Withers will offer solicitor apprenticeships starting this month. The international firm will be one of the first to train apprentices under the new Trailblazers Apprenticeships in Law initiative in its London office.
Four Withers apprentices will undertake the BPP Level 7 solicitor apprenticeship – a six-year course at the end of which successful candidates gain a LLB (Hons) Legal Practice.
The Trailblazers programme is supported by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Education as an alternative to higher education. It allows school leavers to join a law firm and ‘earn while they learn’, with the aim of qualifying as a solicitor, paralegal or chartered legal executive. Apprentices join the firm straight from school and can qualify as a solicitor through a combination of working and studying, rather than taking the traditional route of attending university followed by law school. The four lucky Withers apprentices can expect to earn a starting salary of £20,000.
Ceri Vokes, Withers training partner, said: ‘We are delighted to commence the Trailblazer programme this September, after several years of preparation and work. The majority of other law firms offering access to the solicitor Trailblazer course are doing so in their offices outside London, and we are proud to be one of the few that are offering this in the City. Legal apprenticeships are ideal for bright A-Level students who want to pursue a career which could otherwise have been impossible due to the cost of higher education.’