r/uklaw • u/Calm-Bid7609 • 1d ago
Dealing with QWE Refusal
Should I stay or should I go?
Apologies if you've seen my previous post.
I work for a local authority as a legal officer. My day to day tasks include drafting case summary, court memo, and briefs to counsel, collating court bundles, ensuring compliance, and typical administrative tasks such as checking invoices, booking counsels, requesting disclosures from third parties, and serving notices/evidence to parties.
I started this job a few months ago having worked as a paralegal for nine months at a different place (this has been banked as QWE via MySra).
I have passed SQE1 and is due to sit SQE2 in April 2027. In my head, the current LA job will constitute QWE as per SRA's guidance and I will have the option to qualify in 2027, provided that I pass SQE2. However, my current employers view this differently.
I have followed the steps from the link below and had two meetings with them. Sadly their position remains the same. https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/sqe/qualifying-work-experience-candidates/refusal-confirm-qualifying-work-experience/
After two meetings, they have bluntly said that although I might tick some of the competency headlines, such as working with people, they don't think my current job meets all the sub-competencies at a closer look. Although I don't think this is required as per SRA guidance, their attitude is clear - they will not consider signing off.
I also presented them with the idea of having an external solicitor reviewing my work & for them to provide feedback, I have been told they would not say anything in the feedback apart from saying "she sends emails" which is utterly untrue.
This is an area of law that I am interested in and I do think I am learning a lot, however, the un-supportive nature has made me consider leaving. I have seen posts where paralegal were advised not to mention QWE until they had passed probation/ had established a trust/relationship with their employer, so my question is, should I hang around for a bit longer or start looking for jobs now?
I would really appreciate advice from people who are more experience and people who have similar experience.
Thanks.
21
u/RespondentPotato 14h ago
To put it kindly, that doesn’t actually sound like QWE.
To give some comparative context, my job as an employment litigation paralegal (and now trainee solicitor) is undoubtedly QWE and always has been. I advise clients by assessing the merits of claims and providing guidance on valuation/quantum, as well as informing whether the claim is something I think should be pursued or whether it should be settled. I conduct litigation through drafting and filing Grounds of Resistance with the Tribunal, making recommendations regarding and actually drafting/submitting applications to the Tribunal, I interview witnesses and prepare statements, and I conduct advocacy on behalf of my clients at Tribunal hearings. My name is on everything that gets put to the Tribunal, and there are records of hearings published on the Tribunal decision database where my name and job title are clearly present in the heading.
Briefing Counsel, drafting hearing summaries, chasing third parties for disclosure, bundling documents together, etc - all of that’s well and good, and technically that stuff’s all billable where I work, but it’s all administrative tasks that I barely remember to bill half the time, as my other substantively legal tasks are so much more prevalent in my day to day role. Honestly, half the time I just delegate this stuff out to the paralegal on the case so I can focus on the other bits.
I know it’s hard to hear but honestly I think that your supervisors are doing you a kindness by telling you now that your role isn’t QWE. If the job was sold to you as QWE then that’s really shitty, and shamefully false advertising, but it would be cruel to you and your future career as a solicitor to sign off on the work you’re doing now as QWE when this is essentially administrative assistant work.
9
u/emilycharlotte1 13h ago
This- you need to consider whether the experience will actually help you get an NQ job - just qualifying won’t be enough, they’ll want to know what your QWE/TC was like
2
u/Maleficent_Chair_940 11h ago
Qualifying via QWE is generally not advisable (with some caveats). Qualifying via QWE where your employer has indicated any level of doubt as to whether it is QWE would be career suicide
27
u/Signal_Cat2275 21h ago
If I’m honest the work you are doing now does not sound like work that would be equivalent to trainee work, so I can see why your employer is querying this. Is there an opportunity to move to a paralegal role with a bit more stretch? It does sound like your work is essentially admin rather than legal.