Burges Salmon, the Bristol-headquartered national law firm, has taken on five legal apprentices, making it one of the first law firms in the UK to do so under the national Trailblazer scheme.
Burges Salmon has been involved in the Trailblazers initiative since March 2014 and is part of the steering group for legal services.
Trailblazers has been developed to improve the quality and simplicity of apprenticeship standards and align them more with the needs of employers. More than 1,300 employers are involved, between them developing over 150 new apprenticeship standards.
The two-year programme includes a combination of through-the-job and textbook learning, with the apprentices working at Burges Salmon for four days a week and spending the fifth day studying at the BPP law school.
By the end of the programme the apprentices will achieve a Level 3 paralegal apprenticeship standard and a Certificate in Legal Practice (equivalent to the first year of university).
This will enable them to complete the Level 7 solicitor apprenticeship in a shorter period of time.
Burges Salmon chief people officer Robert Halton said: “We fully support the principles behind the Trailblazers initiative and recognise the value that apprentices can bring to any business.
“We want to develop skills for the future of our business and the legal sector. Other professional services have been offering high-quality apprenticeships for years with great success and we see this as an exciting development for the legal sector.”
Burges Salmon was involved in the development of all the Trailblazers scheme legal apprenticeships as a member of its legal sector group and was part of a sub-group that helped to draft the Level 7 solicitor apprenticeship – one of only two Level 7-approved trailblazer standards being delivered.
As well as Level 3 paralegal and Level 7 solicitor, Trailblazers legal apprentice scheme also includes a Level 6 chartered legal executive standard.
Pictured: Burges Salmon apprentices, from left: Ruby Hobbs, Elliot Hawes, India Jenkins, Thomas Chamberlain and Lucy Helps
