Law firm refusing to sign off on work experience and other issues - how honest am I in my exit questionnaire?

[FrustratedAndUpsetByWork]

I am 26, and I have spent the last 18 months working at a law firm, after joining when my previous firm merged with them. I was a trainee solicitor before the merger and was taken on on that basis.

When I joined I was told that due to the merger, the firm would sign off on my previous six months’ of work experience. I have worked for the last eighteen months and passed my SQE exams on the basis that I would be signed off this week and I would be joining the roll.

They have now, in my last week of my training contract, said that they won’t actually be signing off on this work as they didn’t physically see me do it. They have the files, they can see the work, but because they didn’t see me do it they won’t do it.

That means that I will not be qualifying as a solicitor this week, and that I have wasted the last two years of my life. I am six months short on work experience. They won’t allow me to carry on.

I have another job lined up out of the law, so I am not overly concerned in the immediate aftermath of this, but I am very upset that all my hard work has come to nothing.

The partners of the firm have also started being incredibly rude to me after I handed in my notice. I was informed that there was no job for me at the firm, two months before the end of my contract. This came after sixteen months of flawless appraisals from all of my supervisors. Everyone I had come into contact with was under the impression I’d be getting a job in a certain team. This team was banking on me joining. They were not told I wouldn’t be working for them until the day I handed my notice in.

I feel so, so gutted. Even though everyone I have worked with has said this isn’t on me, I feel like it’s a reflection on me. There have been other things, like the other trainees were paid differently to me, I have been studying outside of work while they got paid study days etc.

I just want to let loose in my exit interview now. It’s really sunk in that I’ve been treated badly and exploited by the firm, and I have nothing to show for it now. Literally nothing. I’m hoping they’ll be signing off on my 18 months with them, but there is no indication of this at the moment.

Do I just go balls to the wall and let loose on how I feel? I know it could sever ties with the firm, but I don’t really care. I don’t want to work for them again and I feel like someone needs to be aware of how people are treated.

Be totally honest, absolutely. This all sounds quite shocking and unprofessional. Who will the interview results go to? The same partners who have been behaving so badly or is this a large enough firm that separate partners with HR responsibility will see them? Exit interviews are the time to be frank.

I think to the higher up partners. But I don’t know if anything will change

I’m not sure anything ever does change on exit interviews although I think it’s always worth saying your piece. It’s quite therapeutic for you if nothing else.

I have worked in public sector places that have looked at exit interview data although that’s often driven by union involvement, but my current corporate place does use it at times. I think probably the worst for it will be smaller private outfits as it will be easier to dismiss individual issues and not enough volume to develop trends.

But I know when I’m unhappy in a job I get some comfort in planning my exit interview comments, particularly if I can couch them in a very professional way that makes them unarguable.

You can escalate this to the SRA. You need to get in writing why they are refusing when they previously agreed. Email the COLP with a request for an explanation. If the response is not satisfactory go to the SRA.
in fact make sure you call the SRA before you leave. As a trainer you should be registered with them (or has that changed?).
don’t take this lying down. Forget the exit interview. Nobody gives a shit about those. HR probably won’t even pass it on.

don’t let loose in the exit interview in the sense you have to Keep that professional - but be very, very clear that you have been misled and your professional career damaged by their bad management

You must have written annual reviews don’t you? Etc etc

You absolutely need to raise this with the SRA. Whilst you still have access to your emails get all correspondence about your TC and forward it to your own account. Make notes on the files you worked on (not including confidential information) so that you have evidence of how you met the criteria. Get all the evidence you can and kick up as much of a fuss as you can.

I will be calling them re the work experience anyway as I need someone to sign it off!!

I have emails on my phone and will go through tonight and screenshot everything that has been said

Glad you’ve got some law-specific advice as their refusal to sign off on your training contract is clearly the most outrageous thing, and if there’s a productive avenue for that, it’s the best thing to do.

SRA. Have you kept records of what you did in each seat? Get a copy of those, plus any written feedback, appraisals and any correspondence re your training contract.

Monthly reviews. Everyone has been so happy with me until two months ago when I was told they wouldn’t be hiring me

On the exit interview:
"On advice of my Solicitor I will not be actively engaging with this work event but will be happy to sit in on the meeting."

You should be a trained legal professional who understands breach of contract and Regulation obligations in your industry.

Did you have a training contract with the original firm?

A proper legally enforcable and recognised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)?

Were you or the original partners given anything in writing about the staff roles and the merger?

Did you get a TUPE letter or any emails?

How was your training contract legally transferred?

Did the original firm have a designated training partner is that person still with the new firm?

Why have you not called your professional body student section and asked how they can help resolve the situation?

No TUPE - thinking back I should have had that. Since the introduction of the SQE, the TC isn’t the same as it used to be, you don’t have to register with them anymore. It was just a standard employment contract. Nothing in the contract says they will sign off on my QWE, I just have the word of the partner to say she would (in an email)

How did your payroll work?
Are you still being paid under the original employer number or has your payslip/ HRMC file got a P45 with a new employer?

Then is that partner still (a) alive (b) registered or within the strike off remit of the Regulator?
For most professional bodies, members screwing over trainees (all while charging the client fees) falls with in bringing the organisation into public disrepute clause.

On new payroll.

the partner is very much still an active solicitor. I will call the SRA at lunch and see if the old director can sign me off (but he’s not practicing) and go from there

What does the contract you have say? Does it reference training contract?
ive heard about this happening to others. It’s disgraceful.

I never signed an actual training contract. Just said I’d be in a trainee role.

Spend your time today printing out hard copies of anything you need or if that will trigger IT alarms screen shot and do an official SAR for the data.
Time keeping/billing data too if you think you need to link to a single quallified staff member who used your work. > See if a solicitor will hold it for you ( in a sealed packages if it has client data or is work product/ IP of the firm). Dont keep it at home.

When you go home look at all your paper work and digital medium and if any of the data belongs to your firm and has no direct need to hold over the contract dispute destroy it on site.

Thats odd. Does the firm have other trainees?

Yeah, nobody did. With the QWE now you don’t have to have a formal TC

What was your pre-employment quallifications, registration (assuming you need to pay annual fees?), role, job title, tasks, billing classification etc all prove that your contract is a training one as you needed to meet specific standards which were discussed at supervision meetings.

Call your student advisor and see what next steps you need to do

In all but name I was on a TC. I have spoken with the SRA and they have said I can make a complaint if I wish to, which I may well do. I’m desperately trying to get in contact with all previous solicitors who worked there

Forget about other ex-employees for the moment.

Can you access the billing for the 6 months before the merger and pull the partners names for each client?

You should know your parthers personalities which one is the most honest and straight forward one. Make a list best to worst. Regig to take account of office politic and power.

Set up a meeting with each as in knock ask if busy and plop down and pull out the jobs you worked on and ask what the problem is explain that you are leaving and wanted to thank them for their help over the last 2 years and hope you can remain in contact via linkedin etc. By the way you need to finalise some paperwork from the old partnership and need Partner to review and sign off on training under old firm and new firms name.

Have 2 copies of a letter which will be accepted as a training record or whatever formal layout record filled out with total hours. At the end of the conversation get a signature date on both.
Shake hand say it was great to work with you and all other polite noises and ...

Move on to the next partner.

You can report this to the SRA, I remember reading up on it when I was in a similar position.

That’s not how signing off works now. You nominate a solicitor within the firm you’re working in (or another firm) and they confirm it on the SRA website.

Great but you know that will not happen.
Your current firm has said they will not sign on behalf of the original firm

Your old firm no longer exists and has disolved as of 18 months ago.

So will the SRA refuse to accept the paper file if this it the only way you can provide proof of your training?