Routes into law

What they do at AC
Office services assistants provide high quality client service by assisting the firm with all general office administration duties, as well as providing reception and post room cover.

Qualifications you may need
Educated to A Level, and ideally a minimum 6 GCSEs at grade C and upwards including Maths and English

Progression route/further education
If you have an interest in the law, you could then progress to a legal administration assistant, or a secretary and provide proactive support to fee earners. You could opt to undertake a degree, an apprenticeship, or other further education. If you find yourself interested in other areas of the business support team such as finance, marketing or IT, you could work with your manager to determine next steps.

At Anthony Collins, this role could include a variety of tasks, not limited to:

Opening and closing files, copying and scanning, downloading documents from emails and other portals and saving them to the document management system, generating electronic bundles for court and other parties, general administration and updating a database.

Qualifications you may need
GCSE pass grades (C or above) in English, Maths and IT.

Progression route/further education
After gaining relevant experience, you could be promoted to a legal assistant/paralegal. You could complete a Level 3 Paralegal course, either self-funded or via an apprenticeship. Alternatively, you could progress into the role of legal secretary and directly support two to four fee earners.

The day to day work of a paralegal depends upon the department you are working in. The University of Law provides a great general overview.

Qualifications you may need
Either experience, or a Level 3 Paralegal course. Some roles may require a degree depending on the level of work that will be expected. Whether or not a degree is required will be stated on the job description.

Progression route/further education
From here, your next move could be to become a qualified solicitor. This requires you to obtain either a degree (either self-funding or via an apprenticeship), or you could start your qualification journey through CILEx. Visit the CILEx website to learn more.

Apprenticeships at AC
At AC, whilst we do not currently offer apprenticeships, this is something we will be implementing over the coming years. Business administration apprenticeships could be available to apply for as soon as autumn 2024 with a paralegal apprenticeship potentially in place by autumn 2026.

If you have a degree you could choose to become a qualified solicitor in your paralegal role via the SQE. You will remain in the same team and complete two years of qualifying work experience alongside your exams. Although taking an SQE law conversion course is an option if your degree is in a different subject, it is technically not a requirement and you could choose to self-study however taking a conversion course is recommended to help you build your foundation knowledge of the law.

For more information regarding the SQE, BPP University have provided some useful information.

Perhaps the most well-known route to becoming a qualified solicitor is to secure a training contract at a law firm.

At AC, our trainee solicitors spend two years rotating around four different departments. We tailor this as well as we can to your career aspirations, but this is a great option if you are unsure of the area of law that you’d like to qualify in. You’ll have the opportunity to try new things and see where your interests and personal strengths lie.

You can apply for a training contract at Anthony Collins once you are in your second year of university or beyond. For example, if you were in your second year in 2023/24 and applied in 2024 for a training contract, you would be applying to join us as a trainee in September 2026, as you will also need to keep in mind that you will need to have completed the SQE prior to starting a training contract with us. This may not be the case at other firms so always research the  requirements for the firm you are applying to.

Our entry requirements are a 2:1 at degree level (any subject), and ABB at A Level. However, it is important to note that we do look at the application as a whole and do not immediately discount anyone who does not reach those grades. We also use Rare Recruitment, a social mobility tool that allows us to understand more behind an applicant’s achievements, in the context of their background.

Read more about training at AC.