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“It’s such an exciting time for Flex Trainee! We're keenly looking for organisations who share our vision”

Mary Bonsor, CEO and Co-Founder

OUR VISION

Flex Trainee - a new way to grow diverse talent

A full cohort of Flex Trainees are seen across a sofa in the Flex Legal office. They are as diverse as they are happy, and each bear a warming smile.
We have a vision of a more diverse and socially-mobile legal profession. Let's work together to achieve that reality.
The new SQE route to solicitor qualification represents a significant opportunity for organisations to support the next generation of lawyers. Through a mixture of in-house secondments, consistent support from Flex Legal HQ, and the potential of the SQE exams, we're hoping to radically improve social mobility and diversity within the legal profession.

What is Flex Trainee?

A roundtable of Flex Trainees listen intently as they learn soft skills
Flex Trainee is structured around a two-year in-house secondment to an organisation. We locate the best and brightest aspiring lawyers from historically under-represented backgrounds, and embed them with forward-thinking legal teams as they accrue their Qualifying Work Experience.
Not only does this allow legal teams to invest meaningfully in the future of the profession, but it offers them a valuable junior resource.
A cohort of 4 Flex Trainees stand before a building, smiling as they begin their solicitor qualification
Flex Legal provides continuous support to trainees and organisations throughout each placement. We want trainees to hit the ground running, so put each of them them through a rigorous 4 week readiness programme. The programme is entirely bespoke, equipping them with the hard and soft workplace skills they need to succeed.
We also offer trainees regular 1:1 coaching and mentoring sessions, supplementary training, and peer-to-peer networking opportunities. We meet monthly with each trainee's in-house supervisor to gather feedback and resolve any issues.
On top of all that, once the two years are complete, we offer teams the opportunity to hire the newly-qualified lawyer - at no additional cost whatsoever.
Some of our flex trainee clients:

In detail: how Flex Trainee works

Before engagementDuring engagementAfter engagement
Flex Legal locates brilliant young talent from under-represented backgrounds with our STRIVE partners.Trainees are seconded to organisations for 1 year minimum. They work for 4.5 days a week, and study for the SQE with the remaining half day.After 1 year, the trainee can be retained for a second year to complete their qualification within the client organisation.
Flex Legal employs the trainees for 2 years so that they can be seconded to in-house legal teams.Flex holds monthly 1:1s with each trainee to ensure success, review their training and QWE progress.Alternatively, Flex can replace the trainee with a different carefully-selected candidate for free.
Flex runs a 4-week readiness programme for the trainees before they join their client in-house teams.Every month, Flex meets with the trainee's in-house supervisor to gather feedback and resolve any issues. Monthly QWE reports are also sent to the supervisor.Once the Flex Trainee has qualified after 2 years, the team can retain them as an NQ if so desired. This incurs no additional costs.
The trainee is also assigned a Flex mentor and has access to a professional coach; as well as peer-to-peer networking events.

Want to apply to become a Flex Trainee?

Are you from a social mobility background and want to pursue a career in law? Would you be perfect for our next cohort of Flex Trainees?

As part of Flex Trainee, we've partnered with the legal social mobility charity, STRIVE, to identify aspiring lawyers from unique backgrounds who deserve an opportunity to kick-start a legal career. You can apply to Flex Trainee via STRIVE, who provide all kinds of additional career support for their members. You can learn more about STRIVE via their website.