Perhaps a passion for the musical genres of trance, house and Ibiza is the secret of securing a training contract with a law firm.

It certainly worked for Radio One presenter Judge Jules, who is also, as it happens, a London School of Economics law graduate.

But what about non-celebrities, like the young man whose parents asked me last weekend whether doing the conversion course was a good idea?

Was I right to tell them about the thousands of Legal Practice Course (LPC) graduates without a training contract?

They asked the question, but should I have sugared the pill?

Was I being a killjoy - or simply realistic?

Happier news by far was that reported by The Sun on 10 April.

The newspaper told us that Judge Jules, the DJ (that’s disc jockey, not district judge) born Julius O'Riordan, was close to finishing his law studies 'begun more than 20 years ago' and being allowed to practise as a solicitor.

Law firms linked to the music industry were keen to take him on, the newspaper added.

According to Wikipedia, Judge Jules is studying for his LPC at the College of Law, Bloomsbury.

Reading this, I was reminded of some of the other celebrities who have studied law.

The actor and comedian John Cleese graduated in law from Downing College, Cambridge in 1963, but never practised.

The best-selling novelist John Grisham, on the other hand, practised for more than 10 years before beginning to write full-time.

And Julio Iglesias was studying law in Madrid when, back in 1963, he was hurt in a road accident. Somebody gave him a guitar while he was convalescing and the rest is mega-star history…

But to get our feet back on terra firma, let’s consider the plight of that young man who might still do the conversion course, followed by the LPC – and then maybe face the same reality check that thousands of other aspiring lawyers have faced before him.

The reality check of thousands of pounds of student debts rewarded by setback after setback as law firms freeze recruitment, cut training budgets and make existing staff redundant.

Things don’t seem about to get much better, either.

Only this morning (13 April ) former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee David Blanchflower said on BBC Four’s Today programme that there was unlikely to be a ‘double dip recession, but growth was going to be very slow’.

It’s all very frustrating, depressing and disillusioning, but the Junior Lawyers Division is not admitting defeat.

It is holding a free forum for LPC students at which there will one-to-one CV clinics, tips on effective interview techniques and advice from trainees and others on how to secure that elusive training contract. The forum, on Saturday 16 April 2011, takes place at Chancery Lane, London and lasts all day. Details can be found at the junior lawyer pages.

What else is being done?

The Gazette has reported on a number of initiatives and developments.

More and more law graduates are taking Institute of Legal Executive (ILEX) examinations, with the numbers for 2010 up 40% on the previous year.

Many are going for the ILEX fast track graduate diploma as a route for qualifying as a solicitor without needing to secure a training contract.

Aptitude tests to assess candidates’ suitability for a career in the legal profession before they commit money to the LPC are also under consideration.

And the Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board are engaged in a detailed review of legal training to address the mismatch between the number of LPC graduates and the number of available training contracts.

There’s a lot going on, then, so maybe there’s no need to despair – yet.

And so to my original question: was I right to answer truthfully when that young man’s proud parents asked me about career prospects in the law?

Should I have said that things might be looking up, what with all the initiatives that the Gazette has reported?

Or should I have ducked the question and referred them to the ever upbeat Judge Jules? ‘Hello – how are ya?’ he says on his website. And urges you to check out where his tour bus is ‘gunna’ be heading.

See you in Ibiza!