An insight into the changes facing the legal sector and top tips for advising on this popular choice of career Mark Morris Career Guidance Practitioner Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx)

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx)  Professional body for Chartered Legal Executive lawyers, other legal practitioners and paralegals.  1 of the 3 core regulators of the legal profession.  Route to a qualified lawyer without a requirement to having a law degree, although law graduates and graduates with non- law degrees can also qualify as a lawyer through the CILEx route.  Apprenticeships.  Entry to CILEx is accessible to those holding a variety of qualification levels.

Aim  Provide an insight into how the legal sector is changing and cover key issues when advising about a career in law.  Legal sector overview  Changing landscape  Routes  Getting a legal sector job  Useful resources

Legal Sector Overview

Jurisdictions  There are three separate jurisdictions within the UK with three regulatory, representative and legislative frameworks within which the legal sector operates.  England and Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland

Regulators  SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) – Solicitors  Bar Standards Council – Barristers  ILEx Professional Standards – Chartered legal executives

Legal services sector  The legal services sector is diverse in terms of the people working within it, the way in which they work and are employed and the type of work undertaken.  Standard national datasets suggest that in 2010 around 376,800 people worked in the UK legal services sector as their main job.  Skills for Justice - Labour Market Information Report for Legal Services 30/09/2010 

Not just law firms  In house  Companies  NHS Trusts  Local government  Government bodies – GLS, CPS, Land Registry  Voluntary – CABs, legal community centres  Charities  Sports – eg Football Association  City  ABS – Co-op, Price Waterhouse, BT  Self employment  Armed forces  Law firms

Roles

 The legal services sector in the UK is made up of a wide variety of job roles.  For purpose of this talk divided into  Lawyers  Paralegal  Legal support staff  Judiciary

The following are categorised as Lawyers by the Legal Service Board (LSB)  Note: The term lawyer is not technically limited to solicitors and barristers. It means someone qualified and experienced in the law.  Solicitor  Barrister  Licensed Conveyancer  Notary  Legal Executive (now Chartered Legal Executive)  Costs Lawyer  Patent Attorney  Trade Mark Attorney

Chartered Legal Executives and Solicitors  Fellow – specialist lawyer  Fully qualified and experienced Chartered Legal Executive lawyers are able to undertake many of the legal activities that solicitors do.  So they are essentially doing the same work though Chartered Legal Executives tend to specialise in one area of law, unlike their solicitor partners who may have trained and practiced across several areas.  Chartered Legal Executive lawyers must adhere to a code of conduct and, like solicitors, are required to continue training throughout their careers in order to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments in the law.  Advocates  Partners  Judges  Coroners  Set up in practice

Paralegal  Paralegals are the fastest growing group within the legal profession.  Growing number of law firms in England where solicitors are now outnumbered by paralegals.  Fee earning and non fee earning  No fixed definition of a paralegal  Very broad meaning as it is essentially a default term used to describe a huge variety of non-lawyers who do legal work.  Growth in numbers  Different estimates depending on definition  50,000  500,000

Legal Support Staff  Legal support staff who do not do legal work themselves, but support those who do.  Legal assistant, legal secretary

Changing Landscape

Sector in change  Diversity  Social mobility  Judiciary  Widen consumer choice  ABS  Practice Rights  CILEx lawyers  New regulators  Work based learning  Training Contracts  CILEx  Apprenticeships  Legal reforms  Legal Services Act 2007  ABS  Jackson Reforms – PPI  Legal aid  Business models  Pyramid structures  Technology  Virtual law  Mergers  Outsourcing

Rise of paralegals and specialist lawyers

Competition, government policy changes and fixed billing impacting on costs, roles and business models.

Rise of paralegals and specialist lawyers  Law firms will increase the number of paralegals they employ by 18 per cent over the next five years - survey by Skills for Justice (2012)  “There will only be two types of law firm left, massive ones and tiny niche ones like ourselves....” Quote from Bellwether Report 2014

313 apprentices working at 89 businesses across England and Wales since the launch in 2013

Trailblazers – Legal Apprenticeships  3 pathways  Solicitor  Paralegal  Chartered legal executive  Late

Routes

Routes in  Academic  Degree –further training  Work based  CILEx – Professional Course – Level 3 & 6  Legal Services Apprenticeships – Level 3 & 4  Graduates – CILEx GFTD  Administration Route  Paralegal Route

The attraction of work based learning routes in law  Training Contracts - availability  Total costs It is estimated that the overall cost of a degree could be as much as £26,000. Add to this the fees for the Common Professional Examination and/or the Legal Practice Course, it is estimated that an individual could be carrying a total debt of £25,000 - £50,000 at the beginning of the training contract. Therefore, careful thought and extensive research is required before you embark on your legal path. Law Society /  For law and GDL graduates, CILEx Graduate Fast-track Diploma which typically costs around £2,800 and takes one year to complete through part-time study.  Apprenticeship  Earn as you learn  Brand

Getting a legal sector job

Portfolio building  Making a case for a legal career  Planning, portfolio building  Build experience  Blocks to build from  Stages

Gaining experience  Work shadowing  Work experience  Voluntary  CAB - Citizens Advice Bureau  PSU -Personal Support Unit  Community Legal Centres  Experiences allied to legal processes

Developing skills and competences  Terminology  Understand processes  Network  CILEx branch  Robust  Standout – e:g: community, sports

Useful resources  CILEx Careers  Professional bodies – eg CILEx, Law Society, Bar Council  Skills for Justice  CareerPlayer – diversity in the legal sector film  Commentators such as Richard Susskind, Richard Moorland  Legal Futures  Newspapers  Professions Week