part of a company’s wider corporate and social responsibility agenda, is often one of the many key requirements in completing a tender for major outsourcing contracts. Clients want to see this as it makes commercial sense. If a company cannot demonstrate its commitment to D&I, this can, in certain circumstances, be a deal breaker.

Conclusion
Companies and their clients and sectors are recognising and embracing the commercial benefits of D&I. As graduates, and as the lawyers and employers of the future – the research into the correlation between D&I and financial and commercial success continues to improve and will hopefully be observed.

Accutrainee – flexible junior resourcing for the legal profession

Why are we seeing more in-house training contracts?
By Susan Cooper, Accutrainee Founder

When I was applying for my trainee contract, I took the same well-trodden path as everyone else at that time – apply to a law firm. It was certainly a rewarding experience. At the time, it was really the only way to go. Applying for an in-house training contract was almost unheard of.

That tide has turned. Today, an increasing number of trainees want to train and work in-house. We have been interviewing and assessing potential trainee solicitors for more than six years. We have met thousands of them (literally).  A solid number of them – not yet a majority, (but I wouldn’t rule it out in the near future) – actively seek an in-house career.

Their reasons are clear. They want to know one client and they want to know them well, rather than servicing a number of them. They want to focus on a particular industry and to get to understand it inside out. They want to be valuable to one organisation. For them, the ultimate long-term prize may not be partnership in a law firm but an executive seat on a board.

So why has there been this shift in graduate mindset?

I think its roots lie in the move towards achieving greater “commercial awareness” that the legal profession has focused on over the last decade or so. Students started to appreciate that the service delivery of a lawyer was not just about knowing the technicalities of the law but about understanding the client, their business strategy and their risk appetite.

Advising a generation of legal students that commercial awareness is a necessary attribute for being a good solicitor is leading many to ask the next natural question: why not focus on training and understanding one particular company or industry?

This attitude has also been shaped by business changes over the past decade, fuelled, not least, by the digital tech revolution and the emergence of many new sectors, which are attractive to graduates, such as technology or media and entertainment. These are worlds in which they want to work as lawyers. Furthermore, they reason, by the end of their training contract they will have gained specific industry expertise, which will make them more valuable.

I believe that a service such as Accutrainee is also contributing to this wider shift. We are able to support companies by helping them identify and acquire high-quality trainees, by acting as the training establishment and providing the mentoring and detailed assessment of a trainee’s progress.  We employ the trainees and keep a watchful eye on what they are doing and what they might still need to do. For a growing number of ambitious and talented law graduates, the route to in-house training contracts is more open than ever.

The evolution of the in-house legal scene

From regulated industries to fast-growing tech firms, the size of in-house legal teams is increasing. There is a trove of insights in this feature, which is the result of a survey of 100 in-house lawyers at major companies and interviews with more than 30 General Counsels on the evolution and direction of the in-house legal scene.

Full article


When I was applying for my trainee contract, I took the same well-trodden path as everyone else at that time. That tide has turned…


By Susan Cooper, Accutrainee Founder

Today, an increasing number of trainees want to train and work in-house. We have been interviewing and assessing potential trainee solicitors for more than six years. We have met thousands of them (literally). A solid number of them – not yet a majority, (but I wouldn’t rule it out in the near future) – actively seek an in-house career.

Their reasons are clear. They want to know one client and they want to know them well, rather than servicing a number of them. They want to focus on a particular industry and to get to understand it inside out. They want to be valuable to one organisation. For them, the ultimate long-term prize may not be partnership in a law firm but an executive seat on a board.

So why has there been this shift in graduate mindset?

I think its roots lie in the move towards achieving greater “commercial awareness” that the legal profession has focused on over the last decade or so. Students started to appreciate that the service delivery of a lawyer was not just about knowing the technicalities of the law but about understanding the client, their business strategy and their risk appetite.

Advising a generation of legal students that commercial awareness is a necessary attribute for being a good solicitor is leading many to ask the next natural question: why not focus on training and understanding one particular company or industry?

This attitude has also been shaped by business changes over the past decade, fuelled, not least, by the digital tech revolution and the emergence of many new sectors, which are attractive to graduates, such as technology or media and entertainment. These are worlds in which they want to work as lawyers. Furthermore, they reason, by the end of their training contract they will have gained specific industry expertise, which will make them more valuable.

I believe that a service such as Accutrainee is also contributing to this wider shift. We are able to support companies by helping them identify and acquire high-quality trainees, by acting as the training establishment and providing the mentoring and detailed assessment of a trainee’s progress. We employ the trainees and keep a watchful eye on what they are doing and what they might still need to do. For a growing number of ambitious and talented law graduates, the route to in-house training contracts is more open than ever.

Susan Cooper Accutrainee

What steps should UK businesses take to ensure compliance with data protection regulations post-Brexit?


The UK’s as-yet unresolved terms by which it will leave the European Union (EU) have sent the legal community into something of a spin as the ramifications work their way through the system. This is particularly the case with regards to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), not least given their scope and the volume of time, effort and money businesses have very recently expended to attain compliance with the regulations.

GDPR
The GDPR is an EU regulation that controls the use of personal data in the EEA and is relevant to most businesses and organisations. Its aim is to harmonise data protection laws across the EU and transform the way personal data is collected, shared and used. When the UK exits the EU, the GDPR will no longer have direct effect in the UK, but it will continue to be incorporated into UK law by virtue of the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

DPA
The UK government has also aligned its domestic law with the GDPR through the enactment of the DPA. The aim of the DPA is to apply GDPR standards in the UK context, provide additional UK-specific rules on data processing, provide a bespoke regime for law enforcement and national security data processing, and help prepare the UK for Brexit. It updates the rights provided for in the Data Protection Act 1998 to make them easier to exercise and to ensure that they continue to be relevant with the advent of more advanced data processing methods. The DPA will continue to have effect after the UK leaves the EU.

Brexit before an adequacy decision
Under the GDPR, there is a general prohibition on the transfer of personal data out of the EU, with certain exceptions. One of those exceptions is for a country to subject its own rules and regulations governing the handling of personal data to a so-called ‘adequacy decision’ by the European Commission. This is effectively the Commission’s verdict that the systems in place are substantively similar enough to afford adequate protection to allow for the transfer of EU personal data to that country.

After the UK leaves the EU, it is likely to be the case that an adequacy decision will be required in order to go on receiving transfers of personal data from the EU. There is a high probability that the UK could leave the EU before an adequacy decision has been reached by the Commission, but there is no real reason for businesses to fall into a blind panic regarding their data protection responsibilities as a result.

There is no doubt that a highly prudent option for all businesses would be to put some kind of Brexit clause into their standard contracts, but typically, not need to say much more than: “In the event of the terms of the agreement becoming unworkable or more difficult as a result of Brexit, the parties will renegotiate those terms that are affected, including, where necessary, their data protection clauses.”

For businesses that transfer significant quantities of personal data from the EU to the UK or in reliance on shared frameworks, there will be a need to take some steps to ensure that the lack of an adequacy decision does not unduly affect them.

A couple of factors to consider

Governance and compliance arrangements with respect to the designation of a data protection officer might need to be reconsidered. In the absence of a Brexit deal, companies may have to make alternative arrangements with regards to their EU main establishment if they are relying upon operating under the GDPR ‘one-stop shop’ (the notion that you can rely on a single office in the UK being able to handle all customer data within the EU).

Privacy Shield

UK businesses transferring personal data to the US (or vice versa for US businesses) should also be aware that in the event that there is no transition period agreed between the UK and the EU, companies relying on Privacy Shield must take immediate steps to make a public commitment to complying with the Privacy Shield stating that it will include the UK and in any event they must do so before the end of any agreed transition period.

Conclusion
Despite the political turmoil in Westminster, the facts on the ground in relation to businesses’ personal data-handling responsibilities will not change substantively in a post-Brexit world, no matter what the final status is. A small number of prudent steps to align businesses’ data protection strategies to ensure it can cope with any of the eventual outcomes will, however, go a long way toward averting any panic.

Duncan Burrell is a trainee solicitor at Accutrainee

The Shard

When I initially announced my intention to pursue a career in law, friends of the family who had legal experience left me with no illusion as to how difficult it might be, although this was more to do with the overall challenges of entering the profession, rather than race. However, it was still suggested that I use my middle name (John) in applications as it might serve me better. Whilst my initial informal work experience reinforced the preconceived notion that this was a profession dominated by the white middle class, my first salaried role post-graduation was actually handed to me by a black female partner, highlighting the change that continues to permeate throughout the profession.

For what it’s worth, I do not particularly believe that my ethnic background held me back. The competitiveness of the legal profession is well-documented and for good reason.

Accutrainee first seriously came onto my radar whilst I was working as a paralegal at GE. A senior member of the legal team recommended that I look into it further and I did. The rest, as they say, is history. I am currently seconded by Accutrainee to the in-house legal department at an investment research and equities broker. With all the change in the regulatory landscape that has occurred over the last 18 months, it’s been a fantastic time to be a trainee and cut my teeth on work at such a critical period.

As clichéd as it sounds, the advice that I would give to graduates and trainees from an ethnic minority background is to persevere and be resourceful. Diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of corporate recruitment policies and there are some fantastic organisations (Black Lawyers’ Directory and ACS in the City of London) out there that can help you capitalise on this and get a foot in the door.

In addition, from what I’ve witnessed, Accutrainee has developed fantastic training opportunities and the diversity of the trainee cohort is evidence of the truly even playing field they have created.

However, make no mistake, this is an extremely difficult profession to get into and an incredibly demanding profession once you’re in the door. There will be knockbacks and rejections and your ability to take them on the chin and grow and learn from them is vital. Be prepared to be brutally honest with yourself. If you ever find yourself asking the question “Can I do more?” – the chances are there’s still something left to give.

Finally, I would stress the importance of mining your network thoroughly to create opportunities and openings. You’d be surprised at the avenues that might open up if you speak to people in your wider circle who have connections (however tenuous) to the legal profession.

Some of the most valuable lessons I have learned are from my Aunt who has been a true role model. She managed to accomplish so much in her professional life whilst raising me (with the help of my Grandmother) at a time when prejudice and discrimination were far more damaging and prevalent than they are today. In overcoming these at-the-time unchecked hurdles, the most valuable lesson she instilled in me (and constantly reinforced by example) was the importance of hard work and integrity. Hard work will take you to seemingly unreachable places and integrity will cement your reputation and legacy.

However, I’ve also had the fortune to have encountered multiple people who have shaped me both professionally and personally. It’s crucial to remember that even if you have a role model, keep an open mind (and open ear!) as you can stand to learn so much from others in your career, not just your superiors.

Clients are now increasingly demanding diversity, which is a fair thing to ask given the globalization of the economy. Even in the absence of client-driven change, diversity is important in any business to avoid group-think. Different people from different backgrounds with different mindsets working towards the same objectives fosters an environment where new, relevant and exciting goals can be achieved. The corporate world is aware of this – the FCA recently released a discussion paper called Transforming Culture in Financial Services where, among other things, they focus on the importance of diversity and the benefits it can bring to a business.

Accutrainee has given me the opportunity to gain a wide variety of invaluable skills through a bespoke Training Contract tailored to my interests and needs. Accutrainee’s truly unique approach has allowed me to experience not only different types of law but also different businesses, personalities and working environments. As the only Trainee in the companies I have been seconded to, I found having a comprehensive handover from my predecessor at the start of each seat particularly helpful. My learning was accelerated further by high levels of responsibility at an early stage and continuous guidance and support from Accutrainee in the form of monthly Training Principal Meetings, bi-annual appraisals, frequent training sessions and networking events. This has been a real advantage, as I receive feedback on my work and progress not only from my day-to-day supervisor but also from my Training Principal and others from the Accutrainee Team.

A Training Contract is a journey that should challenge and motivate you. As a Trainee Solicitor with Accutrainee you will be able to develop your legal skills and career in a flexible, supportive and stimulating environment standing you in good stead to become a highly successful Solicitor.

For me, the real journey began when I received the lucky phone call announcing that I had been successful at an interview with one of Accutrainee’s clients. The first seat of my Training Contract started almost immediately, in one of my dream practice areas – media and finance law within the film industry. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company has offices in every part of the globe. I am now four months into my second seat, seconded to a large rail freight company, where I have the opportunity to gain experience in commercial law as well as compliance, insurance and employment law. I have found my in-house experience particularly enriching and it has facilitated deep client knowledge and commercial awareness. I would like to think that over the past year I have collected a few valuable skills that I can share with others about to embark on their journey to qualification.

Early on in my training, I was told that a Training Contract is about much more than just learning the law. They were right. It is about using your legal skills in a way that adds value to the business, developing as a leader and gaining the confidence and skills that make clients want to turn to you for advice.

Perhaps the most valuable advice I have received so far, is that what a supervisor values most is time and you are there to make their life easier. Try to anticipate what your supervisor will need next and stay one step ahead. Research your assignment and read any relevant notes on PLC before producing a draft document. Go to your supervisor only once you have a full list of the questions that will enable you to complete your task.

Another important piece of advice is that confidence is a vital trait for a Trainee Solicitor to develop. As Trainees we are keen to prove our worth but the thrill of excitement you get when a client seeks your legal advice, is quickly replaced by anxiety when you realise the next words you say may affect your client’s case. In my experience, researching thoroughly, approaching questions analytically and being methodical has helped me gain a better understanding of how to add value to the team and effectively support clients. Seek opportunities to work on projects/cases that you find challenging, volunteer to do training sessions and presentations, ask for regular feedback and note down all the points that you can improve upon. A Training Contract is your time to learn so use it wisely!

Developing your networking skills is another integral part of the Training Contract. As a Trainee, you may not necessarily be expected to bring in new business but it is still useful to raise your profile. I found walking into a room full of strangers and trying to strike up a conversation with somebody on an unfamiliar topic terrifying. However, it helped me to remember that other people were likely to be feeling the same way too. Most importantly, invest some time in getting to know your team as these relationships may be valuable long after you have completed your Training Contract.

Whilst Training Contract experiences vary from place to place, I hope I have provided a few useful tips and perhaps helped you to reflect on the kind of Trainee you want to be.

I had already been working in a top-tier investment bank for a number of years and was fortunate enough to be sponsored through both the GDL and LPC part-time.  It had been planned that I would complete my training contract in-house as well but wider circumstances dictated that this would no longer be feasible.  It was therefore serendipitous that on a training course, I happened to sit next to Elliot, an Accutrainee. He told me about the innovative training contract programme Accutrainee had introduced to the legal profession, which was just what I needed to continue my journey towards qualification.

I am now seconded to the same investment bank.  I am currently working on the trading floor assisting front office desks that cover Financing, Derivatives and Structured Products within Global Markets, which gives me exposure to a number of complex transactions.

A financing transaction would typically be for hedge funds or private equity clients who seek to borrow money using their portfolio as collateral.  My support includes drafting the necessary documentation, managing calls with both the instructing client and external counsel, co-ordinating internal sign-offs and closing the transaction.  I’m not quite the Harvey from Suits but it certainly keeps me busy and is sometimes just as dramatic!

A fund derivative transaction takes the form of a swap or an option, which derives its value from the underlying fund. I prepare the swap or option confirmation based on both the traded term-sheet and the relevant ISDA Definitions or ISDA Master Agreements signed by the counterparties. If disputes arise, I will review and negotiate the updated terms with support from my supervisor.

Structured Products are fixed-term investments where the pay-out depends on the performance of a fund, equity shares or indices. I provide ad hoc advice to the business, prepare the legal documentation and manage the delivery via external counsel, if there is no precedent.

The secondment is challenging but rewarding.  Some of the highlights include:

  • Getting involved in very complex financing transactions and instructing external counsel
  • Improving my communication skills by briefing external counsel
  • Learning to stay calm even when legal issues inevitably pop up right before closing
  • Updating legal documentation related to high profile regulatory change for example in relation to PRIIPs (Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation)
  • Gaining increased responsibility for advice, drafting and client engagement

There is always too much to do but the Accutrainee team provides an excellent source of training, support and guidance throughout the process.  There are monthly meetings with my mentor who has a wealth of both legal and practical experience to offer via her long career at a Magic Circle firm.  There is always someone to reach out to should you need support.

Outside of work, I volunteer to represent people at employment tribunals through FRU (free representation unit) amongst other things!

I am due to qualify in just six short months because Accutrainee helped my employer by adopting the role of the training establishment, delivering the necessary structure to my training and managing all regulatory requirements to ensure that I receive a top quality training experience.

So if you are currently working at an organisation as an experienced documentation specialist or managing transactions from a legal perspective and your manager would like to help you on your journey to qualification but isn’t quite sure how to do it, I recommend getting in touch with Accutrainee to see how they can help.  I would also suggest contacting Accutrainee, if you happen to be a paralegal with several years of experience and would like to pursue further training.

I am excited to welcome you to Accutrainee’s first newsletter.  Accutrainee offers a unique trainee resource solution by employing trainee solicitors and sending them on secondments to clients. Find out more about what we do, our candidates and latest developments in trainee qualification routes in this first newsletter.

Susan Cooper, the CEO and Founder.

Click here to read our newsletter.

Do you need additional resourcing for your legal team?

Here are some of our client FAQs. Please call us on 020 7040 0973 if you have any further questions.

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Earlier this year I completed my first seat with the London office of an American firm. The London office specialises in trade finance and insurance litigation employing some of the leading practitioners in these fields.

One of the greatest advantages of working in a smaller team was the amount of responsibility you can take on as a trainee. Working for a specialised team also means that, with time, you can really familiarise yourself with some of the key documents allowing you the opportunity to gain a much deeper understanding of that legal area.

As I got to know the team and developed my understanding of the practise area I saw my role start to shift from completing more traditional low level trainee tasks to taking on more and more complex work.

Now the catch is that these simple tasks, like running conflict checks, opening matters on the firm’s system and writing case updates never stop, which means that as you start taking on more complex work, you are expected to fit an increasing number of tasks into your daily schedule. Prioritising tasks is a crucial skill for anyone who aspires to become a solicitor. Do not fall into the trap of working through tasks in the order they are given to you. Big mistake! Instead, you need to get into the habit of quickly working out what should take priority. The plus is that starting your training contract with a busy team certainly provides a crash-course on how to prioritise.

The quality of your experiences during the training contract is also affected by your interactions with your fellow trainees. Working, socialising and supporting your fellow trainees is a good way to transition into working life whilst making some great friends along the way.

Another piece of advice I would offer is to be as proactive as possible. As you learn more about the timeline for transactions and build up your confidence, you should start volunteering to take the next step like having a stab at the first draft of the security agreements to accompany a main lending agreement or drafting responses to client emails for a partner to review instead of just waiting to be asked to do those things.

For me personally, meeting with clients at our firm’s anniversary party was probably one of the biggest highlights of my first seat. It goes without saying that a firm’s clients and their respective business projects are invaluable to a firm; but it can be easy to forget that given the wealth of knowledge most clients have of running deals, they often have amazing tips and experiences to share which are well worth tapping in to.

Good luck with your qualification journey.

Listen to one of our recent trainees talk about his experiences as an Accutrainee Trainee, his training contract and some helpful tips!

Questions and answers

Before starting my first trainee secondment in July this year, I had already researched the client and met my future boss. However, not knowing exactly what was to come on my first secondment to a client still proved a little daunting. Nevertheless, I was chomping at the bit to start my training contract and so I was eager to get started.

A big part of my time on secondment so far has been spent working on preparations for MiFID II implementation. My first few weeks here were mostly spent attending numerous meetings with the various heads of internal teams affected by the implementation of MiFID II. Whilst I had previous experience in the financial sector from being engaged in a large corporate restructuring, I was a complete novice to the investment sector and indeed the stock market industry. Therefore, I was grateful for these meetings as they acted as a good introduction to how the client’s business operates within its group and the wider financial market.

The volume of wide-reaching changes that MiFID II is bringing to the market means that I am constantly learning and I am still getting to grips with how the industry landscape will change. Staying organised has been key to keeping on top of things and to allow me the time to reflect on what work I’ve been exposed to. Fortunately, I have found the client to be full of friendly, helpful (and most importantly patient!) people who have given me the time to find my feet and have taken an active interest in ensuring that I understand every decision from the business’ perspective.

What has been really exciting about my experience so far is that I can see just how much more knowledgeable I have become from both a commercial standpoint and in terms of the legal practice skills I am developing. On top of my work for the MiFID II project, I have been involved in a wide range of tasks, from taking attendance notes and minutes at meetings with external counsel, to drafting internal agreements necessary for the day-to-day functioning of the business. I really have been exposed to so much in such a short space of time.

The next few months will be tough as we fast approach the implementation deadline for MiFID II. We will need complete focus and all hands on deck to ensure that we keep up momentum and hit our target date. As always, I’m looking forward to the challenge and I can’t wait to see what the rest of my Accutrainee training contract will have in store.

1 November 2015: the first day of my training contract. Now, almost two years later, I am approaching qualification and the (at one point fairly distant) dream of being able to say, “I am a solicitor!” is finally within reach.

While I completed the traditional route into the legal industry – college, law degree, LPC and work experience at a couple of firms – my training contract in-house has been anything but traditional. Work trips to India and Singapore were certainly highlights last year, but it has also been really satisfying to finalise an agreement after months of negotiations, to settle a dispute where litigation seemed imminent, and to see that a product campaign has been a commercial success.

There isn’t a typical day working in-house – you never know what’s going to end up in your inbox or land on your desk. I predominantly deal with commercial contracts, marketing materials and corporate governance, as well as supporting M&A deals, property and insurance matters.

The legal department I work in, which supports the EMEA region of the business, is very lean – 4 of us – and so the exposure and experience I have gained has been immense. I really do work with, and support, all functions of the business: from procurement and purchasing to sales and marketing, R&D, Regulatory and HR. No two days are the same to say the least.

No doubt you have heard the phrase ‘commercial awareness’ a fair few times at university and law school. I cannot emphasise how important it is to have a solid understanding of the business you are trying to advise, its products or services, people and priorities.  My internal clients do not want a full chapter and verse on black letter law. You have to be pragmatic and offer solutions that help achieve the commercial objectives and goals of the business, whilst minimizing any potential risk as much as possible.

How did I get here? I started off as a paralegal at the European headquarters of a NYSE listed multinational which manufactures and sells medical devices globally. After 3 years in a position that continuously evolved, I brought up the subject of completing a training contract in-house. “How will we achieve that? Do we have the necessary resources? What do we need to do to be recognised by the SRA as a training establishment?” my manager asked. I struggled to find a workable solution, but then in stepped Accutrainee.

Accutrainee is the first of its kind and truly offers a unique and flexible approach, for businesses and graduates alike. The skills you develop through being an Accutrainee Trainee are invaluable – this is all helped through the ongoing support you receive, such as monthly Training Principal Meetings, bi-annual appraisals and frequent workshops. Also, the regular networking/social events are a great way to meet other trainees and to gain contacts. I have found this particularly helpful as I am the only trainee in the department, so it’s nice to be able to discuss current developments and challenges with other people at my level.

My top tips? Work hard, ask questions, be organised, seize every opportunity, and keep focused!

Carla Stagg

 

Photo of Carla Stagg

How does the Accutrainee selection process compare to a traditional law firm selection process?

The application process was straightforward and quick compared to many traditional law firms.  If successful at application stage, you are invited to attend an HR interview with Recruitment Manager Payal Savani and if successful at that stage, you are invited to an assessment centre where, amongst other things, you will interview with Founder, Susan Cooper.

How did you find the interview process at Accutrainee?

On having my first meeting with Payal, I was immediately struck by her friendly and genuinely down-to-earth approach.  This is very different to the recruitment process at some law firms. When I subsequently met Susan, although I was a little nervous, Susan’s passion and friendly nature immediately put me at ease and I honestly felt like she wanted me to succeed and to bring out the best in me. There were no trick questions and you felt you could just be yourself.

What happened after you successfully completed the selection process?

After the selection process, the match making process began and I was matched with client secondments that were in line with my practice area preferences.  Shortly after successfully completing the client selection process, I was offered a role with a business insolvency private practice firm in the City, where I was supporting both the founder and a property consultant with all commercial/residential property matters. There was undoubtedly a steep learning curve, but I thoroughly enjoyed the high level of responsibility.   After my business insolvency secondment, I worked for a US trade finance firm, and then in-house, for a Consulting Firm in financial services regulation.

What are the main advantages of training with Accutrainee over a traditional law firm?

What was great was that every month I would have a direct mentor meeting with a senior solicitor from Accutrainee, where I could discuss any issues/queries on my mind. The mentors frequently came up with practical solutions to help with my development and learning and suggestions on how to resolve any issues and get the most out of my training contract. This was a real advantage because you always felt like you had an impartial mentor supporting you – which I believe is a truly unique offering at Accutrainee.

Overall, the training contract – across both private practice and in-house – meant I got great variety. Unlike being stuck with one law firm for two years, at Accutrainee being seconded to different clients meant I was experiencing changing working environments and working with different people which really stretched me to progress my skills and knowledge. I now feel very confident as an NQ solicitor, having gained a solid range of experience under my belt.

If someone is looking to apply, and feels they are tired of the traditional law firm approach to recruiting trainees – honestly, just apply. I have no hesitation in recommending Accutrainee whatsoever.

Sutha Mohanadas

Author: Charles Laporte-Bisquit (Qualified Solicitor via Accutrainee)

As you embark on what could be a two-year journey of gainful employment in a law firm or company, my main advice to those reading this blog entry is to obtain as wide a range of experience as possible. For each secondment you undertake, you will be exposed to different working styles, personalities and environments which can only help you make a better-informed decision of the type of lawyer you want to become.

For my part, like Obelix from the Gallic comic book series Asterix (and the 2002 feature film with Gérard Depardieu), I fell into the cauldron of litigation in 2013 when I took on an internship with a boutique litigation firm (Hausfeld & Co LLP) after a dry spell applying for training contracts in the City. The fee earners there have an entrepreneurial and exciting approach to litigation and often work on a ‘no win no fee’ basis – nothing like the working environments in any other law firm I had interned with before in London or Paris. My supervisors were interested in making me a trainee but, because they only covered contentious matters, they referred me to Accutrainee, which was an ideal solution.

Accutrainee allowed me to train at Hausfeld & Co and also arranged a non-contentious seat for me with another tier one firm (Sullivan & Worcester UK LLP) that specialises in international trade and export finance. Their London office advises financial institutions on their financing activities in emerging markets in relation to a range of commodities including, oil, gas, metals and cocoa. My work principally involved drafting the underlying contracts between exporters, importers and the various financiers involved. Drafting aside, one particular highlight – which only further confirmed my aspiration to become a litigator – was being asked to help with  a major piece of litigation work for the firm just after a new litigation partner joined, in relation to a client’s dispute under letters of credit.

I’ve been fortunate to experience a lot of responsibility from day one in each secondment, which has really accelerated the learning process. It’s also a great confidence booster to know that some of the top lawyers in the City trust you to get the job done.

Now on to the inevitable hurdles between day one and qualification. There are the Professional Skills Course (PSC) modules you will need to complete during your training contract. Together this totals 12 days (72 hours) of training. Some culminate in a written or oral examination after three consecutive days of class workshops. Needless to say, you should be looking to complete these core modules as soon as feasible to help you cope with that ever-growing to-do-list as you progress through your first couple of seats. For your own health, I would advise against sitting 12 days’ worth of modules in one go or even sporadically during busy work terms. For my part, I completed large chunks of my modules in the summertime, when lawyers and clients alike can sometimes enjoy some respite from their usual workload.

Also why leave the biannual appraisals and monthly training journals until the last minute? It is an unnecessary cause of stress and by winging it, you prove yourself unprepared and unable to cope with deadlines – one of the many practice skill standards you will be required to meet as a trainee solicitor.  If like me blank paper forms put you off, it helps to keep detailed timekeeping records. If done correctly on a daily basis, these records (which you have to keep anyway for billing purposes) will materially reduce the pain of work-related introspection, improve accuracy and increase efficiency (meaning billable hours). It really is a win-win strategy!

Charles

How thinking differently about recruitment can help in-house legal teams meet their biggest challenge…

The challenges facing in-house legal teams are well-documented. An economic and regulatory environment-induced pressure to manage increasing workload, while containing or in many cases reducing resources.

One of the tactics increasingly employed to deal with this is to reduce external spend. This is an obvious target in a market in which the buyer-seller relationship is shifting so rapidly in favour of the former. However, doing so while ensuring to requisite quality of service to deliver value to the business is in itself becoming something of an art form amongst General Counsel.

Unsurprisingly, increasing headcount within the legal department rarely features among the list of tactics for a GC to present to the finance function. It is hardly a demonstration of intention to reduce costs and indeed on the face of it would seem to fly in the face of this aim. Not only would it increase business overhead, it also reduces flexibility, in investing in a set of specialist capabilities to meet a need that may or may not exist next year or the year after.

However, when we talk about growing the legal team we are usually thinking about recruiting externally and here is where many may be missing an opportunity. All too frequently we hear of highly-valued junior members of in-house teams (whether paralegals or some other label) moving elsewhere in order to further their legal careers with training contracts.

This is something of a shame. They have spent time in a role where they are well-placed to understand the needs of the business and pick up that key in-house trait of being “commercial”, which in-house lawyers often complain is too rarely exhibited by private practice lawyers. Yet, they are effectively replaced with … private practice lawyers (either by recruitment or engagement as external providers, neither of which are likely to be cheap options). Recruiting trainees afresh also seems to be rare practice for in-house teams (particularly in the context of the high demand we are seeing from applicants for in-house roles). This would create a similarly good opportunity for the business to shape a lawyer in line with its requirements from day one.

While the existing approach seems to fly in the face of common sense, looking through the eyes of a General Counsel overseeing a continually hard-pressed team, the alternative of offering training contracts may appear less attractive.

The whole concept of meeting SRA regulatory training requirements is really the last thing anyone needs in such a position. Then there is the time, effort and commitment in overseeing the process, ensuring ongoing training requirements are met both from regulatory and personal development perspectives. To add to this there is often the likelihood that the range of work on offer within the legal department is not sufficiently varied to be able to meet the experience requirement, which on the face of it makes for an insurmountable hurdle even if the foregoing challenges are overcome.

A viable solution to this situation is an outsourced “trainee resourcing solution” of the type offered by Accutrainee. Accutrainee is an SRA registered training establishment. It solves the problem by taking on the staff as trainees and seconding them back to the business for a pre-agreed period of between 3-24 months. Where required, it will arrange for trainees to be seconded to other organisations to ensure the required range of experience is covered.

Not only does this overcome the training regulatory barrier, it also actually reduces headcount (for the 2 year period) and absorbs employer risk, typically remaining cost-neutral while in the meantime offering the longer term benefit of developing a valued member of staff towards full qualification as a solicitor. After the training contract is completed, the business can re-employ a fully qualified solicitor, on terms that are agreed entirely between the parties (Accutrainee has no part in this).

With all of the growing challenges facing business, it makes sense to look beyond the obvious for easy solutions. At Accutrainee, we believe this is exactly what we offer.

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