Should I do the LPC?

The LPC is, of course, the necessary vocational sandwich filling between successfully completing an LLB or GDL and starting a training contract. Larger commercial firms tend to recruit students in their penultimate year of university, and will commonly sponsor them through law school, covering the cost of fees and providing some sort of living allowance. Smaller firms and those on the high street tend to recruit later, often after observing a candidate through a period of time as a paralegal. Whatever professional path you see yourself taking, it’s time to think hard about making the LPC commitment, whether or not you envisage you’ll be self-funding it.

 

Should I do the LPC?

 

Firstly – do you want to be a solicitor? Stupid question, you might say, but a surprising number of the LPC providers we spoke to this year confirmed that plenty of their students had not done any legal work experience before starting on the course. A spokesman for the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority (SRA) advised that students can’t sleepwalk their way to a career in law. We couldn’t agree more fully. This used to be possible, but the numbers no longer stack up in the students’ favour.

Before parting with cold hard cash, get out there and try and gain as much work experience as possible. We’re not just talking about organised vacation schemes at the larger commercial law firms. Take absolutely anything you can get, whether it’s a brief voluntary stint on the reception of an advice bureau or shovelling dusty old files into a shredder at a high street firm. Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones once said that all cats feel the same in the dark. The same is pretty much true of solicitors. A top City recruiter told us that even if a candidate’s sights are set on Big City law, they should consider any kind of legal work experience as valuable. The skills a corporate lawyer uses are just the same as any other solicitor – drafting, client contact, research and good organisational skills are common to all.

If legal work experience isn’t forthcoming, try and get something else that relates to the direction you want your career to take. Private client route – anything that requires you to serve the general public in some way. Commercial route – anything that gives you a window onto the world of business. Public sector or private sector, it doesn’t matter. Yes, the economy is in the doldrums, and quite possibly headed for the gutter, but keep trying to get at least something.

So, after looking into and then ideally experiencing the legal profession, it’s time for serious self-scrutiny. Do you even have what it takes? In the 2008/09 academic year, 7,759 students successfully completed the LPC. In the same year, there were only 5,809 training contracts available. In 2009, the Association of Graduate Recruiters estimated that vacancies in the legal sector plummeted by over 19%, and all this at a time when the number of available LPC places rose. The last fresh battleground for new LPC students was Manchester (since the arrival of BPP and the College of Law to compete with Manchester Metropolitan University), and now the fight has moved to Bristol where BPP and COL are taking on the University of the West of England. The SRA says that it can’t control the number of LPC places on offer. The Law Society says that training matters are the SRA’s responsibility. The LPC providers say that it’s the students’ choice to take the course and, at the end of the day, the course endows students with 'transferable skills'.

So, it looks like nobody official is taking any responsibility for the sea of students jumping on board the LPC ship with only a hope of landing a training contract. We’re reminded of Kate Winslet’s squeals in Titanic: 'The ship’s going to sink and there aren’t enough lifeboats.' Nobody’s responsible? Wrong. You are.

So, after looking into and then ideally experiencing the legal profession, it’s time for serious self-scrutiny. Do you even have what it takes? In the 2008/09 academic year, 7,759 students successfully completed the LPC. In the same year, there were only 5,809 training contracts available. In 2009, the Association of Graduate Recruiters estimated that vacancies in the legal sector plummeted by over 19%, and all this at a time when the number of available LPC places rose. The last fresh battleground for new LPC students was Manchester (since the arrival of BPP and the College of Law to compete with Manchester Metropolitan University), and now the fight has moved to Bristol where BPP and COL are taking on the University of the West of England. The SRA says that it can’t control the number of LPC places on offer. The Law Society says that training matters are the SRA’s responsibility. The LPC providers say that it’s the students’ choice to take the course and, at the end of the day, the course endows students with 'transferable skills'.

So, it looks like nobody official is taking any responsibility for the sea of students jumping on board the LPC ship with only a hope of landing a training contract. We’re reminded of Kate Winslet’s squeals in Titanic: 'The ship’s going to sink and there aren’t enough lifeboats.' Nobody’s responsible? Wrong. You are.

 

Step up

 

If a career as a solicitor is definitely for you, it’s time to commit. Have an honest look at your CV. Aside from great academics – a lot of firms look back to A-level results – how does it read in terms of experience? Pro bono and/or legal and commercial experience will matter, but do understand that a summer spent serving Happy Meals in McDonald’s can be some sort of CV booster. At the very least it may be the thing that demonstrates that you’re a grafter who has already taken responsibility for your finances while studying. If it looks like your CV is on the light side, that’s something to think about when choosing where to do the LPC, and it’s something to try and rectify ASAP.

In terms of size, the big LPC players are the College of Law and BPP. They’re also among the most expensive providers. The course costs around £10,000, on average, so it’s time to be a savvy shopper. You wouldn’t buy a car or rent a flat without checking out the market, so why would you do any less in relation to the LPC course? Here’s just a few things to consider:

• Where do you want to be? Living costs vary wildly – there’s a big difference between rental values for flats in London and Plymouth, for example. Do you want to study in the region you want to work in?
• How do you want to study? Full-time, part-time, distance? Live lectures or online tuition?
• What is the careers service like? Does the school have links with any law firms? Is there a mentoring programme for students to work shadow and build up contacts with local lawyers?
• What extracurricular activities are on offer to bolster your CV? Clubs, societies and mooting will all help shine up that CV.
• What electives are on offer? If it’s the corporate life you’re after, no point going somewhere that’s high street driven, and vice-versa.
• What timetabling options are there? If you’ll need to work a part-time job during your studies, will the timetable allow for it? How many days will you need to attend law school each week? Can you choose between mornings and afternoons?
• What kind of atmosphere do you want? The intimacy and academic backdrop of a university provider or the slick environs and more commercial feel of a big national provider?
• How are you going to fund the course? Remember, there can be big price tag differences between the providers.

Our LPC Provider Reports are published here to help you the answer to some of these questions.

 

Spend your money wisely

 

Finally, it’s important to look past the marketing glitz of law schools. Almost all now offer LLMs, and the College of Law has recently announced that it will be offering a JD course, where successful completion will leave students qualified to take a US Bar exam. We’d issue a health warning before buying into the idea of dual qualification: the US legal sector is just as competitive as the UK's, and it’s also not that obvious why a law school LLM/LLB add-on would improve your employability here in Britain.

Don’t be naïve when you purchase your LPC or any other legal qualification. In days gone by, you probably would not have needed this advice. The legal profession was considered to offer one of the most recession-proof careers, and when many of the people now in charge of recruiting were breaking into the profession themselves, there was actually a shortage of fresh graduate-level entrants. Everything has changed. Before embarking upon the solicitors’ route, you must understand that the LPC does not guarantee employment and that thousands of students and graduate hopefuls are presently floundering without training contracts. If you are sure it’s the right path for you, and the choice of LPC provider is down to you and not a law firm that has already offered you a training contract, then make sure you spend your money wisely. Get relevant experience, do your research, and take advantage of the careers service and other extra-curricular activities on offer, both at your current educational establishment and any future one you attend.

 

This feature was first published in our July 2010 newsletter.