Training in the US is a bit different, as far as I understand. Law is a post-grad pursuit and takes three years. And mind-blowing levels of debt.
But you emerge from your alma mater after those three years of academic frat boy posturing a fully-qualified lawyer. You can rock up at a firm and put yourself forward as a attorney on day one. As much as the LPC may well be a pile of pish, at least we pay lip service to the concept of vocational training.
The only real experience a US law school grad will have had - and it's only true if you're a top student - is a spell as a summer associate. That is literally what is sounds like. At my old firm - a US practice in London - we had these fresh-faced and white-toothed Americans over every summer. They got taken out for lunch and dinner and drinks. They had to do fairly normal work - much better stuff than you'd ever get on a vacation scheme.
And, what's more, they got paid the same as a NQ (and, astonishingly, their time is occasionally billed to clients - although there's been moves against this recently).
General point - bitterness over the salary aside - is how can you expect boys and girls fresh out of law school to be lawyers? The exact same is true of new trainees, but at least UK firms accept that it's going to take another two years on the job before their young bucks are worth anything. And even at NQ level, there's still a long way to go.
American exceptionalism aside, there appear to be tentative moves emerging in the US market that, for once, we've got it right. Howrey is the largest of the firms currently running what has been termed "apprenticeship programs". There are lingering fears that the lower salaries that these apprentices are paid will make the firms less attractive. But can it be the case that in US, the job market is still in the buyer's favour (or even favor)? And there are the usual worries that having to do training will take away from the partners' billables. Which is true - look how much it costs to take a trainee through a TC nowadays.
Either way, we're holding the lead this time, and they're the bichon frize.
Any thoughts?
But you emerge from your alma mater after those three years of academic frat boy posturing a fully-qualified lawyer. You can rock up at a firm and put yourself forward as a attorney on day one. As much as the LPC may well be a pile of pish, at least we pay lip service to the concept of vocational training.
The only real experience a US law school grad will have had - and it's only true if you're a top student - is a spell as a summer associate. That is literally what is sounds like. At my old firm - a US practice in London - we had these fresh-faced and white-toothed Americans over every summer. They got taken out for lunch and dinner and drinks. They had to do fairly normal work - much better stuff than you'd ever get on a vacation scheme.
And, what's more, they got paid the same as a NQ (and, astonishingly, their time is occasionally billed to clients - although there's been moves against this recently).
General point - bitterness over the salary aside - is how can you expect boys and girls fresh out of law school to be lawyers? The exact same is true of new trainees, but at least UK firms accept that it's going to take another two years on the job before their young bucks are worth anything. And even at NQ level, there's still a long way to go.
American exceptionalism aside, there appear to be tentative moves emerging in the US market that, for once, we've got it right. Howrey is the largest of the firms currently running what has been termed "apprenticeship programs". There are lingering fears that the lower salaries that these apprentices are paid will make the firms less attractive. But can it be the case that in US, the job market is still in the buyer's favour (or even favor)? And there are the usual worries that having to do training will take away from the partners' billables. Which is true - look how much it costs to take a trainee through a TC nowadays.
Either way, we're holding the lead this time, and they're the bichon frize.
Any thoughts?
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