Fellowship For Experienced Practitioners

Are you an experienced paralegal? You could be eligible for IoP Fellowship through our experiential route to membership

Our Experiential Route enables you to receive recognition as a professional paralegal practitioner at the Fellow level, the highest status of IoP membership. It offers a time-effective solution to reward paralegal professionals, practitioners and consultants to become professional members of the IoP even though qualifications have not been gained.

At the IoP we recognise that competency can be achieved through non-academic routes.

You do not need to be a Legal Executive or a Solicitor to be able to offer the vast majority of legal services. Paralegal roles exist from junior positions through to fee earner positions and beyond. Paralegals can also work freelance, as sole traders or Own a Paralegal law firm.

The Experiential Route may be right for you if you:

have current paralegal experience appropriate to the level of membership you are applying for
want recognition for your knowledge and experience
need a route into professional membership that does not require you to study for a qualification.

Your current job title is irrelevant, legal assistants, senior paralegal, clerk, will writer etc You work experience may have come from within the legal sector such as in law firms, chambers or the courts or may have come from industry, local government or the charity sector.

Equally, the area of law or legal practice is irrelevant- we have members offering every area of practice.

The Experiential Route can reward your achievements with professional recognition.

Taking the Experiential Route Assessment will enable you to reflect on your skills and knowledge to date, re-energising your career enabling you to fulfil your long-term career aspirations. Successful completion will enable you to:

be awarded a level of professional membership with exclusive member benefits via IoP Perks
use designatory letters after your name (Q.Inst.Pa/F.Inst.Pa)
benchmark paralegal experience against the IoP Competency Standards
demonstrate your commitment to our Code of Conduct and CPD requirements

Book your FREE pre-assessment discussion by calling +44 (0) 20 3011 2610or e mailing [email protected].

The Experiential Route Process

The pre-assessment discussion is a FREE, 15 minute discussion by telephone with an experienced assessor. It helps determine your eligibility for Experience Assessment, and whether it's the right route into professional membership for you.

Before you book your pre-assessment discussion, make sure you check your eligibility against our requirements for the level of membership you wish to apply for:

Associate member
Qualified Member
Fellow

Book your FREE pre-assessment discussion by calling +44 (0) 20 3011 2610 or e mailing [email protected].

You should expect to invest around 10 days of your time over a four-week period to do the following part of the online assessment:

Impact report: Demonstrate how you have contributed to your organisation’s success or your success as a sole trader.
Self-assessment: Demonstrate how you meet the behaviours required of a paralegal professional.
Workplace or client feedback: provide feedback from people you work with, including your line manager (or clients).

The timescales above are estimates and should be used as guidelines only. We strongly advise you to plan ahead, to give yourself enough time to think and prepare your examples.

Approximately 2-3 weeks after you complete your online assessment you will be required to attend a Professional Discussion - a one-hour interview either face-to-face or via Skype with an experienced IoP assessor. Your assessor will explore your evidence in more detail - discussing your submission, the evidence you have provided on your experience, and ask a series of general technical questions based on the area of law that you practice.

About a week later you will receive your results.

Renewals

Your membership fee is renewable annually. We will send you renewal information well before the due date to remind you how much is due. Annual payment will be collected until you advise us otherwise.

The assessment fee is a one off payment.

Membership type	Length of membership	Assessment fee *	Membership fee *
Associate Member	12 months	£200.00	£98**
Qualified Member	12 months	£300.00	£131**
Fellow Member	12 months	£400.00	£164**
Int. Associate Member	12 months	£250.00	£98**
Int. Qualified Member	12 months	£350.00	£131**
Int. Fellow Member	12 months	£450.00	£164**

Non-refundable registration fee

∗The assessment fee is a one off payment

∗∗The membership fee is renewable annually. We will send members renewal information well before the due date to remind them when and how much is due

Your membership fee is renewable annually. We will send you renewal information well before the due date to remind you how much is due. Annual payment will be collected until you advise us otherwise.

Apply Now

Experiential Assessment not for you? Study a relevant IoP qualification leading to professional membership.

Learn more about other Approved education and training providers under our Education and Training Network. Or contact us to discuss your needs. Call us on: +44 (0) 20 3011 2610