#Which law firms will fund your LPC and GDL course fees and pay maintenance costs?
Of the firms advertised in TARGETjobs Law 2015, 46 sponsor their future trainees through the conversion course and LPC.
The promise of a generous salary is a tempting reason to become a trainee solicitor but the flipside is that qualifying is an expensive business. Non-law graduates need to cover conversion course (usually known as the CPE or GDL) fees, which range from £3,000 to £10,200 full time, and all graduates who want to become a trainee solicitor need to fund the legal practice course or LPC, which costs from £7,500 to £14,750 full time, depending on course provider and location. It’s wise to start thinking about how you’re going to finance this while still on your undergraduate degree.
Financial support from commercial law firms
LPC and GDL sponsorship from City law firms
LPC and GDL sponsorship from magic circle law firms
- Allen Overy LLP Full course fees and £7,000 maintenance
- Clifford Chance LLP Full course fees and £7,000 maintenance for accelerated LPC
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Full course fees and £6,000 maintenance
- Slaughter and May Full course fees and maintenance grant
LPC and GDL sponsorship from US law firms with London offices
- Baker McKenzie LLP Full course fees and £8,000 maintenance
- Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP Full course fees and £6,500/£7,000 maintenance (outside/inside London)
- Jones Day Full course fees and £8,000 maintenance
- Kirkland Ellis International LLP Full course fees and £8,000 maintenance
- Orrick, Herrington Sutcliffe (Europe) LLP LPC/GDL: full course fees and £7,000 maintenance
- Reed Smith Full course fees and £7,000 maintenance
- Shearman Sterling LLP Full course fees and £7,000 maintenance
- Sidley Austin LLP Full course fees and £7,000 maintenance
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom (UK) LLP Full course fees and £8,000 maintenance
- Sullivan Cromwell LLP Full course fees and £9,000 maintenance
- Weil, Gotshal Manges Full course fees and £8,000 maintenance
- White Case LLP Full course fees and £7,500 maintenance
LPC and GDL sponsorship from regional and national organisations
- Bond Dickinson LLP Full course fees and £6,000 maintenance
- Burges Salmon LLP Full course fees and £7,000 maintenance
- DWF LLP Full course fees
- Eversheds LLP Full course fees and £7,000 maintenance in London and £5,000 outside London
- Government Legal Service Full course fees and between £5,400 and £7,600 maintenance for the LPC
- Hill Dickinson LLP Full course fees and maintenance
- Irwin Mitchell Full course fees and £4,500 maintenance
- Mills Reeve LLP Full course fees and £4,500 maintenance
- Osborne Clarke Full course fees and £6,500 maintenance
- Shoosmiths Full course fees and living allowance in advance or reimbursed
- Stevens Bolton LLP Full course fees and £4,000 maintenance
To find out more about sponsorship, salaries and other benefits offered by legal employers, see our list of advertising law firms .
Support for training to become a solicitor
Many large and medium-sized commercial firms provide financial support for the LPC and the GDL but to be eligible for this you’ll have to have a training contract lined up with them and possibly attend the institution of their choice for the LPC.
US law firms with London offices tend to offer the highest maintenance grants (up to £9,000 or more) alongside their highest training contract starting salaries. Keep this in perspective: better to choose the law firm that offers the type of law you want to practise, the culture that suits your character and the location that’s best for you than be swayed too much by the size of the maintenance grant.
Financing your legal training to be a high street solicitor
Not every student will secure a training contract with a City, international, US or large regional firm – or want to. Sound financial planning is especially important for those joining smaller firms that cannot afford to pay fees. Most students in this position tend to rely on scholarships/bursaries, loans, parental support or part-time work in order to support their studies. It’s important to know how you’re going to pay for the course before accepting a place. Some smaller firms offer interest-free loans but it really does vary from practice to practice. Another alternative is that some institutions offer a two-year part-time option for both the LPC and the GDL, allowing you to keep earning while you study.
Loans and other support for training as a solicitor
If you don’t have large sums of money at your disposal, then there are other means of financing your studies. Regrettably, local authority grants are few and far between these days but do contact your local authority just in case.
- Law Society Diversity Access Scheme (DAS) The Law Society offers assistance with LPC fees only to 'exceptional individuals who face or have overcome exceptional obstacles to qualify as a solicitor'. The scheme also provides work experience opportunities and a professional mentor. See the Law Society website listed below for further information.
- Hardship funds When applying for the conversion course and LPC ask about any available hardship funds or bursaries at your chosen institution.
- Professional and career development loans There is a professional and career development loan scheme available. These are offered by two high-street banks, Barclays and the Co-operative Bank. Application packages for these loans can be obtained by contacting the National Careers Service, rather than the individual banks, on 0800 100 900 or go to their website below.
- Bank loans Banks recognise that as a successful lawyer your earning potential is high, so many are prepared to lend you money during the early, low-income years. Choosing which bank to borrow from is important so do as much research as you can to ensure low interest rates, flexibility with repayments and a personalised, stress-free service. Branches in the City often have a dedicated manager for law students.
- The Law Society advice line The Law Society offer personal, financial, professional and employment advice via their pastoral care helpline on 020 7320 5795.
Extra information elsewhere:
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