April 27, 2025
Staff Success – Police Station Accreditation Status Achieved by Sarah Hayes & Riccardo Pagano
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Staff Success - Celebrating Luke Naveira and Gavin Smith's Career Milestones
Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers is absolutely delighted to celebrate the career milestones reached by Luke Naveira and Gavin Smith this month. Luke has passed Part 1 of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE1) and Gavin has achieved the Police Station Accreditation! Read this article to find out what this means and what they had to do to succeed.
Congratulations to Luke Naveira!
Luke started on the road to qualifying as a solicitor in September 2023. As a solicitor apprentice, he is studying at the University of Law alongside working full-time as a paralegal in our Crown Court department. He is supervised and supported on his solicitor apprenticeship by Sarah Hill.
Qualifying as a solicitor via the SQE route involves completing two years of qualifying work experience AND passing exams: SQE1 and SQE2. SQE1 assesses functioning legal knowledge and SQE2 assesses practical legal skills and the application of legal knowledge. SQE1 must be passed before SQE2 can be attempted.
The SQE1 assessment is taken over two days and the total examination time is more than 10 hours.
SQE1 is split into Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 (FLK1) and Functioning Legal Knowledge 2 (FLK2). These are broken down into the following practice areas.
- FLK1: (1) Business Law and Practice; (2) Dispute Resolution; (3) Contract Law; (4) Tort; (5) Legal System of England and Wales; Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law (collectively referred to as ‘Legal System’) and (6) Legal Services.
- FLK2: (1) Property Law and Practice; (2) Wills and the Administration of Estates; (3) Solicitors Accounts (examined in the context of Property Law and Practice and Wills and the Administration of Estates); (4) Land Law; (5) Trusts Law; (6) Criminal Liability and (7) Criminal Law and Practice.
The SQE1 assessment is taken over two days and the total examination time is more than 10 hours.
As you can see, undertaking the SQE1 is a very involved process and the published pass rates are low (only a 56% pass rate in January 2025 and a 44% pass rate in July 2024). Luke’s success is a true testament to his sheer hard work and commitment to progressing his career. He has passed the SQE1 on his first attempt, a feat that is difficult to achieve. We are so very proud of him and all the work he has put in into achieving this success. We look forward to supporting him through the SQE2 process.
Luke’s success is a true testament to his sheer hard work and commitment to progressing his career
Congratulations to Gavin Smith!
Gavin Smith joined Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers in 2024 as a Paralegal. He has worked in a broad range of areas of the Criminal Justice System and our clients have greatly benefitted from his expertise and commitment to customer service. Gavin receives regular feedback from clients praising him for his knowledge, understanding, and his ability to instil confidence. Such is Gavin’s dedication to looking after our clients that it was no surprise when he asked if he could develop further and undertake the Police Station Accredited Representative process. He has travelled on this road under the supervision of Sarah Hill. Qualifying into this role is a lengthy and difficult process and you can read more about what is involved by clicking here.
Gavin receives regular feedback from clients praising him for his knowledge, understanding, and his ability to instil confidence
For those arrested and in need of a lawyer at the police station, it is undoubtedly a relief and comfort to have someone representing and assisting them who knows exactly what they doing. We are delighted that Gavin has deservedly achieved the status of Accredited Representative, not least because our clients will benefit from his skills and abilities in even more ways. We are so proud of the dedication he has shown to achieving this goal. His hard work and determination is a credit to him and our clients under investigation at the police station will continue to know that they receive representation of the highest quality when they ask for Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers.
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