The Legal Development Programme provides a unique and stimulating environment in which to qualify as a solicitor. You'll experience a full range of legal work during your training contract by spending 12 months in our General Counsel's Division (2 seats), six months in our Enforcement Division (1 seat) and a final seat seconded to another law firm. Your training will put you at the heart of the FSA and give you unrivalled exposure to the legal issues that govern and shape the financial services industry.
Our General Counsel's Division has teams of lawyers advising on all aspects of the regulation of banking, insurance, asset management and financial markets. We are often presented with complex questions about high-profile issues that require hard analysis and innovative solutions. However, as well as interpreting legislation the General Counsel's Division advises on its formulation. Our lawyers are involved at every stage in negotiating and implementing EU Directives dealing with financial services. We also advise on novel public law issues arising from our position under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). You will spend 2 seats in different areas of the division during your training programme.
The Enforcement Division investigates when firms breach our rules or the provisions of the FSMA. Its role is to conduct forensic investigations into suspected misconduct and regulatory failures; conduct administrative, civil and criminal proceedings in the enforcement of the FSMA, FSA rules and other regulatory requirements; develop and implement FSA policies regarding the design and use of its forensic investigation and enforcement litigation tools and co-operate with international counterparts regarding investigations and enforcement actions. You can expect to work on a small number of cases at various stages during your six-month seat in the Enforcement Division.
During your final year of the programme, you'll have the option of a six-month secondment. Previous graduates have been seconded to city law firms to experience law in a commercial environment or government to work with the Treasury's solicitors.
We will pay your course fees for the Legal Practice Course and, where necessary, the Common Professional Examination, if you have not already completed them. We also provide a maintenance grant for each year of vocational study from the time your contract is signed.
Legal Practice Course www.lawcabs.ac.uk