The Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund reaches new milestone

The Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund (SWSQF) led by the City of London Law Society, BARBRI, and Young Legal Aid Lawyers has reached two significant milestones on its mission to strengthen access to justice across the country.

Having raised over £500,000, the initiative is now in a position to offer funding to at least 55 candidates in its first three years of operation.

I. Stephanie Boyce, President of The Law Society of England and Wales, has publicly welcomed the news and endorsed the scheme.

She said, ‘the Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund helps to address the severe shortage of social welfare legal services provision in England and Wales. […] What a wonderful initiative that will make a difference to those aspiring solicitors’ lives but also to the lives of those of whom they will be providing legal representation and advice to. I urge all legal organisations to consider donating to SWSQF.’

The video is accessible at this link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/city-of-london-law-society-clls_clls-swsqf-accesstojustice-activity-6967473206639132672-8RzO/

The money will be used to provide funding for the Solicitors Qualification Exam preparatory course and assessment fees to aspiring solicitors currently working in social welfare law. Each qualified lawyer will deliver approximately 1,500 social welfare law hours annually.

The first cohort to have benefited from this initiative has started this course with BARBRI SQE Prep in April 2022 and is currently studying for the Solicitors Qualification Exam part 1 (SQE1) with the aim of taking the SQE1 assessment in November.

The candidate application process for the second cohort will launch in October 2022. Keep an eye on the City of London Law Society website and social media channels for the latest news regarding the SWSQF initiative.