Law Weblog

Legal training getting tough

Monday 19 July 2010 at 5:24 pm | In News | Post Comment Law firms expect 12% fewer vacancies for trainee solicitors this year, against an average of 6.9% across graduate recruiters. The number of places on the Legal Practice Course has increased by nearly 70%, to 14,482 while the number of training contracts has only risen by 20% to 5,809.

Still some law firms pay the highest salaries to graduates according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

The compulsory minimum salary which law firms are required to pay is £18,590 in central London and £16,650 elsewhere. This was introduced to prevent exploitation and to promote diversity.

Last week, the government scrapped training grants for prospective legal aid lawyers. The Ministry of Justice said that while the legal aid training grant scheme was “a laudable idea”, its time had passed, and there are alternative routes into practice, for example through the paralegal route.

Solicitor LPC courses are turning out too many students who are paying around £12,000 for the yearlong course in London.

By contrast, Barristers’ training is changing, following the “Wood Report” in 2008. The Bar Standards Board is piloting an aptitude test for prospective bar vocational course students, which will test analytical and critical reasoning, as well as fluency in English, with the aim of ensuring that only those with a realistic chance of finding a pupillage start the course.

Prospective students hoping to join either branch of the legal profession can expect tough competition.