Paralegal apprenticeship Qualify as a Paralegal and earn while you learn
Our paralegal apprenticeship is an alternative to university for those with a passion for law!
What is the Weightmans paralegal apprenticeship?
The Weightmans paralegal apprenticeship is a fantastic opportunity for people looking for a career in the legal sector. You will gain hands on experience as well as working towards a recognised qualification and receiving a competitive salary.
The apprenticeship is a 24-month programme which will provide you with the best learning and development opportunities to start your career in law. You will have one day each week dedicated to off-the-job study enabling you to gain work-based experience on the four remaining days, whilst learning from leading experts in the legal field.
What is included in the Weightmans paralegal apprenticeship?
This programme will combine a practical, hands-on approach with an academic balance which will provide you with the skills to be a competent Paralegal. You will be learning on the job with a robust support network including a Weightmans supervisor and a dedicated buddy to support you along the way.
During this apprenticeship you will gain an understanding of legal matters, transactions, client requests and colleague demands, often connected to sensitive or complex issues. In addition, you will also be involved in preparatory work, drafting documents and carrying out research.
You will complete your part-time study with BPP University Law School (View the full BPP course outline). As you go through your apprenticeship you will collate a portfolio of evidence required for your final assessment along with formal assessments during the programme.
Is this apprenticeship for you?
We are looking for a specific type of individual who will fit in well with our ethos and culture. You will need to have excellent written and communication skills, a willingness to learn, as well as the ability to work to strict deadlines and timescales in a thriving environment.
You will need to show that you have a strong academic background. You will be required to have obtained a minimum of three A-Levels (96 UCAS points) and five GCSE’s at grade C (or 4) or above, including English and Mathematics (or equivalent).
Why choose Weightmans?
Here at Weightmans, people are an integral part of our culture and business, and your success is our success. We have great working practices for ensuring a mindful and considerate working culture as signatories of the Mindful Business Charter.
In many of our offices, we have a unique and open office space accompanied by agile working for a great work-life balance. With a focus on learning and development of our people.
As much as we work hard, we like to play hard too! Having an appropriate work-life balance is something we value for all of our people. Our social calendar is always full, from theatre visits and quizzes to office parties. Each of our offices has an active social committee who are always looking for new members to get involved. We will encourage our graduates to keep in touch as a national cohort with training and annual events.
We pride ourselves in our CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) work and support a number of deserving charities, both nationally and local to our offices, including Zoe’s Place, Francis House, Simon on the Streets and many more. As part of our commitment, all staff receive two days of paid CSR leave each year, and each office has a local committee who are always looking for new members, and this may be something you would like to be a part of once you join us.
We offer excellent salary and benefits.
As a Weightmans employee, you will also be entitled to our excellent staff benefits which include:
- 28 days' holiday
- Healthcare cover
- Pension plan
- Travel loan scheme
- Employee care scheme
- Discounted gym membership
- Dental care scheme
How to apply
Applications have now closed for our September 2023 intake. Applications will reopen in Autumn 2023 for a September 2024 start. Please complete the below form if you would like to be notified when the application process opens and any other important dates or information.
Our application process consists of 4 stages:
Stage 1 — Written application
At this stage, we will look at your academic grades and your answer to an open question. This question is designed to check your understanding of how a law firm, and Weightmans, works. We will also assess structure, depth, punctuation and grammar. The quality of your answer will determine if you progress to the next stage, therefore we suggest you spend some time on this and proofread before submitting it. We will review all written submissions individually, in a blind marking process.
Stage 2 — HIPO-I interactive online assessment
If you are successful at the written application stage, you will then be invited to complete an online assessment called the HIPO-I. This assessment has been designed to test verbal and numerical reasoning along with some situational judgement questions to assess if our values align, you will then be asked to complete a video interview question.
Stage 3 — Virtual Interview
If you are successful at the HIPO-I assessment, you will be invited to attend a virtual interview with a member of HR and a Partner or Principal Associate from the Firm. The interview will be conducted via Zoom and will include a presentation.
Stage 4 — Assessment centre
If you are successful at the virtual interview stage, you will be invited to attend an assessment centre. This will consist of two parts: a group exercise and a written exercise. Before you attend assessment centre, you will be given the opportunity to attend a one-2-one coaching call with a member of our early careers team. This is not an assessed meeting and is an opportunity for the team to answer any questions you may have, and we will walk you through the day, giving you some tips on how best to prepare. You will also be provided with a written brief so that you can be prepared for the day. Assessment centres will take place w/c Monday 13 February 2023 and w/c Monday 20 February 2023.
We welcome you to contact us if you have any queries regarding this process.
Meet us to find out more
If you have any queries, please feel free to get in touch by email via earlycareers@weightmans.com. We will be attending and hosting a number of events in Autumn 2023 if you would like to come along and find out more about the programme. Further details regarding these events will be listed below in the future.
Dates, locations and further details TBC.
Legal insights programme
Are you in year 12 or above, in undergraduate degrees (excluding Law), or do you have a keen interest in pursuing a legal career? If so, we are excited to announce the launch of our brand-new legal insights programme. Our aim is to provide students with an insight into our law firm, the legal career pathways available and to introduce you to members of the firm to discover what they do here at Weightmans and how a law firm works.
