Admissions and discharge process
Admission
Once a full year of training has been completed, a trainee can
apply to be admitted as a solicitor. This is at the discretion of
the training firm (the employing solicitor will be required to
certify that in their opinion the trainee has reached an
appropriate level of competence) and is also subject to
satisfactory performance during the traineeship. Quarterly
performance reviews must be up to date at the time the admission
application is processed.
Admission enables trainees to be granted a restricted practising
certificate and appear in court. In 2010/11 the cost is £265 for
admission as a solicitor and notary public and £220 for admission
as a solicitor only. This process can take up to eight weeks from
receipt of the correctly completed paperwork.
Alternatively, a trainee can choose to be admitted and discharged
(in one single process) at the end of the traineeship if this is
more appropriate. The costs and time taken are exactly the same as
for the admission process after one year.
Discharge
After two years, training contracts must be discharged. This is
a vital stage of the traineeship because a solicitor is not
entitled to hold a full (unrestricted) practising certificate until
this process has been completed.
The professional competence course (core and elective modules) must
be completed by this stage. All quarterly performance reviews must
also have been completed for the discharge to be processed.
Please email registrar@lawscot.org.uk to request the
relevant paperwork for both admission (stipulating if it is to be
for admission after one or two years) and discharge.
Registered European Lawyers
If you are a Registered European Lawyer (REL) please use
the REL3 form to apply for
Admission as a solicitor.
If you have any queries please email registrar@lawscot.org.uk