Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeship; Public Law & Human Rights

Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeship (Public Law & Human Rights) (5920)

We’re a national law firm with a local reach, here for life’s important moments – the ones you plan for and the ones you don’t expect. Our legal experts combine technical excellence with empathy, understanding, and a commitment to always put our clients first.

You’ll feel part of a welcoming, inclusive environment where your individuality matters. We celebrate what makes you unique and support you to thrive. Together, we achieve incredible things and make a real difference to our clients and communities.

The team

A Solicitor Apprentice in our Public Law & Human Rights (PLHR) team will support fee‑earners over a six-year period across matters spanning Court of Protection, health & social care, civil liberties and education, including judicial reviews, inquests, serious medical treatment applications, Mental Capacity/Mental Health Act issues and challenges to public authorities. This will include undertaking supervised tasks such as taking new client instructions, gathering evidence, legal research and drafting, preparing bundles and assisting at hearings, with increasing complexity as competence grows.

Clients are primarily vulnerable individuals, families and carers engaging with public bodies (for example local authorities, NHS organisations and the police), including people who are detained or facing deprivation of liberty, and children/young people with special educational needs. The team also provides advice to our personal injury and medical negligence colleagues where cases interface with statutory services and funding.

The Irwin Mitchell Solicitor Apprenticeship is a six year programme. You will gain an LLB (Hons) in Legal Practice from BPP and at the end of the programme you will qualify as a solicitor after achieving the Solicitors Qualifying Exam 1 and 2 qualifications along with 2 years’ qualifying work experience.

All of your tuition fees will be paid and best of all, you will earn a salary whilst you are training and gaining your qualification.

The apprenticeship will combine practical work-based learning with formal study. You’ll gain valuable, real-life experience in the UK’s largest full service law firm, enhancing your legal and commercial understanding and growing your confidence in a work environment. It’s the ideal opportunity to benefit from an exciting new world of work and study while avoiding the costs usually associated with undertaking a degree.

As you progress through your apprenticeship, you will build a portfolio of the experience you have gained and the tasks you have completed in the workplace. You will spend the majority of time in your own department with the possibility of also working elsewhere for some of the programme to gain exposure to other parts of Irwin Mitchell. The programme will be tailored to your individual needs and goals for qualification, and your responsibility will increase as appropriate throughout your training.

Throughout the six years you will be working for four days per week and spend one day studying with BPP.

We will liaise with BPP throughout the programme to ensure your studying, office role and portfolio commitments are supervised in a co-ordinated and joined up manner.

At Irwin Mitchell, we need individuals who can adapt and be resilient to this programme as well as the constant changes across the legal, social and political spheres. We need creative thinkers who can revolutionise the way we work and help Irwin Mitchell meet its future business needs. As well as strong academics and a genuine passion for law, we are looking for someone who embodies our values and wants to make a positive difference to both society and their future careers.

You will need excellent communication skills, a good eye for detail and the ability to follow instructions and to enjoy working as part of a team. Due to the nature of interactions and cases you will be working on, you will also need to display empathy and compassion to help guide our clients through challenging personal circumstances.

Strong academic results are required, we are looking for 5 GCSEs at grade 9 –…