First Browne Jacobson cohort starts next Autumn
National law firm Browne Jacobson has selected the College of Legal Practice (CoLP) to prepare its trainees to sit the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).
The tie-up, unveiled today, will see the firm’s rookies undertake prep courses for both SQE1 and SQE2, as well as specific transactional and business skills modules. The first trainees will commence their studies in Autumn 2023.
Browne Jacobson recruits around 15 trainees each year across its offices in Birmingham, Exeter, London, Manchester, and Nottingham.
“We are very pleased to work closely with The College of Legal Practice to support our trainee solicitors through the SQE Assessments,” commented Zena Comrie, early careers adviser at Browne Jacobson. “We recognise that they are intensive and difficult exams, and we know that the experienced College team will provide a fresh expert approach to legal learning and the right individual support that our trainee solicitors need to be successful in the SQE.”
CoLP has struck a number of similar tie-ups with the likes of Accutrainee, Acuity Law and Wright Hassall, and also delivers an optional SQE prep module for aspiring solicitors at Solent University in Southampton.
Commenting on this latest deal, CoLP CEO Dr Giles Proctor said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to partner Browne Jacobson with their SQE training for their trainee solicitors. Our dedicated supervisors will look after their trainee solicitor’s academic development and their wellbeing, to ensure that they all have the best chance of passing the SQE exams.”
He continued:
“We are particularly looking forward to collaborating with Browne Jacobson to encourage diversity and representation in the legal profession. One of our key goals is to increase access to the profession and this partnership and the funded scholarships involved, will greatly help us achieve it.”
Separately, CoLP unveiled a new scholarships programme that will provide four aspiring lawyers the opportunity to study at the law school completely free of charge in the first half of 2023. One of the places will be made available to an existing student.
On the scholarships, Proctor said: “We have heard from our students that whilst they appreciate the low fees, instalments, and flexibility we already offer, many are finding committing to the time to study and take the SQE, even when working alongside it, incredibly challenging from a funding perspective. We hope that these SQE scholarships will make a transformative difference to four students’ journeys to become a solicitor.”
The Legal Cheek SQE Providers List shows CoLP launched in the UK towards the end of 2019 as an offshoot of Antipodean law school The College of Law Australia and New Zealand. Its online prep courses are priced at the cheaper end of the market: £1,800 for SQE1 and £2,300 for SQE2.