Adding value to the legal profession

By Lorna Baldry

We recently reviewed some data, as all businesses must and I was startled to realise that since we began offering CILEx learning 5 years ago we have saved our CILEx learners and their employers around £18 million in tuition fees and this is a conservative estimate.

I knew of course that we have helped people achieve more than 1500 accredited qualifications but when I sat and worked out the cost implications of this I was absolutely astonished.

Student debt can be so extensive these days, many who are leaving university aiming to become a lawyer, having studied a law degree and legal practice course, for example, are likely to have incurred debt of at least £30,000. With living expenses and no government grants the sum can be twice as much. They will be repaying that for a long time, overshadowing future earnings once they reach a certain salary.

Of course you don’t have to go to University to become a lawyer, you can follow the Chartered institute of Legal Executives route instead. This will involve studying law and legal practice at levels 3 and 6 and spending 3 years in qualifying employment. You can earn while you learn and still become qualified as a fee earner, a partner, run your own law firm, pursue further practice rights or apply to the judiciary in time.

Some CILEx accredited study centres charge up to £10,000 for their level 3 and 6 courses, at Brightlink our courses currently cost under £4000, payable in instalments. That’s a huge saving for law students studying with Brightlink as opposed to other CILEx centres or different legal training pathways. It means our legal training may cost up to £6,000 less than other CILEx accredited centres and up to £46,000 less than a university pathway.

It’s a gift we’re delighted to give the people we work with and it’s also much more than that. In a recent survey you told us that cost is still your number one consideration when you’re deciding where to undertake your legal training. However the real value is in the widening of access to the legal profession. When the sector is vibrant and informed, with diversity of all kinds among it’s personnel. When money is not a barrier to learning and progression, we all benefit, justice benefits.

If you’d like to know more about our law and legal practice training call us on 02921 888386, email connect@brightlink.org.uk or visit https://brightlink.org.uk