At the recent LawCAB conference, a breakout session on alternative legal career routes sparked an important conversation. With speakers from CILEX Law School, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, and the Association of Costs Lawyers Training – and a diverse audience of students, law schools and employers – one key question emerged: Are we doing enough to prepare students for the full responsibilities of working in a regulated profession – and to introduce the wider landscape of regulated legal careers beyond solicitors and barristers?
Much focus is given to the process of qualifying into the legal profession through the lens of the solicitor and barrister routes. There is a plethora of resources available to law students on becoming a solicitor or barrister through careers guidance, legal websites and law firm marketing materials on the professions, together with the well-versed challenges on securing work experience, training contracts or pupillages through their peers on social media.
However, little attention is paid to the responsibilities of being a regulated professional – working with a prescribed framework, adhering to a Code of Conduct, maintaining professional competence through Continuing Professional Development (CPD), upholding professional standards and behaving ethically.
Students are rightly focused on employment outcomes, yet many have limited exposure to the value of professional membership or engagement with regulators and representative bodies during their studies. These connections can shape career trajectories, support development, and instill a deeper sense of professional identity.
The Broader Legal Ecosystem
Legal services are delivered by a wide range of professionals. The Legal Services Act 2007 covers other regulated professions with equal standing, including Chartered Legal Executives, Licensed Conveyancers, Costs Lawyers and Patent Attorneys for example. These roles offer rich and often overlooked career opportunities to the diverse range of students looking to enter legal practice. The advent of solicitor apprenticeships has also initiated wider discussions around improving access to the legal profession, but many of these training routes are also highly accessible and provide opportunities for social mobility.
Beyond university, there are other specialist qualifications offered by professional bodies and associations, such as STEP or the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators which offer opportunities to enhance professional development through specialism. Even in non-regulated roles, colleagues may hold professional qualifications or memberships that bring specialist knowledge or responsibilities – something students often aren’t aware of until they’re in the workplace.
Ethics in Legal Education
Professional ethics and standards are not mandatory components of undergraduate law degrees. While some students encounter them through clinical legal education or integrated modules, this is inconsistent. Yet the need for ethical awareness is more pressing than ever.
Regardless of one’s legal career path, ethical reasoning, integrity, and professionalism are essential. These are the foundations of public trust and civil society and upholding the rule of law.
Embedding ethics across programmes, not just in isolated modules, can help students develop critical thinking and prepare for the complex dilemmas they will face in regulated environments. Real-world case studies, interdisciplinary perspectives and developing skills in reflective practise are ways of doing this. The same is true for professional training programmes and CPD systems where the introduction of, training in and maintaining competence though CPD in professional standards and ethics, varies hugely despite shared regulation under the Legal Services Act. Some legal qualifications also reference codes of conduct without integrating them meaningfully into training. The financial and accountancy sectors offer a useful comparison – organisations like CISI and ICAEW expect professionals to complete annual ethics CPD, with updated content to reflect emerging challenges which are updated annually.
Why This Matters Now
This is not merely a matter of curriculum design; it’s about sustaining public trust in the legal profession and protecting those entering it. As the modern workplace becomes increasingly complex, shaped by AI, hybrid working and evolving client expectations, those entering the profession require more than technical knowledge to succeed.
A new roadmap is needed to ensure lawyers are equipped to help them navigate ethical and professional dilemmas at both individual and systemic levels. From misleading the court to the misuse of NDAs and SLAPPS; public scandals such as the Post Office Enquiry; and the ethical breaches highlighted in recent Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal decisions involving paralegals, trainees and newly qualified solicitors, the consequences of poor ethical decisions can be profound and enduring both to the individual and society and at all career stages.
Ethical competence must therefore be embedded from the very beginning of a legal education and continually reinforced as the foundation of professional life. The Legal Services Board’s recent consultation on professional standards and ethics presents a timely opportunity for reform, but meaningful change must be rooted in practical realities and the challenges facing those involved in legal education and training, particularly at the grass roots of higher education.
Recommendations
To embed ethics and professionalism more effectively, we recommend:
- Promoting the value of professional membership and early engagement with PSRBs through careers guidance and programme planning;
- Integrating ethics across all modules, not isolating it in a single unit;
- Including assessed, real-world ethical scenarios in qualifications;
- Requiring annual ethics CPD, and offering opportunities for ethical CPD courses;
- Using interactive formats that reflect real-world ambiguity;
- Actively teaching and referencing codes of conduct;
- Learning from global approaches to legal ethics and regulation.
We work with regulators, education providers and professional bodies globally to support qualifications, assessments and ongoing training. Our work includes developing and reviewing competency and training frameworks, designing curricula, supporting accreditation processes, and creating interactive training and CPD.
If you’re reviewing how ethics and professionalism are embedded in your programme or exploring ways to raise awareness of regulated legal careers, we’d love to hear from you.
Visit: hooktangaza.com/service/legal-education or contact our Head of Business (Education & Training)
Madeleine Jenness – madeleine.jenness@hooktangaza.com
