Social welfare solicitor scheme offers more places than ever
Applications to a legal education charity’s solicitor training scheme open today with its highest number of places available to date, including posts co-funded by the BBC’s Children in Need.
This is all part of The Legal Education Foundation’s (TLEF) Justice First Fellowship (JFF), a programme that sponsors Legal Practice Course (LPC) graduates through their training contracts. Participants spend two years at various advice centres, charities, law firms and human rights groups, training in legal issues affecting the local community.
Now in its fourth year, JFF’s first cohort of aspiring social welfare lawyers qualified in February 2017, 75% being kept on at their various host organisations. They are now all working as solicitors.
The size of the scheme is snowballing. During last year’s recruitment drive, Legal Cheek reported the charity was taking on its biggest cohort ever (13). This year, it’s after 15 LPC grads.
TLEF’s chief executive, Matthew Smerdon, said:
Four years in, and the JFF scheme is building exactly the kind of momentum in the sector that we were hoping for. After this recruitment round, there will be 50 solicitor and barrister fellows in some of the most committed and highly respected social justice organisations in the country.
Host organisations for this year include: human rights group Liberty, Greater Manchester Law Centre, law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn, Hackney Community Law Centre, Minton Morrill Solicitors, and the Speakeasy Advice Centre. Interestingly, the North Kensington Law Centre is also on the list, meaning one trainee will be working with victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Just as interesting is the news that BBC’s Children in Need is helping to co-fund three of the trainee posts, at Just for Kids Law, Coram Children’s Legal Centre and Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit. The other sponsors are: City Bridge Trust, Linklaters, RBS and AB Charitable Trust.
Salaries are set by the host organisation; to give you a flavour the Children in Need-associated roles pay £22,400, £20,000 and £24,135 a year respectively.
Fancy it? Applications open today.
For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek’s careers events, sign up to the Legal Cheek Hub.
