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31 July 2015
Issue: 7663 / Categories: Features , Training & education , Profession
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An alternative route

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CILEx examines why employers are embracing on-the-job training

The changing legal marketplace, rising university tuition fees and the sheer volume of law graduates vying for the ultimate prize, the training contract, has led to savvy graduates opting for an alternative route to qualification.

These days funding an LPC or BPTC is harder than ever and a large proportion of law students will unwittingly end up joining the ever-increasing “paralegal club” with hopes of career progression and one day, perhaps, a practising certificate.

A growing proportion of graduates are now considering the Graduate Fast-track Diploma route from the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) which leads to qualification as a chartered legal executive lawyer. This on-the-job qualification is a fraction of the cost of the traditional postgraduate options and develops a law graduate into a specialist lawyer tailored to the needs of their employer.

It’s not just graduates who see the benefits in the alternatives—employers do too.

Clive Thomas, managing partner at Watkins & Gunn Solicitors says that the CILEx route “provides an ideal opportunity [for

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