City lawyer speaks out after aspiring solicitor faces SQE fee clawback from top law firm

Failed challenging exams, leading to the withdrawal of TC offer

A City lawyer has shared how a future trainee reached out for advice and support after her firm said it was rescinding her training contract and attempting to recover the costs of her SQE prep course, after she failed to pass the challenging assessments.

Chris Lee, a real estate lawyer, shared a now-viral LinkedIn post about two future trainees who had reached out to him after their training contracts were withdrawn due to SQE failures. One aspiring solicitor, referred to as “Amy”, told Lee that her firm went a step further — informing her they intended to recover the tuition fees and maintenance grants they had paid out, totalling a sum “in excess of five figures”.

Lee, sharing Amy’s story at her request, explains that she has not only lost her training contract — along with the £90,000 typically earned by trainees over two years at the firm — but now also finds herself suddenly unemployed and in debt.

The lawyer warns that the professional consequences can be severe. Without savings, if Amy is forced to declare bankruptcy, it’s unlikely she would be able to practise as a solicitor.

The unnamed firm, described as “comfortably in the UK’s top 20” by revenue, does have the right to rescind training contracts, Lee acknowledges, though he notes that clawback is “very unusual”. He adds in the comments that Amy is “still in dialogue” with the firm.

The situation set out by Lee has garnered strong views, with over 400 reactions and some 50 comments. One CMS associate urges Amy to “name and shame”, whilst another commenter notes this makes the firm look “vindictive” and “cruel”.

Another trainee has highlighted the “luck” involved with passing the SQE with pass rates for SQE1 and SQE2 currently sitting at 44% and 81% respectively

Lee’s post subsequently made its way to the message boards of Reddit, where reactions were just as strong. Users described the firm’s actions as “heartless”, “disgraceful”, and “shortsighted”, with calls to “name and shame”—and one commenter branding the clawback “absolute scumbaggery”.

It’s unclear from the post how many attempts Amy took to pass the challenging exams, but law firms made headlines last year for their varied responses to candidates who didn’t succeed on their first try. Some firms were praised for their supportive approach, offering trainees multiple attempts. Others, however, faced heavy criticism for rescinding offers from those who failed to make the grade at the first attempt.