Press Release
Nearly £3million available to train the next generation of legal aid solicitors
Thursday 22 June 2006
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) today announced it is making a further 100 grants available - worth almost £3million - to help fund the legal aid solicitors of the future. Each grant could be worth as much as £30,000.
The grants will meet:
The tuition fees of students on the one-year Legal Practice Course (LPC), which can cost over £8,000.
75% of the Law Society’s minimum salary and the cost of professional skills courses for successful LPC students on training contracts with a solicitor organisation. This amounts to about £20,000 over a two-year period.
Under this year’s scheme, solicitor organisations can recruit an LPC student who, on completion of their course, will join the organisation on a training contract.
Welcoming the plans, Brian Harvey OBE, Acting Chief Executive of the LSC, said: “I am delighted to announce this new round of grants. The legal aid solicitors who are trained through this scheme will directly help some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Legal aid work is fundamental to social and legal justice. It safeguards people’s rights in a civilised society, and is essential to the fair, efficient and effective operation of our justice system.
“The training grants scheme was introduced in 2002. The LSC’s investment in the next generation of legal aid solicitors already stands at nearly £10million. The training grants provided so far will translate into nearly 400 newly qualified solicitors working in legal aid. Each of these new solicitors will make a difference to people’s lives.”
This year, priority will be given to organisations with contracts in the areas of Mental Health, Family (with a focus on child care cases), Immigration and Crime.
The announcement of the new round of training grants comes on the same day as the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards ceremony. The LSC sponsors the ‘Young Solicitor’ category at these awards.
Organisations who want an application pack for a grant and individuals who would like further information about the grants should contact Emma Shaw, Training Contract Grants Coordinator (Tel: 0161 244 5027, Email: emma.shaw@legalservices.gov.uk).
ENDS
Media information
Richard Shand Tel: 020 7759 0491
Notes for Editors
1. The grants will be provided in anticipation that the newly qualified solicitor will remain in the employment of the solicitor organisation, and engaged in legal aid work, for at least two years after completing their training contract.
2. The Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards ceremony will take place at 6.15pm at the Haberdashers Hall, 18 West Smithfield, London, EC1A 9HQ.
Last updated: 28 December 2006