b'Local Government Lawyer 23One of the qualified solicitors has beenCommenting on the exams themselves,they had offered me the position.appointed by the council as a solicitor withinDesfontaines notes that the SQE emphasisesDesfontaines wrote in her cover letter the people team and is providing adult andhow candidates perform under pressure andthat she was not sure whether to apply to education law support to clients. whether their functional legal knowledge isthe solicitor role or the senior solicitor role, One apprentice has meanwhile completedgood. given she had only just qualified. But at the the apprenticeship and is currently awaitingThis is what makes SQE solicitors suchinterview, it became clear the hiring manager, the SQE2 exam results, and four apprenticesstrong candidates, she says, adding that thethen Director of Legal and Governance, have passed their SQE1 exams and are due toprogramme is great for a local governmentCatherine Whitehead, was happy to take her undertake their SQE2 this year. lawyer, particularly, because we come acrosson as a senior solicitor. The two remaining apprentices areso many different and unusual situations. Catherine actually said to me in the currently undertaking their SQE1 exams withYour logic is a large part of what theyreinterview: why would we not consider you for their SQE 2 anticipated in August 2025. testing rather than can you memorisea Senior Solicitors post- youre just going to Commenting on the future of theeverything in Archbold, she notes. be so capable, she recalls. programme, Aremu adds that the council isDesfontaines describes the process ofHer previous decade-long experience working on recruiting two apprentices straightstudying for the exam as absolutely brutal,running her own business also likely from school to undertake the Level 3 paralegaladding that she studied every night of theinfluenced the decision, she adds.apprenticeship. week. Two years on from qualifying and joiningThe council is also progressing theI studied an area of law one evening, sayWest Northants, Desfontaines has a paralegal next phase of apprenticeship opportunitiesbusiness law; the next evening, I would studyand a legal assistantwho is about to start for school leavers (18+), which will involvecriminal. the SQEworking under her on the councils a targeted campaign with schools andWhen I did questions, I would do practicecriminal legal team. colleagues who support our care leavers inSix months into her tenure, she was the order to encourage applications from youngEmployers get a solicitorlead lawyer and advocate before the court in people in deprived areas of the city whoa 2.7 million vapes forfeiture and destruction would otherwise not have considered thethats ready to go on daycase involving 17 UK and international parties, opportunity to develop a career in the legalwhich was a minefield, she says. profession, he says.one So the SQE ensured I could hit the ground It is anticipated that once these schoolrunning and advocate in court well enough to leavers have successfully completed theirquestions with my prep providers, and weget the result trading standards needed. Level 3 apprenticeship, they will be supportedwould always do different ones. Its justCredit also has to go to WNC, the legal to develop further towards achieving the Levelpractice, practice, practice. director (Sarah Hall who recruited me) and 7 solicitor apprenticeship. The exam conditions are also demanding,WNC Trading Standards for trusting me with with candidates given around one and a halfcharge of a case of this size after just six What kind of lawyers does the SQEminutes of time per question, and questionsmonths on the roll.produce?jump from practice area to practice areaDesfontaines achievements highlight the Given the differences between the trainingwithout letting the candidate settle in,potential of the SQE to not only produce contract route and the SQE, employers may beaccording to Desfontaines.capable solicitors but also contribute to the asking whether the new programme producesYoure having to live on your legal logic todevelopment of strong, specialised legal effective lawyers.find the answers at speed, she recalls. teams within local government.Susan Desfontaines, who graduated in theWhen Desfontaines finally qualified, LutonShe says councils are fortunate to take second-ever cohort of SQE trainees in 2023did not have the funding to make her legalon SQE solicitors, adding: Employers get a and who immediately took on a senior lawyerofficer role a solicitor post and there were nosolicitor thats ready to go on day one, and position at West Northamptonshire Council,solicitor roles open at the time.if theyre lucky enough to get an apprentice says the scheme produces capable andBut it did not take long before she wasSQE, even better because theyve got a versatile solicitors.snapped up by another local authority.solicitor who also has a lot of hands-on Desfontaines decided to pursue a legalOnce I qualifiedliterally the ink wasntexperience.career later in her professional life, havingdry of my application to go on the rollI wasAs local government continues to explore spent the first half of it running her ownoffered a position as a senior solicitor withsolutions to recruitment problems, the SQE business.West Northamptonshire Council, she says. offers a glimmer of hope for building resilient She took on a part time legal officerI put SQE 1 and SQE 2 on my LinkedIn andand capable legal teams, equipped to meet (litigation) role at Luton Borough Council,thats pretty much all I did.the complex challenges of public service. while studying for her SQE exams.A colleague said West Northants areWhether this approach can fully address The flexibility of the SQE scheme allowedlooking, you should put in an application. local governments systemic issues remains Desfontaines to strike an agreement withOne other council contacted her about ato be seen, but for councils like Coventry and Luton to work part-time, meaning she couldrole and a private firm also expressed interest,West Northants, the programme is already spend the other half of her week working on ashe recalls. showing tangible results.private business she ran at the time.I didnt end up interviewing with either Without this flexibility, she would not haveof the other two because I interviewed withAdam Carey is a reporter at Local been able to afford to train as a lawyer, sheWest Northants on the Thursday afternoonGovernment Lawyer.says. at 2:00, and by 10 oclock on Friday morning,'