Weekly Newsletter #27

Career opportunities spotted this week

🎓 Sixth form and college students
No law A-level? No problem. Bevan Brittan, a national firm known for its public sector and healthcare work, is recruiting for its Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeship in Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds. It kicks off with an 11-week Head Start placement before the apprenticeship begins in January 2028. Deadline for applications: 8th January 2027.

🚗 Uni students
Gain in-house legal experience at a global car brand, all during your degree. Honda Motor Europe is offering a placement year in its Legal & Compliance team in Bracknell, covering legal research, simple contract drafting, compliance projects and company secretarial work across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Apply ASAP.

📝 Graduates and career changers

If you’re looking at in-house roles, Frasers Group, the retail group behind Sports Direct and FLANNELS, is hiring a Real Estate Paralegal in Shirebrook to support the legal team managing its UK and international property portfolio. You’ll draft licences and short-term tenancies, help with lease deals and work with the property, estates and finance teams. No prior legal experience required. Apply ASAP.

Retail or customer service experience? It counts here! DAC Beachcroft is hiring permanent Paralegals in Birmingham across its Motor Recoveries, Property Recoveries, Property Subsidence and Motor Injury teams, where you’ll run your own caseload, assess liability and quantum, negotiate settlements and draft court documents. Apply ASAP.

Training as a trade mark attorney at Reddie & Grose in London could be a brilliant alternative legal career, working on registrations, clearance searches and brand portfolios for everyone from start-ups to global brands. There’s a part-time course leading to the Certificate in Intellectual Property Law. Deadline: 25th December 2026.

And the big news… the Inclusie Club job board is officially LIVE! 🎉

Over 100 opportunities, all in one place. Paralegal jobs, training contracts, apprenticeships, work experience, open days and networking events.

Not sure where to start? Take our quick quiz and we’ll match you with roles that suit where you are right now.

👉 Explore the job board

New opportunities land every Sunday via the newsletter, so check back next week to find out what’s new.

To launch Inclusie Club Jobs, we’ve added new Job Board T&Cs and updated our Privacy Policy . If you answer the optional questions, we’ll use your answers to show you the opportunities that suit you and to understand what our members are looking for.

Your questions answered

Q: I’m applying to paralegal roles and I’m thinking I could qualify through the SQE. How do I know if each paralegal role will count as qualifying work experience?

My response: Such a good question and it’s brilliant that you’re thinking about this now.

As a quick recap for our readers, there are a few ways to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. One option is the SQE route, which means passing the SQE1 and SQE2 exams and completing two years of qualifying work experience (QWE). Paralegal work is one of the most common ways people build up their QWE but not every paralegal role will count. Here’s what to look out for.

Quick disclaimer before we start: We understand that the Qualifying Work Experience or “QWE” rules below are correct at the time of writing but they could change. This is a general overview and not a substitute for the SRA’s own guidance, so always check the latest information at sra.org.uk/qwe before relying on it.

⚖️ Will you be doing legal work?
QWE has to involve providing legal services. Things like drafting legal documents, carrying out legal research, negotiating contracts and supporting on client matters will count. If a role is mostly admin, like filing and diary management, it’s unlikely to count on its own. Job titles can be misleading, so read the job description carefully and look at the actual tasks listed.

🧠 Will it build your solicitor skills?
The role needs to give you the chance to develop at least two of the competences in the SRA’s Statement of Solicitor Competence. It sounds technical, but it’s worth having a read so you can compare it against the job descriptions you’re looking at.

✍️ Is there someone who can sign it off?
This is the big one. A solicitor of England and Wales or the firm’s compliance officer (COLP) needs to confirm your QWE. They don’t have to be your direct supervisor or even work at the same organisation, but they do need to review your work and get feedback from whoever supervises you. It’s worth getting their agreement in writing to this, or check that it’s in your employment contract, before you start any role.

🔍 Ask upfront if the advert isn’t clear
Some employers now mention QWE in their job adverts, so keep an eye out when you’re browsing roles on our new job board. If it isn’t clear, just ask. It’s much easier to get an employer to agree to confirm your QWE before you start than to raise it six months in and find out they won’t.

📝 Once you’ve started, keep a log
Jot down the matters you’ve worked on, the tasks you’ve done and the skills you’ve built. Block out, say, 20 to 30 minutes in your diary to do this each week. This makes the sign-off process so much easier when the time comes (plus it’s brilliant material for future applications and interviews).

🧩 It doesn’t have to come from one place
Remember that you can combine QWE from up to four different organisations to make up your two years full-time (or equivalent) and you can complete it before, during or after the SQE. So if your first paralegal role is a short contract, or you’ve volunteered at a law clinic in the past, that experience could still count towards your total.

✨ The bottom line
Check the job description, ask upfront and keep records once you start and you’ll be in a great position when it’s time to qualify. 💛

5 minutes with… Rebecca Holding-Lisser, Lead Lawyer (Property, Construction and Planning) at Asda Story page

Interviewed by Maryam Irfan

There is no single blueprint for building a successful legal career, and Rebecca Holding-Lisser’s journey is a brilliant example of why.

From a route into law that wasn’t always straightforward to building a career in commercial real estate across Bruntwood, Royal Mail and now leading Asda’s Property Legal team, Rebecca has experienced first-hand how much of a legal career is built beyond qualifications alone.

We caught up with Rebecca to talk about building trust, thinking commercially, adapting your expertise across different businesses, stepping into leadership, and what the next generation of in-house lawyers should start developing now.

We hope you enjoy Rebecca’s insights as much as we did!

Q: You’ve spoken openly about living independently from 16 and not getting the A level results you had hoped for because of your personal circumstances. Looking back, what helped you keep moving forward and build the legal career you wanted?

I only ever wanted to be a solicitor so there wasn’t a Plan B so what kept me moving forward was sheer stubbornness and dogged determination. I’ve also always wanted to prove people wrong. When I was struggling during my A levels because of trying to balance my personal life with my studies a teacher told me I’d never be a solicitor if things carried on the way they were. That was like a red rag to a bull, and I knew that would just act as fuel. I’m a big believer in everything happens for a reason and I think my circumstances at 16 have taught me strength and resilience which any lawyer will need at times.

Q: Commercial real estate has been the thread through your career, but you’ve applied that expertise in very different businesses, from Bruntwood to Royal Mail and now Asda. When you move between sectors, what stays transferable and what do you have to learn again about the business?

First and foremost, I am a property solicitor, that’s my foundation; property law is property law and that doesn’t change because of the business you’re working for. Once you have the foundation, you can then build on that in whatever business you’re in. I think the most important thing you must learn about the new business very quickly is the business’s appetite for risk – I’ve always said my job as a property lawyer is a risk manager. When you’re in private practice you highlight the risks and let the client choose. When you’re in house, in particular you highlight the risks but your advice will also help the business navigate them and move forward in a way that supports the commercial outcome while appropriately managing legal exposure.

Q: Aspiring legal professionals are often told to be “commercially aware”, but that can feel quite abstract. From your experience in-house, what does being genuinely commercial look like in the day-to-day decisions a lawyer makes?

This I think is the ‘why’ question. Businesses are rarely looking for legal advice in isolation; they are usually trying to achieve a commercial objective and need to understand the legal risks and options that sit around that objective. Day to day, that means understanding the commercial impact of legal advice, weighing risk against opportunity, and tailoring recommendations to help the business meet its strategic goals.

Q: Working in-house means advising colleagues whose priorities may be commercial rather than legal. What have you learned about earning the trust of non-legal stakeholders, particularly when the legal answer isn’t necessarily the answer they want to hear?

My dad runs his own business and one piece of advice he always gave me was that people buy from people they like. That has stayed with me throughout my career. Building trust starts with being approachable, understanding the pressures your stakeholders are under, and developing strong relationships. Once that relationship is established, trust is built by consistently delivering high-quality, pragmatic and timely advice. Colleagues need to know that when they come to Legal, they will get clear guidance that helps them achieve their objectives rather than simply being told what they cannot do.

One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that stakeholders can usually accept being told "no" if you take the time to explain the risk and, more importantly, offer an alternative solution. In my experience, there is almost always a compromise or a different route to achieve the underlying commercial objective.

Particularly in-house, earning trust is about being seen as a problem solver rather than a blocker.

Q: You now lead Asda’s Property Legal team. What has surprised you most about the shift from being responsible for your own legal work to leading others, and how has it changed the way you approach your role?

I am by nature a people pleaser and a do-er and I really enjoy being a property lawyer, doing the work and solving the problems. When you move into a leadership role, your success is no longer measured purely by your own output. Instead, it's about enabling others to succeed and creating an environment where the team can perform at their best. I've had to work hard to become comfortable delegating work rather than instinctively doing everything myself.

That has changed the way I approach my role. Rather than focusing solely on delivering legal advice, I spend more time supporting development, removing obstacles and helping the team prioritise their workload. I've learned that sometimes the best thing I can do is step back and allow someone else to take ownership, even if I could do the task myself.

Q: For a trainee or junior lawyer hoping to build a career in-house, what experiences or skills would you encourage them to seek out early in their career, beyond developing their technical legal knowledge?

I don't think this advice is limited to those pursuing an in-house career. One of the most valuable skills any lawyer can develop is the ability to communicate confidently with all types of people. In fact, I would actively encourage aspiring lawyers to gain experience in retail or hospitality. Those environments teach a huge number of transferable skills, including negotiation, staying calm under pressure, managing competing priorities and balancing the expectations of different stakeholders. All of these are critical skills for a successful lawyer.

My other top tip is to cut the jargon. Clients rarely want a lengthy legal explanation; they want a clear answer and an understanding of the practical implications. If you can't explain a legal issue in simple terms to a non-lawyer, you probably don't understand it well enough yourself. The lawyers who add the most value are often those who can distil complex legal issues into clear, practical advice that enables the business to make informed decisions.

Thank you so much to Rebecca for letting us interview her! You can find her on LinkedIn here.

This week’s career tip

Being turned down after an interview doesn’t always mean the end of the road with that employer. Employers often keep a strong runner-up in mind when another role opens or a new starter drops out (which happens more than you might think). A short, gracious reply thanking them for their time and asking to be considered for future opportunities can keep you on their radar. It takes five minutes, costs nothing and could be the email that gets you a call back.

That’s all for now. See you next week!

Emma

The careers advice shared in this newsletter is intended as general guidance and should not be treated as formal legal or recruitment advice. I do my best to keep all opportunities and deadlines accurate and up-to-date at the time of writing, but always double-check the employer’s website before applying.