Helping DWF implement a successful apprenticeship scheme
Bringing fresh ideas and perspectives
What kind of work do your apprentices do?
The type of work an apprentice will do very much depends on the practice area they join. Some will join our Managed Services team, which provides support to a variety of sectors and practice areas. Others sit directly within fee earning teams such as our insurance team, dealing with catastrophic personal injury and occupational health claims. Paralegal apprentices will undertake tasks such as preparing court bundles, post-completion work, going to client meetings and preparing updates on claims. The level of responsibility and general workload grows over time, with some apprentices being responsible for managing their own cases.Apprentices rotate around different departments and teams every 12 months, until the final two years of the programme when solicitor apprentices will rotate departments every 6 months alongside trainee solicitors.
What are the positive effects of an apprentice scheme?
As well as the obvious benefit of being able to deploy the Apprenticeship Levy, our key driver in implementing the apprenticeship programme was to recruit diverse talent and bring in young people with fresh ideas and perspectives. We have been delighted by how our stakeholders have embraced the apprenticeship programme, taking time to understand it and being supportive of the apprentices.Apprentices have been amongst other employees nominated to receive internal awards for their contribution to the business. In 2018, DWF achieved Gold standard in the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) new Talent Inclusion & Diversity Evaluation (TIDE) Awards for our outstanding equality, diversity and inclusion practices, including our work supporting early talent.
What advice would you give to other employers looking to set up an apprenticeship scheme?
We would definitely recommend introducing an apprenticeship scheme. We have been surprised and impressed by how knowledgeable and adept our apprentices are. We have also been amazed by their ability to juggle work, studies and social lives. Their motivation and determination really adds value to the team and they have been able to introduce fresh ideas and perspectives, such as a task-specific spreadsheet to help track workflow. We would advise firms to invest time in understanding the programme and how it is structured, to work with the business to identify areas where apprentices might be best placed and plan logistics such as how to structure the study day and plan seat rotations. We would also advise employers to choose the right training provider to ensure they fit with the culture of the business, as those relationships are important to the success of the programme.
BPP provides regular updates on the world of legal apprenticeships to help us navigate through a new and changing programme.
