An alternative to undertaking your law training contract in a law firm is to train lawyers in-house with a company in commerce and industry. There are currently approximately 6,000 lawyers employed in commerce and industry in the UK (including both solicitors and barristers), and more than 100 trainees undertaking their training in these areas.

Law Training in-house is quite different from law training in private practice in certain respects. In-house law trainees are often given a great deal of responsibility at an early stage. In terms of how the training is structured, in-house trainees usually have the same 'seat' rotation system that trainees in law firms have. Generally each law trainee will complete six months in four different departments. There is often more flexibility about which departments the trainee goes to, and it may be the case that they are able to remain longer in a department they are particularly interested in.

Because in-house lawyers deal exclusively with their employer's legal business, they develop a detailed knowledge of all aspects of the business. Being closer to their client and its commercial objectives, in-house lawyers are seen as part of the team, rather than simply an adviser. They are encouraged to contribute to projects at an early stage rather than being invited to the project once all the decisions have been made. Most in-house lawyers agree that this working relationship with their client is the most satisfying feature of their role.

Some in-house law training contract providers will not be able to offer law trainees experience in enough different areas of law to comply with the Law Society requirement that trainees must have training in at least three areas, one of which must be contentious. In these circumstances, trainees will be seconded to a law firm for up to six months, often for their litigation training, since it is common for litigation to be dealt with by external solicitors.

Whilst it is certainly possible to move from in-house law training contract into private practice, this could prove more difficult than moving from one law firm to another. A successful in-house lawyer's career might involve: starting off as a trainee, becoming a qualified in-house solicitor, progressing to a senior company solicitor and ending up as a Head of Legal. As Head of a legal department, you could easily expect to earn well over £100,000 with the additional benefits of working for a major company.

For further information, please see the Law Society’s website: www.lawsociety.org.uk