Alternative Routes to Qualification

Qualifying as a New York Attorney and solicitor in England and Wales

Dual-qualified lawyers are increasingly a feature of our legal landscape. Here Charity Mafuba traces her own unusual/alternative route to qualification as a New York Attorney and Solicitor in England and Wales. Charity sits on the Advisory Board for Barbri.

The main reason I qualified through this non-traditional route was my age; I went to law school in my mid 30s and simply didn’t have the emotional fortitude to cope with the mammoth task of completing Vacation Scheme and Training Contract application forms. Finances were also critical – the alternative route was cheaper and permitted instalments. This was important as I already had a debt from funding my LLB.

I learnt about alternative routes in my final year of law school, at a seminar where one of the panellists was New York qualified. She subsequently qualified as a UK Solicitor. I was intrigued and she shared her route to qualification, which she had completed though Barbri Law School. I did some research and attended a taster session for the New York Bar course and was sold. I discovered that I could complete the New York Bar and then complete the Qualified Lawyer Transfer Scheme (QLTS) to be admitted as a Solicitor without going through the Training Contract route.

SQE and the pandemic

My plans were disrupted by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) launch of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) and phasing out of the QLTS. This meant my timeline to complete this course was shorter and I had to simultaneously complete the QLTS alongside my New York Bar course. Added to this the Covid pandemic meant my New York Bar exams were initially deferred and then I had to do them online. It was a tense time.

I vividly remember the telephone call with the Barbri Rep, who in a shocked voice said, “this has never been done before”. My strategy was to complete my tasks for the New York course during weekdays, then at the weekends, I would swap to a weeks’ worth of QLTS MCT tasks. This meant I mitigated the risk of confusing the legal concepts between the two jurisdictions. In addition to this I was working full time. To say this was no mean feat would be the understatement of the century. It was definitely onerous but my sheer determination was my saving grace.

I must emphasise that I didn’t have additional responsibilities, a husband or children. That is one period in my life where I was grateful to be single. I had the good fortune of being allocated Daniel Hill as my Personal Tutor for the QLTS Course. He gave constructive feedback and was very encouraging.

Scheduling

Crunch time came and my QLTS MCT exam was just 20 days before my New York Bar Exams. I planned carefully when to park my New York Bar revision and focus on my MCT revision. The exam was draining; completing 200 multiple questions over a 6 hour period with an hour break between the two sets of 100 questions.

Following this exam, I gave myself one day to recover and resumed revision for the New York Bar exams. I was mentally exhausted, but not one to be easily deterred, I soldiered on. Fantasising about my admission ceremonies, dual licences and the numerous doors they would open for my legal career served as ample motivation.

Crunch time

The results of the last QLTS MCT were released and I had passed. Given that 50% of the candidates failed this exam, I was so relieved. My MPRE results were released and again good news, I had passed. This meant that I was one step closer to achieving my UK Qualification (-pending successful completion of the New York exams.) Later the same year, I had the great satisfaction of achievement when I passed the New York Bar first time. All that remained was to complete the 50 hour pro bono requirement before submitting my application for admission to the New York Bar.

While waiting for these remaining New York Bar exam results, I had enrolled onto the remaining QLTS Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) course so I could sit the remaining assessments which would enable me to apply for admission as a Solicitor. I performed well during the completion of my OSCE course but shockingly, when the results were released, I had failed. I was rudely awakened, felt stupid and incompetent. This sent me into a downward spiral and created anxiety and doubt in my abilities. In that headspace I decided that I would no longer continue in my quest for achieving a UK qualification. I felt an immense sense of defeat.

It took me some time to rationalise my emotions and come to terms with this setback. However, after ample reflection and an appreciation of my efforts to date, I decided that I had come too far to throw in the towel and revisited my decision to quit. Deciding to proceed, I maxed out my American Express credit card (which I had almost paid off). My only option to continue with my plan was to enrol onto the SQE2 Course as the OSCE had now been phased out.

Moreover, still reeling from my failure, and deathly afraid of failing again caused me to second guess myself and make silly mistakes during assessments resulting in lower grades. I went into militant mode, revising manically, determined that failure wasn’t going to be in my vocabulary.

Success

When the results were released 4 months later, I was elated to discover that I had passed in the 2nd Quintile of my cohort. Hindsight is a beautiful thing. Having triumphed and succeeded in the exams and fully recovered from my failure of the OSCE exams, I can now appreciate the silver lining that I wouldn’t have been eligible for a seat on the Barbri Advisory Board if I had passed the OSCE and not needed to complete my resits under the SQE2 route.

It was so surreal and satisfying when my application for admission was granted and even more so, when I stood beneath the Law Society Arch and got my photos taken at my admission ceremony on the 14th July 2023. Whenever, I look at my Transcript, Practicing Certificate and admission photos, I am reminded of the importance of persevering in one’s goals despite major setbacks. The victory is always sweeter when it is snatched from the jaws of defeat. ■

Charity Mafuba

New York Attorney and Solicitor (England and Wales), Barbri Advisory Board Member