The Legal Cheek View
This is the Forsters profile for those considering solicitor apprenticeships. Students looking to apply for training contracts should check out Legal Cheek‘s main Forsters profile.
London law firm Forsters was originally formed when a unit of ten partners broke away from one of the UK’s oldest law firms, Frere Cholmeley Bischoff, after it decided to merge with Eversheds. Nowadays, its lawyers operate out of its sleek new Marylebone office, handling a variety of high-end private client, property, construction, and corporate work. In announcing its entry into solicitor apprenticeships, Forsters confirmed it will recruit its first four school-leavers in 2024.
Newcomers at the firm will spend the first two years of their apprenticeship in one seat, allowing them to settle in and become acquainted with real legal work. We’ve heard that Forsters is considering the idea of exposing their apprentice newcomers to the non-legal aspects of the business during this period. This would involve apprentices engaging in the firm’s compliance work, providing them with a wider understanding of the firm’s operations. From the third year through the fifth year, apprentices will embark on an annual rotation across some of the firm’s key practice areas. Likely seats for apprentices include construction, commercial real estate, property litigation, and residential property.
During the final two years of the six-year program, apprentices will join Forsters’ graduate recruits on its training contract. In these two years, apprentices will rotate six times across the firm’s different practice areas, providing ample opportunity to explore various areas of law. The final seat for both trainees and apprentices will be their selected qualifying seat, enabling Forsters’ soon-to-be solicitors to gain a head start in this practice area before qualifying.
When it comes to their legal education, apprentices will also pursue a part-time law degree with BPP Law School alongside their legal work. Their LLB studies will consist of one day per week over the first four years, while devoting the other four days to legal work. In years five and six, seasoned apprentices will undertake the Solicitors Qualifying Exams (SQE) and, upon completion of the program, emerge as fully qualified solicitors.
The social scene at Forsters is vibrant, we’re told, with a variety of firm socials and clubs that apprentices can participate in. There’s an in-house football team, netball team, and running group for sporty team members. Apprentices can also join the Forsters diversity and inclusion and charity networks, which organise events throughout the calendar year. In addition to a reading club for bookworms, the firm also runs a lunch club that helps feed those in need at a local church on Thursdays.
Apprentices can also participate in regular firm-wide and team gatherings, and are likely to become involved with the firm’s internal junior lawyers’ social group, which typically meets at the local pub on Thursdays.
Please note Forsters’ Legal Cheek View will be updated once the firm recruits its first solicitor apprentices.
This is Forsters’ Solicitor Apprenticeship profile. Read Forsters’ full Legal Cheek profile here.