Law Commission now recruiting for September 2016

Happy New Year to all Law students!  

To start off the New Year, as always, the Law Commission is recruiting up to 18 Research Assistants to work for approximately 51 weeks starting in September 2016 in London.  The posts will be available in the following areas:

Commercial and Common Law
Criminal Law
Property, Family and Trust Law
Public Law
Statute Law Repeals

The Law Commission is a statutory body set up under the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where it is needed. 

Its aims are: 

To ensure that the law is fair, modern, simple and as cost-effective as possible 

To conduct research and consultations in order to make recommendations for reform for consideration by Parliament 

To codify the law, eliminate anomalies, repeal obsolete and unnecessary enactments and reduce the number of separate statutes 

The Law Commission is an independent non-departmental body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. Further information about the Law Commission and its work can be obtained from its website at http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/. 

The posts are on a fixed term basis, up to 12 months. 

Applications are now open for final year Law students and close on 1 February 2016. Interviews will take place between 14 and 24 March 2016.

Qualifications

The minimum criteria are that by August 2016 you should have completed two years’ full-time substantive legal studies (or the equivalent in part-time study). The results must be at, or at the equivalent of, first class or good 2.1 standard, with at least some elements of first class work.

Details of the posts are available in a separate guide for applicants, which you must read before applying, at:
http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission/working-for-us/jobs.htm

Use the Christmas holiday to apply for a Vacation Scheme

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Law students! 

If your goal is to secure a training contract at some stage after your Law degree and you are currently in your second or final year, you might like to spend part of your Christmas break applying for Work Placements or, to use their more common name, Vac schemes.

The larger commercial law firms have opened their spring and summer Work Placement schemes for applications.  Most of the closing dates are mid to end of January or February 2016 although some firms will offer places before the deadlines so it can be worthwhile to apply early.

What's even better is that as well as a Work Placement looking good on your CV, you also get paid!

For details of firms offering Work Placements and closing dates see:
Chambers and Partners
Target Jobs
LawCareers.Net


Good luck with your applications!

Applying for the BPTC for September 2016?

Applications are now open for the BPTC for September 2016.  You apply on the website www.barsas.com and applications close on Monday 11 January 2016.

It costs £50 to make an application and you have 3 choices of provider.

Candidates must pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT) in order to be accepted onto the BPTC.
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/bar-professional-training-course/bar-course-aptitude-test/
but please note the following announcement from the Bar Standards Board:

"The opening of the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT) for students starting in 2016 will be deferred until at least March 2016. This is to allow time for completion of an important evaluation of the test in its first years of implementation. Please read this press release for further information.
Please note, you can still apply for a BPTC place via BarSAS before you have taken and passed the BCAT."

Succesful candidates must also join an Inn by 31 May 2016.

 

Please let me know if you need any help with your application by emailing p.hardie@chester.ac.uk

 

 

SRA proposes a qualifying exam for all new solicitors

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has proposed a new exam for all trainees wishing to qualify as solicitors to ensure they all meet the same "high standard" of professional competence.

Under the SRA's Training for Tomorrow programme, the SRA has launched a consultation on introducing a common professional assessment for intending solicitors: the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE).  The consultation period lasts until 4 March 2016.

I quote from the SRA's website:

"It is important that newly qualified solicitors, regardless of the pathway they have followed, should demonstrate a level of intellectual and analytical ability at least equivalent to that of a graduate. This is reflected in the standard we propose for qualification."

The exam would be available in autumn 2018 at the earliest.

For full details please see http://www.sra.org.uk/sra/consultations/t4t-assessing-competence.page

Interesting article in @Independent this week re skills gained from a Law degree

If you're not sure what to do with your Law degree and are looking for alternatives to solicitor or barrister, have a read of this article in this week's Independent newspaper.

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/legal-education-a-law-degree-can-be-a-perfect-route-to-a-career-in-other-fields-a6737931.html

Law Society sets new recommended minimum salary for trainee solicitors

A year on from the abolition of the old required minimum salary for trainees by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Law Society has recommended its reinstatement.

Although not enforceable, The Law Society’s new recommendation is that trainees should be paid at least £20,276 in London, and £18,183 elsewhere. This is based on the living wage plus the average yearly Legal Practice Course repayment. It will be reviewed every November.

This is a step in the right direction for trainees, some of whom were being paid only the minimum wage since the old minimum salary was abolished.  It is hoped that this move will also encourage greater social mobility within the legal profession.

Win a week's work experience at the London office of Law firm Ropes & Gray!

Lawyer 2B and Ropes & Gray have teamed up for our latest competition! Students are invited to submit three-minute videos addressing the question: Is national security more important than individual privacy? Who can Enter? The competition is open to all undergraduates, GDL and LPC students. How to Enter Videos should be no more than three minutes long. Email your video submission to londonHR@ropesgray.com with the subject line "Video Competition". The deadline for entries is 23.59 on 15 November 2015. In your email please also include your full name and brief academic details (undergraduate university and course with result or predicted result; current course and institution if a postgrad; and A Level grades). The Prizes Finalists will be invited to a drinks evening at Ropes & Gray on the evening of 26 November 2015, where the overall winner will be announced. The firm will pay for reasonable travel expenses for finalists residing outside the M25 area. The top prize is one week’s work experience at Ropes & Gray’s London office (date of work experience to be between March and August 2016). The best video entries will be published on Lawyer2B.com.