Looking for LPC funding? Here's a straw to clutch ...

Small and solo IP law practices in England and Wales are not the most likely destinations for trainee solicitors, since in many instances their resources and the breadth of training experience they can give, added to the responsibility of providing adequate supervision, make the adoption of a trainee an expensive and difficult venture.  However, wannabe solicitors in England and Wales who can't find a law firm to fund the cost of their attending the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and who can't finance it themselves may wish to note the following competition, announced in today's Legal Web Watch:

LPC Scholarship from Datalaw to be won

Datalaw, a leading legal CPD provider, will pay the tuition fees for the Legal Practice Course – a prize worth up to £12,000 – to the winner of its new competition. The competition is open to paralegals and trainee solicitors in England and Wales who are available to start their LPC in September 2015. Applicants will be asked to answer a series of questions posted on the website. From the responses, 50 hopefuls will be selected to write a blog or submit a five-minute video explaining why they want to become a solicitor. Those submissions will be assessed by a judging panel, and a shortlist of 10 candidates will be chosen for a final interview with the winner to be announced in mid-March. Details can be found here.

It would be great if the winner of this competition were an IP trainee -- and a reader of this weblog.  If you're interested, go for it!

Entering a competition in the desperate hope of getting LPC funding does rather smack of clutching at straws. However, there are indications that this competition may be run on an annual basis so, if you can stay afloat for a year, you may just have another chance.