Admission as a solicitor in England and Wales
- The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulations

Practicing as a Solicitor in England & Wales

New Zealand lawyers who are admitted as a Barrister & Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand may be eligible to transfer their qualification to become a Solicitor in the United Kingdom.

It is desirable to be admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales if you wish to work here for more than 2 years and/or if you are seeking employment in areas outside of London or in smaller firms.

Anyone planning to sit the QLTT is advised to prepare (and save) for the process well in advance, which may mean applying for the Certificate of Eligibility before leaving New Zealand.

On average, it will take around a year or more to get qualified, which is downtime if you are looking for work as an assistant solicitor in sectors reliant on legal aid (where non-English qualified lawyers are paid at the same rate as a non-qualified paralegal) or in private practice in areas outside London, where firms may be reluctant to take on lawyers who have not yet qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales.

Applying under the Transfer Regulations

The Qualified Lawyer Transfer Regulations allow New Zealand lawyers who can satisfy certain requirements to be admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales. The are four stages to admission. They are:

1.      Obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

2.      Pass the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT).

3.      Satisfy a two-year legal experience requirement (which includes an English practice component).

4.      Satisfy the SRA of your character and suitability to practice.

There are exceptions to the requirements for lawyers and/or academics with 10 years' or more experience.

Once the requirements have been met, the lawyer can apply to be admitted as a solicitor of England & Wales.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has an excellent summary of the application procedure at  http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/qltt/apply.page

The Certificate of Eligibility

Before you can apply to sit the QLTT, it is necessary to apply to the SRA for a "Certificate of Eligibility."

Eligibility is assessed on the basis of your legal experience and qualifications, including professional membership of the NZLS, and work experience.

The SRA require you to produce evidence of the following legal experience:

·         Two years' post-admission experience (pre-admission experience is rarely considered) within the last five years in a common law system doing both contentious (litigation) and non-contentious work;

·         During that two years, at least one year must have been gained by practising the law of England and Wales in a SRA regulated practice and under the direct supervision of a solicitor who has been admitted in England & Wales.  Your supervisor will need to fill out an experience evidence form .

·         And experience of three distinct areas of law covering contentious and non contentious practice.

The idea is to replicate the English "training contract", in which trainee lawyers complete two years' supervised work over three distinct areas of the common law such as property, litigation, commercial and private client work. Proof of these matters must be in the prescribed format and be recent. The formal requirements are detailed on the SRA website and strict adherence is required.

To accompany your application the SRA also requires a Certificate of Standing from your home law society (see here), contact details of two referees and a £400 fee.

It can up to (and sometimes over) three months for the SRA to process your application and another week or two for your Certificate of Eligibility, which is necessary for enrolment in the QLTT, to arrive in the post.

You can still apply for a Certificate of Eligibility even if you have not met the experience requirement.  If you apply for a certificate but do not have the requisite experience (e.g. you do not meet the English practice requirement) then the SRA will tell you on your Certificate of Eligibility what further experience is necessary before you can qualify as a solicitor.

The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test

The QLTT is a conversion test that allows lawyers qualified in New Zealand and other jurisdictions to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. New Zealanders who are "eligible" (link to above heading “Certificate of Eligibility”) need sit only one head of the QLTT, in Professional Conduct and Accounts.

The Professional Conduct & Accounts exam is a 3 hour written test, divided into two parts: (1) Accounts (40%) and (2) Financial Services, Professional Conduct & Money Laundering (60%).  

The five registered providers of the QLTT are: Altior Consulting & Training Ltd, BPP Professional Education, Central Law Training, The College of Law, and Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.

Most providers offer distance-learning courses and their fees start at around £550 for enrolment, course materials, and sitting the test.

Admission as a solicitor

Once the QLTT results come through (usually around two months after the test date), the final application for admission to the roll can be made. For this, the SRA requires a fresh Certificate of Standing from the NZLS, criminal records checks in both the UK and New Zealand, and a set fee for admission and a practising certificate.

This application also requires the original certificate of eligibility and evidence of success in the QLTT and satisfactory completion of any evidence requirement.