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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Willbur" data-source="post: 77089" data-attributes="member: 12322">Hi Jessica,You a fabulous and patient source of information, so I hope you don't mind being fabulous and patient one more time on the whole GDL v SQE conundrum.I was gearing up to start a GDL course part-time from Sept 2021 - the last year it will be possible to do so as a route to solicitor qualification, as has been well documented on these threads - then LPC full time and then (hopefully) training contract - i.e. the 'traditional route'. All of which would take me a tidy five years. Why part-time GDL? Family circs. pure and simple, plus I am leaving a career of 15 years in a different industry and want to gain some relevant legal experience round the edges while I study. I have two small children so the idea of doing the GDL full time + any volunteering + giving time to the family would be to exhausting. Originally I had found the GDL route attractive because I hadn't entirely made up my mind between Solicitor and Barrister and wanted some headspace to explore aspects of volunteer work that would give me a better sense of which direction to take, which areas of law I find most engaging etc. I see now that I probably need to 'pick a lane' before September rolls around. The issues I have are these:- I am worried that doing the GDL part-time will mean that by the time I finish the LPC (2024) firms will have fully adapted their training offers and moved on to a new model that, at worst, might even require me to do some SQE exams on top of GDL and LPC which would be a horrendous waste of time and money, not to mention a duplication of study areas. - I am attracted to the GDL and LPC because they sound more robust and trusted and I think I might benefit from a more holistic introduction to legal learningHowever:- The areas of law I am most drawn to - at least at this stage -  are criminal and public (apologies, I know this is the TCLA). In most cases, firms specialising in these areas don't offer training contracts of the two-years-in-advance-we'll-cover-your-fees variety, mainly because they can't afford to. Often, folk will go in as paralegals and then get taken on as trainees if they impress. I am now wondering if the SQE model might be a genuinely good fit for these kinds of practice. BUT...currently firms offering paralegal work require a GDL & LPC under the belt. This will HAVE to change from next year so, effectively, a candidate could apply to be a paralegal MUCH earlier than they would have historically, potentially after completing SQE1 which might only take 6 months. The whole process might be concluded in around 3 years, rather than 5, and for less money. - There are some firms in the areas I mention above who do offer training contracts but, for SQE, these appear not to be coming in until 2023 at the earliest even though you can start prepping for SQE now and, in theory dive into Qualifying work experience. if I start preparing for the SQE exams from September 2021 I then risk a period of limbo whereby I will have passed through at least the SQE1 assessment phase (2022) but it will be too early to start a training contract. In theory, I could use that time to accumulate some Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) to count towards the overall qualification and while that would be great for my general experience but I am assuming that bigger firms are likely to design their own programmes to provide the two years of QWE and that therefore any experience I had accumulated 'outside' wouldn't necessarily 'count' or even expedite the process in the ways the SRA is hoping will be transformative.- I have written to many firms in this area and they are finding it hard to give full answers to these questions. Many haven't updated their Careers pages to account for the fact that, as of 2022, there will be lots of people studying for the SQE and trying to get simultaneous work experience. So, really, it's all well and good for firms to be thinking from 2023/4 onwards but actually the whole point about the SQE is that aspiring solicitors are going to be starting to put feelers out for Qualifying Work Experience from 2022. In my case, I could take an SQE prep course on a part-time basis while I try to get in with a criminal defense or public law firm but I don't want to hang around twiddling my thumbs if I can get the SQE exams done in a year or less. I know the SQE is already coming in for a lot of flack and I understand why but I do think the pockets of the legal profession that don't tend to operate in such a structured way when it comes to training contracts might be better to accommodate its more piecemeal nature. What's your take?Many thanks!</blockquote>

Verification: Our company is called, "The Corporate ___ Academy". What is the missing word here?

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