UK Paralegal Academy

There’s more than one path into a law career, and our paralegal academy offers a brilliant new way to build an exciting future in our UK casualty practice.

Every case has it's own story and so does every paralegal. When you begin your story with Clyde & Co, you’ll have the opportunity to shape a career path that’s completely your own. In fact, the experience you have as part of our paralegal academy will be unique to you.

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Overview

Our paralegal academy comprises a range of initiatives and programmes that can help you develop the technical and core skills you need to become a confident Paralegal.

Join the programme and you’ll discover clear pathways for career progression. You’ll learn from experienced professionals at all levels of our business, and you’ll have full support and guidance around your personal and professional development. Plus dedicated training. All while earning as you learn.

a woman sitting at a table with a pen and paper

Eligibility

Offering a brilliant opportunity for anyone who’s interested in a law career - even if you’ve missed previous application deadlines, or if law wasn’t your first career choice. The paralegal academy is a way into a legal career for everyone.

Key requirements:

2:2 degree in any discipline (no law experience required)
BBC A-Level, Highers or equivalent (mitigating circumstances will be taken into consideration)
Grade C/4 at GCSE English Literature, English Language and Maths

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Programme structure

Throughout your time on our paralegal academy, you’ll be able to craft a career that suits your ambitions. For some, that might look like honing a particular area of law – for others it will be completing the casualty SQE (Solicitors Qualifying Examination) qualification programme. Whatever it is, we’re here for your success.

A firm on a different scale

We have the most respected casualty practice in the UK. That means we’re trusted with some severe and complex cases. The locations you'll be based in are state-of-the-art and home to some of the best expertise and technology in the industry.

Learn from true industry experts

Our casualty teams comprise some of the most experienced and knowledgeable practitioners in our industry, all ready to lead, guide and mentor you on your career journey. You’ll work closely with our partners and experienced fee earners on every aspect of the cases you support. And you’ll discover a genuinely inclusive workplace that not only reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, but offers unique opportunities to learn from an equally diverse team of experts.

No two days are the same

From credit hire to catastrophic injury, the range and depth of cases here are unmatched. You’ll be trusted to run your caseload with support from supervisors and mentors and assist in high-level, complex cases too.

Development beyond ordinary

Underpinning your on-the-job learning and guidance from the top experts in the casualty field is our training programme. It’s your programme, so you play a big part in how your development is structured – and we’ll be there to guide you all the way.

Go further than you imagine

Our paralegal academy lead will be on hand to keep everything running smoothly and our legal training manager will support you with technical training aligned to our own competency framework. And if you’re one of our top performers, you could also be accepted onto apply for our casualty SQE (Solicitors Qualifying Examination) qualification programme (England only) or internal training contract routes.

A career without limitations

Whatever your background or experience, we believe in your passion for the law. Our paralegals are from wide-ranging communities and our strengths-based recruitment process acknowledges that.

Let's take it step by step

We use RARE a contextualised recruitment system to ensure fairness and equality, and we review applications holistically.  Our strengths-based recruitment process is based on fairness and equity. It’s designed to help us identify what motivates you to work at a city law firm, over your learnt experiences, and helps you show us the most authentic version of yourself. Here’s how it works:

Applications open

For all programmes, you’ll need to make your application online via our online application system. At this stage you’ll just need to complete your basic personal information. No lengthy written tasks for you to complete here.

Online assessment

The second stage is an online assessment. It includes critical and verbal reasoning tests, as well as our Clyde & Co digital assessment, which contains a mix of written and video questions. Our digital assessment is designed to present you with some of the challenges you can expect to face at Clyde & Co, and aims to understand your motivations behind your application. For more advice and tips on how to approach this stage, visit our learning hub.

Assessment Centre

This is the final stage of the process. Here, we are assessing candidates based on the strengths that will deliver success in a role. As part of the assessment day, you will take part in a short written exercise, a role play scenario, a group exercise and a strengths-based interview.

Offer

Our favourite part – the offer. We’ll call you to let you know if you’ve been successful, if you’re not, we’ll offer you some feedback for your development.

Insight Events

Date: 1st April 2025

Time: 1pm - 3pm

Location: Virtual

This Paralegal Academy virtual insight session is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the Paralegal Academy and to find out if it's a good fit for you!

You'll hear about the development pathway, the application process and the recruitment process too. We'll be joined by some of our Paralegals, so make sure to bring your questions as there will be a Q&A.