Training and qualification
The training programme is well structured. The opportunity to spend time with – and learn from – different Attorneys is an invaluable training experience.
Structure of our training scheme
Through our three year Trainee Attorney (TA) placement scheme, we have always supported our TAs with their professional qualifications by offering hands-on experience across a varied range of work with different Partners. The scheme sees our TAs spend some time in at least one ‘other’ UK office during the programme. There are many ways to achieve this, the specific approach is based on personal circumstances and preferences. For more detail please see the overview of the placement scheme for patent attorneys here and the scheme for trade mark attorneys here. We believe that our TAs have a richer learning experience by working with different partners in-person, and Supporting our TAs financially to do make at least one office move will provide our TAs with more control over their own training path and overall provide greater flexibility.
Patent Attorneys
Our Trainees work with three Partners during the programme. Trainees move between principals roughly every twelve months. Any location changes are always done in consultation with our Trainees and personal circumstances accounted for to make any transitions as smooth as possible.
After two to three years, (depending on preference) Trainees settle permanently into one of the firm’s offices where training will continue through to qualification. This ‘final’ location may be the same as your starting location or may be different depending on your preferences and overall plan, which you will feed into. After qualification we continue to give support to newly qualified Attorneys, although this is on a more informal basis. Our offices are based in Bristol, Cambridge, London, Manchester and Munich.
Trainees usually join Mewburn Ellis in September (sometimes May), starting with a week’s induction course which is usually held in one of our UK offices.
The scheme for Trade Mark Attorneys is very similar to the above but placements centre around our Bristol and London offices.
Studying, qualification and courses
Much of the learning can only be achieved by personal study and experiencing the daily work. We recommend that new Trainees establish the habit of regular study to become fully familiar with various elements of law. Learning can be guided or assessed by attempting questions from past exam papers.
Trade Mark Attorneys
Trade Mark Attorneys qualify through attendance of a law course and a practice course, with examinations at the end of each. There is also a requirement to have completed a minimum of two years supervised training in trade mark work, which may involve keeping a training diary. Further assistance is provided via in-house tutorials.
The firm usually sends trade mark Trainees on a Law and Practice course and you would usually attend after having had a year’s practical experience of the job here.
Following completion of the Queen Mary course, you then attend the Professional Certificate in Trade Mark Practice course at Nottingham Law School. This course is intended to teach the practical skills needed by a Trade Mark Attorney. It therefore involves practical assessments as well as written exams. The Nottingham course incorporates a module on litigation and advocacy, so Trade Mark Trainees do not need a separate litigation certificate.
Patent Attorneys
Patent Attorneys qualify through a series of examinations. The firm sends Patent Trainees on a post-graduate certificate course in intellectual property run virtually by Bournemouth University. Trainees usually attend within their first year with the firm. This currently involves three overnight in-person sessions with the rest of your cohort in Bournemouth.
To qualify fully, Patent Trainees must then pass the UK Institute Final Exams and the European Qualifying Exams. Unfortunately, these are tough and have a low pass rate. However, we have a good record here of preparing people for the exams and most of our Trainees pass at their first or second attempt. The exams are modular so candidates only need to sit individual papers in any retakes.
After UK qualification, a further litigation skills course is required to remain on the register as a UK Chartered Patent Attorney. The course must be taken within three years of entering onto this register (usually just after passing the UK Final Exams). We typically send our newly-qualified Attorneys on a week-long in-person litigation skills course. At the end of which there is a written and oral assessment.
Our approach
As a firm, we know that the exams are difficult and have a low pass rate. We place more emphasis on doing good work than purely on exams; so we accept that people may not pass all of the exams at first sitting. That said, passing the exams and becoming a qualified Attorney is a necessity before you can work independently so we do require all of our Trainees to work towards full qualification both UK and European.
Our in-house training scheme involves tutorials about once per month with all of the Trainees from a given year. The tutorials are run by Partners or qualified Attorneys here and include preparation for qualifying exams and also sessions about professional practice and the internal workings of the firm. In addition, Trainees may also attend various external tutorials. Trainees are expected to avail themselves of all training opportunities made available to them. The firm pays for all reasonable training costs in accordance with our various policies.
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