Damar Legal Apprenticeships
We offer the following legal apprenticeships across England, with many legal admin, paralegal and chartered legal executive apprentices in Greater Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and other towns and cities across England:
Taking around 15 months, this law apprenticeship is ideal for administrators who support fee earners, such as legal secretaries. It includes the Business Administrator Level 3 standard, along with three legal units – The Legal Environment, Proofreading in the Legal Environment and an Area of Law.
This 21 month apprenticeship has been designed for prospective paralegals or unqualified fee earners who would benefit from structured training.
We offer the following paralegal pathways:
- Contract Law & Civil Litigation
- Employment Law & Practice
- Land Law & Conveyancing Practice
- Wills & Probate Practice
- Tort Law & Civil Litigation
- Family Law & Practice
- Criminal Law & Litigation
Following a successful pilot programme, all new paralegal apprentices now benefit from content that supports their development of the O Shaped mindset and attributes at a level appropriate for their roles.
O Shaped is client-led and based on research that looked at what senior in-house leaders were looking for from their lawyers. Legal expertise is considered a given but what makes the most effective lawyers stand out are more human-centred skills such as the ability to have open communication, work as a team, seek feedback and share ideas, all of which lead to a healthier, more successful working environment and a better client experience.
Including the Level 6 CILEx Diploma in Law and Practice, this 39 month apprenticeship enables apprentices to become a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
We are delighted to announce a technology partnership with leading global legal education provider BARBRI. This exciting development will embed BARBRI’s market leading learning technology in solicitor apprenticeship programmes delivered by Damar. We now offer a Level 7 solicitor apprenticeship built specifically for the SQE
There are 3 linked high quality pathways:
- Shorter (18-month) solicitor apprenticeship for those already working in legal jobs and who are law graduates, holders of a graduate diploma in law (GDL) or full/part-qualified CILEX L6, Licenced Conveyancers or similar.
Next cohort date: Autumn 2023. CLICK HERE to request more information or to express your interest.
- Longer (36-month) solicitor apprenticeship for non-law graduates, successful paralegal apprentices, CILEX L3, Conveyancing Technicians, Licensed Paralegals and similar.
Next cohort date: Autumn 2023. CLICK HERE to request more information or to express your interest.
- 5-year pathway for A level leavers and non-graduate legal administrators. 2-year paralegal apprenticeship with Damar followed by 36-month solicitor apprenticeship.
Click below to register your interest in our Level 7 solicitor apprenticeship Autumn 2023 cohort
The Damar Difference
Damar Training are experts in legal apprenticeship training and we have developed our programmes to maximise the benefits to your business:
- We were at the forefront of the development of the legal apprenticeship standards; we know these qualifications inside out;
- Our staff understand your business; our expert tutors have all worked in the legal industry;
- We are one of the few training providers offering this range of legal apprenticeships and one of only two providers in England who offer a purely work-based delivery model;
- We have experience of working with many of the country’s biggest and most successful law firms, as well as supporting legal teams within other types of businesses.
Legal Training Delivery Model
Once enrolled, legal apprentices have a Damar coach who helps plan and manage the programme, including assessing performance and reviewing progress. This 1:1 support is supplemented by online and paper-based resources and practice tests. We also have a team of subject specialist tutors who deliver webinars and e-tutorials for the more technically complex units.
We keep you up to date with progress throughout the apprenticeship and carry out regular reviews to ensure your apprentice is on track and that the business objectives are being met.
Apprentices can start at various points throughout the year and all of the training can take place in the workplace. There is no need for your apprentice to physically attend classes or college one day a week. Our legal apprenticeships are delivered nationally with a particular focus on Greater Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham and London.
People of all ages and educational backgrounds can become apprentices, but there are some restrictions, the most important of which are:
- The employer and the training provider must ascertain that the apprenticeship will allow the individual to gain substantive new skills. The training therefore needs to be materially different from any prior qualification or previous apprenticeship;
- The apprentice must be employed, usually for 30+ hours a week, and work more than 50% of their time in England;
- The period of teaching and learning must be at least 12 months and, during this time, apprentices are expected to spend at least six hours per week (on average) on “off the job” training.
Employers that pay the Apprenticeship Levy are able to pay all of the training costs from their Apprenticeship Levy account.
Employers that do not pay the levy, as well as large employers who have spent their levy budget, pay just 5% of the overall cost, with the government paying the balance. For employers with fewer than 50 employees the 5% contribution is waived for apprentices aged 16-18.
Progression from one level of law apprenticeship to another is possible and we offer a career structure that can begin at entry level and lead all the way to degree-level qualifications as a Solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive.
CLICK HERE to find out more about our innovative solicitor apprenticeship programme, delivered as part of our technology partnership with BARBRI.
David McIntosh
People Development Manager, Keoghs
The Benefits of Legal Apprenticeships
If the work done by the apprentice frees up as little as a couple of hours of a fee-earner’s time each week it would probably cover his or her salary cost. The structured nature of apprenticeships also encourages firms to consider who is the right person to be carrying out a task and brings the potential to generate efficiencies throughout an organisation. Our “whole firm” approach maps job functions to competency-based qualifications with the aim of maximising the output of all staff, including fee-earners.
Unlike Solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives, there has historically been no agreed definition of a “paralegal” and no single, agreed qualification framework that covers the knowledge, skills and understanding required. With legal apprenticeships you know that at each level your apprentice is meeting or exceeding a nationally recognised standard as well as the standard required by your firm.
Complementing traditional recruitment with apprenticeships gives you access to talented young people who have made a conscious decision to follow a different route into the profession. Over the three to seven years it takes to complete the apprenticeship pathway, your apprentice will develop into a well-qualified and competent legal fee-earner and is likely to be loyal to the employer that has supported them.
Research carried out by the National Apprenticeship Service has shown that most people are more likely to use a business if it offers apprenticeships to young people and modern workforces need to reflect the customers and communities they serve. Offering apprenticeships is a way to build links with local schools and the wider community and demonstrates your firm’s corporate and social responsibility.
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