Finding hidden talent pools: establishing a legal apprentice scheme in your firm

Two of the big challenges facing law firms are to grow profits in a market where top line growth is hard to find; and to address the concern - from both clients and from within the profession - that current routes into the law are promoting social exclusion.

The development of an apprentice model for the profession may enable us to address both of these issues and tap into a pool of talent which currently is overlooked.

The legal market has changed significantly in recent years. The Legal Services Act (2007) has opened the ownership and investment model to non-lawyers. This has brought a fresh perspective to how legal services can be priced and delivered. This perspective challenges the traditional lockstep model of advancement for solicitors and the link between years' experience, charge rate and salary. Law firms have begun to respond with their own alternative models.

There have also been changes in how legal services are being priced. With more clients demanding a switch from hourly rates to fixed fees, the focus for the law firm switches from, 'how much time can I record and bill?' It becomes 'how much is it going to cost me to deliver this work?' To deliver the work profitably means having the right mix of staff at the right cost. The current solicitor-led service is predicated on an ability to increase the amount billed by each fee earner year-on-year to cover their increased costs. The cost escalator moves quickly despite efforts in some law firms to decouple seniority from salary. With it growing increasingly difficult to pass on increased costs to clients, the only option is to seek yet more hours from each fee earner. For some larger firms, and those already with a regional presence, the use of out-of-London offices gives an opportunity to manage costs and continue to provide a predominantly lawyer led services. For smaller firms this is a much harder route to follow and here a different staff mix means you can achieve the same outcome by a different route.

There are currently two routes: qualification as a solicitor or qualification as a legal executive. The CILEx (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) has been a career option for many years. In practice it has been attractive to those converting from a paralegal/legal support role. It combines work and study and does offer an option for those who have entered the law and are looking for a practical qualification. Some legal executives have deep knowledge in the areas of law they practice in. It also has a route to gain an LLB. What it does not address clearly is how do you get into qualifying employment in the first place?

There is a third key group of fee earners in the profession: paralegals. They are defined in the negative. They are not solicitors or legal executives. They may have some academic legal training, they may have none. Some will have passed their LPC and some will be on the path to the CILEx qualification. The paralegals in many firms are the flexible workforce to staff large projects. Their role is transient and temporary, though many will find multiple assignments in the same organisation, which gives a sense of permanence to their role, even if the role is not permanent. The challenge facing law firms is how they can improve profitability by changing the make-up of their fee earning population, and avoid compromising both client service and quality.

Alongside the pressure to grow profitably, law firms are also facing the challenge of how to widen access into the legal profession. The traditional route to qualification as a solicitor favours those who are comfortable with debt, and comfortable that their efforts will be rewarded with a training contract. The CILEx route favours those who are ambitious and already working in a legal environment. What about those who are on the outside looking in and who are not going to be taking the route to university?

There are things already happening. The PRIME initiative founded in 2011 was a response to a 2009 government report which showed a profession which was becoming more not less socially exclusive. And although PRIME has taken the lead in providing access to quality work experience for students who might not find a way into law, it is targeting graduate entry. The Sutton Trust are doing similar excellent work in providing access to improve social mobility through education. Both organisations are looking to improve the social mobility of those who might not otherwise enter the profession. But, they are not directly addressing the issue of those who are not planning to go to university but who are considering working in law as a career.

To resolve this challenge we need to establish different entry points into the legal profession. This can be at 16 or 18. It could be later, but these are the points where school leavers can first encounter the apprentice programme.

How does the apprentice model work?

The current apprenticeship model was introduced in 1994 as a response to skills shortages in the UK.

The basic framework has four levels:

• Intermediate Apprenticeships (Level Two): equates to five A* - C GCSEs

• Advanced Apprenticeships (Level Three): Two A Level passes

• Higher Apprenticeships (Level Four/Five): Foundation Degree

• Degree Apprenticeships (Level Six/Seven)

The model provides multiple entry points based on academic achievement.

In addition to a salary, the apprenticeship, at level three, contains an equivalent of a half day's study per week. This study can either be undertaken at college or online.

For those aged 16-18 the hourly wage rate is £3.30, and for those aged 21 or over it is the minimum wage (currently £6.70, £7.20 from April 2016). There is funding support for those who are under 19 and support for training fees for those under the age of 24.

• Level Two apprenticeship in Legal Administration

• Level Three advanced apprenticeship in Legal Services

• Level Four advanced apprenticeship in Legal Services - designed for those who are already working in a legal environment

There is also a Level Two apprenticeship in Business Administration which is more appropriate for those who work in a legal environment, but in a business support role.

The legal profession was not an early adapter of the model. It is only in the last two-three years that we have seen the first tentative steps being taken. Why is that?

We had a successful model that in the era of growing legal budgets, and growing demand for legal services allowed law firms to continue to recruit graduates using the traditional trainee to NQ route and be prepared to absorb the cost escalator. It is only as we emerge from the global recession that the industry is looking at the cost and shape of its delivery model.

The industry also has the challenge of understanding what it is getting when taking on an apprentice. People had become very comfortable working with graduates who aspired to a training contract. All this is backed by a Law Society mandated structure. Arrive with your law degree, or with a conversion course, a year at the College of Law, and with any number of work placements, taster days and summer programmes under your belt. The law firm knows what it is getting, and the trainee knows what they are getting into.

The apprentice breaks this model. In most cases they will be younger, possibly as young as 16, and with very limited, or no, law firm experience. It is likely that they will not have studied law at all, and certainly not beyond A Level. This challenges the notion of the sort of person who should be working with clients and earning fees for the firm.

For those firms who already have an established paralegal or legal executive community, it is easier to see how an apprentice can act as the 'first rung on the ladder' for entry into that team. It also provides help in answering questions around how apprentices are supervised and in defining their role.

The Law Society has issued a cautious welcome to the apprenticeship route as an entry point into the profession. The challenge they have been presented with is the introduction of a six-year programme which from September 2016 will create a path to qualification as a solicitor. This runs alongside less contentious plans for apprenticeships which lead to qualifications as a legal executive

The path to becoming a solicitor combines work with a blend of learning and tuition provided in partnership by CILEx Law School and the City Law School in Gray's Inn. The scheme also leads to a degree. It is awarded by City University London. The required standards have been approved by the Law Society, Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and the SRA. It is the SRA who will make the final assessment of competence, rather than sitting the Legal Practice Course.

These three schemes are designated as being 'Trailblazers'. In return for providing 'substantial and sustained training' the scheme attracts public funding.

Lucy Scott-Moncrieff of the Law Society is attracted to a model which supports, 'equality, diversity and social mobility… fundamental factors for the future of the profession', but also cautions that 'alternative routes to qualification need not, and must not, undermine the overarching priority that required standards must be consistent across all routes to qualification.'

This new approach to qualifying as a lawyer harkens back to the beginning of the 20th century when five year articles provided a path to becoming a solicitor. The candidate still took the then Law Society Finals exam. This route to becoming a solicitor was extinguished in the 1980s.

In practice this means that the apprentice route, with its focus on a combination of work and learning, must deliver the same quality and the end point of qualification as the traditional route: a route which also combines work and learning but in a very different way.

How does this look from the candidate's perspective?

Back in 2011, recruitment consultancy Laurence Simons undertook research into the cost of qualification based on the cost of the course and the opportunity cost of not working. They came up with a figure of £90,000, a cost that half of the 224 solicitors they surveyed said that given their time again, they would not be prepared to pay. This research pre-dates the rise of legal apprenticeships and from 2016 a potential alternate path to qualifying as a solicitor. It would be interesting to see how these costs now look, and how that would affect the choices those same solicitors would make if given their time again.

For many the burden of student debt is a major disincentive to continue on to university. For others it is the excitement of leaving school and taking your place in the world of work. Not all bright and able young people with first class GCSEs or A Levels feel that university is a 'must have' experience. It takes real courage to go against the grain of expectation and do the unexpected. But for many it is a positive choice to move towards work, rather than this being the route you are left with once you have decided not to go to university.

Whatever the reasoning behind the choice, the result is a lot of very able people entering the workplace who are not yet done with learning and are ready to start their career three to five years before their peer group who are heading off to university.

The apprenticeship model will for some chime with the idea that careers are made up of blocks of work interspersed with other things, and with a lifetime of work to fill in a variety of ways. A quick Google search for 'millennials in the workplace' throws up a wealth of 'information' about a generation which is looking for something different from work, and which chimes with the shorter-term commitment that an apprenticeship offers. I think we should be cautious about treating individuals as having the characteristics of a group. What we can say with more certainty that it is now more permissible to look at alternative ways to manage your life and career.

In the law, people are looking at their prospects after three years of university study and a year of the LPC. The number of LPC students without a training contract, and with no prospect of a training contract, is growing. In 2014, 6,171 people completed the LPC and only 5,514 of them found a training contract. When you add in the roll-over of those who have passed the LPC and are still looking for a training contract, the risk of failing to get a training contract is real, and the statistics ignore those who have not taken the LPC because they do not have a training contract. They have stepped off the track at the cost of degree which they may or may not get value from.

Whatever the costs and challenges there will be people for whom that traditional route of degree, LPC and training contract is a model they can successfully work with. The question for law firms is whether this model is delivering the right calibre of people, with the right skills for the roles that you need filled in the future.

But what are 'the right skills'? A YouGov survey in 2013 found that many graduates lack essential workplace skills. This is a contentious point, as many graduates will have the skills that law firms are looking for. However, there is a strong argument that the apprentice route allows you to develop those skills more quickly, in the workplace and in a way that fits with your firm's culture.

If you have made the decision that a mix of trainees and apprentices is the right way to go, then taking on your first legal apprentice can seem daunting. Here are some practical issues to consider to help make take that first step.

• Properly integrate the role into the workforce: how does the role sit alongside the roles of PA/secretary, existing paralegals, trainee and junior lawyers? It is likely that the apprentice will be taking on aspects of all of these roles. Preparing a solid job description and responsibilities can help mitigate this problem. It also operates as a benchmark to ensure that the apprentice is getting the right mix of experiences.

• The role should also be well communicated internally: there are multiple perceptions of what the role entails and getting a shared understanding of what it means in your organisation is an important step in establishing the role.

• What legal work should they be doing? The example of the legal executive is a useful one. The role of legal executive has long been recognised as a route into the law. The CILEx qualification offers an alternative point of entry for those who are not graduates, or who do not have a law degree but are seeking a legal qualification. It also offers an attractive option for those who are looking to switch careers from a legal support role into a fee earning role.

• The principle for most legal executives is the development of narrow but deep knowledge in a defined area: applied to an apprentice this allows for structured learning and controlled exposure to the ideas and concepts that underpin the work that they are doing.

• Supervision and training: we are used to providing this for our trainees, but who should provide this for our apprentices? The decision will be defined by the role that your apprentice will play. You are looking for someone who has the subject matter expertise, and combines this with the ability to nurture young talent. This is not the role for a 'difficult' partner, or for a jaded lawyer with little time or inclination to invest in your apprentice.

• Peer group: as important as training and supervision is the creation of peer group who can support each other in much the same way that the trainee community supports itself. This may develop naturally, but will benefit from being encouraged. If your legal apprentice is part of a wider apprentice group, encourage this group to come together. The shared experience of apprenticeship overcomes any differences in the work that they are doing.

• How much should you pay? We have seen how much you can pay, which is based at aged 18 on the minimum wage. This gives a London entry salary of £5.30p/h or £9,500 which compares to the recommended London living wage of £9.40 an hour which produces an annual salary of c. £17,000. One practical step to consider is how your apprentice will fund themselves. Does your wage allow them to travel to work and participate in the life of the office?

• Sourcing candidates: there are a growing number of organisations who will source candidates for you, and many other organisations who will advertise your vacancies. Working with a third party who can triage the wide candidate pool and present you with a viable group of candidates to select from will significantly improve the efficiency of your recruitment process. As with all recruitment, investing time in your recruiters will pay dividends as they better understand your needs. You will also want their expertise in organising the apprentices' training. It is critical that you partner with an organisation that runs the courses you propose to offer, and that understands and shares your approach to developing your cadre of apprentices.

• When to look: the best time to look for candidates is in early spring with a view to joining in September. This applies whether you are looking for candidates who are joining post GCSEs or A Levels. It also allows you to make selections based on anticipated academic outcomes.

How will the apprentice model develop?

There is a growing pressure on law firms to examine how they deliver legal services. In many cases that pressure is coming from clients who have their own agenda. That agenda may be about cost; it may be about working with suppliers who follow their social inclusion model. Law firms themselves have to look hard in the mirror and ask, 'do we have the right mix of people to be the business that we want to be?' Being the firm that you want to be will be about more than being more profitable. It will also be about making sure that your workforce reflects your own values. It is clear that firms embarking on this track have the opportunity to do both a good thing and one which makes business sense.

On the supply side we have the government putting in place a framework, which law firms can customise, that creates an entry point at GCSE or A Level. This appeals to a generation which is sceptical of the value of university and how it will equip them for the future. The apprenticeship also creates a viable alternative for those who find the risk and costs associated with trying to get a training contract too high, but who still see a career in law as something they want to do. Even if they don't want to do it for their whole career.

Andy Wansell is chief operating officer at Boodle Hatfield (www.boodlehatfield.com)