A groundbreaking scheme that finds trainees and seconds them to law firms on a temporary basis has welcomed its first recruit. Flora Hussey has become the first trainee to sign up to Accutrainee since it was launched last September.

Trainees are taken on by Accutrainee but are seconded to law firms and in-house legal departments, usually more than once, during their training contract. The idea is to enable firms to give trainees experience at a fraction of the cost of a traditional two-year training contract.

Hussey has already started work with boutique London firm New Quadrant Partners and has also secured a three-month placement on contentious work at a top-20 City law firm.

Accutrainee chief executive Susan Cooper said graduates could be taken on at different times of the year and were not restricted by set intake timetables.

She added: ‘This training contract model gives the lawyers of the future a chance to experience different types of work in different legal environments, helping to shape them for the legal sector of tomorrow.

‘We will focus on monitoring each of our trainees’ progress and development throughout their training contracts to ensure they are on track, giving them the support they need along the way.’

Law firms and in-house departments of all sizes have been approached to offer work to trainees, although it is likely to appeal most to smaller firms that want to take on graduates but cannot afford to offer training contracts. Firms pay a fee to Accutrainee for each person they take on, which Cooper said works out much cheaper than a full training contract.