SLT And You: SLT Explained

At university you will hear a lot about Practical Legal Training (or PLT). Everyone wants to know which PLT provider a recently graduated friend is choosing, and whether there are pros and cons to one or the other. Plenty of anecdotal material and opinions abound, as well as bountiful webinars, networking events, and other opportunities to speak to providers such as Leo Cussen Centre for Law , The College of Law Australia , and more recently the Law Institute of Victoria in partnership with the ACAP University College .

However, PLT is only one of two ways in which your specified practical legal training prerequisite under the Legal Profession Uniform Law 2014 ("the LPUL") can be met.

Having recently commenced Supervised Legal Training, I have had several questions from other students seeking to learn more about this pathway less travelled. It is my hope that this article will give others the benefit of my journey of discovery about how to weigh the options and obtain the approval of the Board if SLT is an option you (and importantly, your employer!) decide to pursue.

The Legal and Regulatory Framework

Reg 6(2) of the Legal Profession Uniform Admission Rules 2015 ("the LPUAR") provides that for the purposes of section 17(1)(b) of the LPUL, the practical legal training requirement may be satisfied by successfully completing either:

a) a practical legal training course conducted by a practical legal training provider accredited by the Board, or

b) supervised legal training in a workplace for a period of not less than 12 months, under a training plan approved by the Board, which the Board determines adequately provides for the trainee to satisfy the requirements of subrule (1) (emphasis added).

Supervised Legal Training therefore emerges as a workplace based, supervision oriented model within which the required practical training competencies are taught by and demonstrated to the satisfaction of a supervisor, and the Board.

The History of Supervised Legal Training

Finding its roots in the model of the "articled clerk", SLT acts as a graduate or finishing year to complete the baseline entry level training of new lawyers.

SLT under the LPUAR is fundamentally a compromise between the pre model law pathways that existed in Victoria and New South Wales. Prior to the introduction of the model law, NSW only offered PLT, while Victoria maintained a dual system of PLT and articled clerkships.

Criticism of the articled clerkship pathway was that it could produce graduate outcomes that were highly variable depending on the location, practice areas, and training resources of the firm in which the article clerk worked.

On the other hand, the drafters of the Uniform Law recognized that, with appropriate standardisation and oversight, there were significant benefits in access to admission and catering for differing learning styles on the part of graduates.

SLT therefore adapted to incorporate a common set of competencies to those found in PLT, and greater oversight of training plans and trainee progress by local admission authorities.

What Should I Think About When Considering Supervised Legal Training?

This article makes no attempt to assess the relative merits of PLT and SLT in an objective sense. Rather, it recognises that there are differences, and that the situation of the trainee and the employer will play a significant part in the decision as to which type of practical legal training to undertake. In order to highlight the variables involved, I will outline by way of anecdote the factors I weighed in deciding for myself.

Firm Resources and Employer Willingness

It is no coincidence that I put this factor first, as it is a threshold question. SLT is not a unilateral decision that can be made by a graduate, but rather represents a shared commitment and investment on the part of their employer. If a firm is either too small or too large to be able to commit the financial or temporal resources to the supervision required, SLT will not be the right option. Similarly, a firm that is highly specialized may not be able to offer all the core competencies required under SLT, or only be able to do so with great difficulty.

Many otherwise willing employers are not familiar with the SLT requirements and pathways under the Model Law, as often sufficiently qualified or inclined practitioners may not have engaged with the admission framework in some time. Oddly, a paralegal or new law graduate may find themselves in the position of having to present or explain this area of the law to their would be employer and supervisor (not necessarily the same person)!

Temperament and willingness to take the time and effort to mentor and teach, as well as to provide resources and leave to attend compulsory PLT components are also extremely important. The SLT process is structured, and there are significant legal and ethical obligations on the part of the employer and supervisor, who are responsible in every sense of the word for their trainee achieving competency.

I have been extremely fortunate to come under the tutelage of a senior practitioner who is specialized in commercial litigation, and is prepared to invest in my future as a practitioner. However, it should be noted that SLT is not a purely benevolent, one sided affair. In a time when there are more law graduates than ever before, but also extremely high rates of burnout and exit from the profession before the critical 3-4 year mark of experience, SLT provides an opportunity to engage and shape young practitioners.

Duration of Training

The first thing that students considering their options will likely notice is that unlike PLT which can be completed in as little as 6 months (with longer durations for blended or part time intakes), SLT must be at least 12 months in duration. For students desiring admission as soon as possible after graduation, this may at first glance appear to be a significant negative.

However, this difference in duration should be read in conjunction with section 49(1) of the LPUL. The section provides as a statutory condition of an Australian practising certificate that a practitioner must engage in supervised legal practice only, for the first 2 years (in the case of having completed PLT) or 18 months (in the case of having completed SLT).

Therefore, when the practical legal training requirement is considered in the context of the duration of supervision required for new practitioners overall, there is no difference in the total supervisory period once admitted.

As a mature age student who has graduated at 35, one might think that I would be in a rush to be admitted. In fact, the opposite is true. Because I was working full time for the overwhelming majority of my degree, I was unable to obtain meaningful practical legal work experience, or participate in clerkships. For me, a slightly longer training period was something I felt would be beneficial.

Cost of Training

On average, PLT costs between $11,000 and $12,000 to complete. By contrast, SLT is completed as part of a contract of employment, in which the trainee is working as a full time equivalent law graduate while completing the requirement.

It is important to note that there are costs attendant to SLT, as the LPUAR stipulate that certain competencies must be delivered by an approved PLT provider, unless an exemption is granted to a hosting firm to deliver them.

However, Regulation 4(2) of Schedule 3 of the LPUAR provides that unless otherwise determined by VLAB, the employer is to meet the costs associated with completing these requirements.

As at the time of writing this article, the components that must be completed through SLT workshops via a PLT provider are:

1. Each element of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and of Lawyer's Skills, and
2. the risk Management element of Work Management and Business Skills.

Depending on the practice areas of the employer you are undertaking SLT with, it may also be necessary to obtain further competencies from a PLT provider for either the core requirements or one or more of the elective requirements.

For me, the question of cost was one of the more determinative factors in choosing SLT. As a mature age student completing a postgraduate masters level law qualification in the Deakin Law School Juris Doctor program offered by 澳大利亚迪肯大学 , I hit my FEE-HELP limit at the end of my second last trimester of study.

Deakin was fantastic in allowing me to complete my JD while paying off the residual encumbrance, but nevertheless the prospect of undertaking a full fee paying PLT immediately after having to fund a similar cost was unappealing.

Preconditions to Commencing SLT

Another important difference between PLT and SLT that should be highlighted is that unlike PLT, applicants for SLT need to have fully completed their legal qualification prior to commencement. In other words, it is not possible to start SLT until you have finished your academic prerequisite.

This does not mean that you need to have formally graduated through your university in a graduation ceremony and award of degree. Rather, it means that your academic transcript must be marked complete, along with a date of completion. From experience, this was a few days after the announcement of results for my final trimester of study.

How Do I Apply for Supervised Legal Training?

In Victoria, the Victorian Legal Admissions Board is the designated regulatory authority overseeing Supervised Legal Training. An online portal provides the mechanism for registering your Supervised Legal Training.

Employer's Statutory Declaration

Not every admitted legal practitioner can be a supervisor within the SLT framework. A supervisor must have at least five years experience either practising as a solicitor or as a barrister, with at least the most recent three of those five years practising as a solicitor.

Prior to approving a person to undertake Supervised Legal Training, VLAB must receive a statutory declaration from the employer in a form determined by the Board, declaring inter alia that:

1. The employer understands their obligations to provide resources, opportunity and supervision for the trainee, and;
2. That the trainee has completed their academic legal qualifications, and;
3. That the employer undertakes to use their best endeavours to ensure that the trainee is properly instructed, gains practical experience at the firm, and is given the opportunity to participate under appropriate supervision, in giving legal advice and in drafting types of legal documents.

The Statutory Declaration also includes an undertaking by any qualified legal practitioners who are to be eligible supervisors under the training plan.

While it is possible for the employer and supervisor to be different people (and indeed for a firm of sufficient size to have multiple approved supervisors for different areas of competency) in my case my employer and principal of the firm is also my approved supervisor.

Approved Training Plan

You will need to put a bit of thought and planning into which competencies you would like to undertake, and potentially in which order. Two competencies must be undertaken from a list of optional electives, and it is likely these will either be dictated by what is available at your firm, or based on your interests.

Through the SLT online portal, you will need to provide a list of the competencies you intend to complete, for review and approval by VLAB.

For example, my training plan includes Administrative Law as one of my optional electives, which is not a practice area currently offered by my firm; in order to complete this elective I will be completing it with a registered PLT provider.

It is my hope that this article has shed some light on what SLT is, what factors might need to be considered when deciding whether SLT is appropriate for a graduate or their employer, and a basic outline of the regulatory and logistical mechanisms by which SLT is applied for and approved.

Whether you are a law student planning their post-graduate pathway to admission, or an employer considering supervising a promising young law graduate, I hope this article has been of use and am more than happy to discuss the topic further privately.

Happy New Year to all, and wishing everyone a productive and fulfilling 2024!