The new representative body for junior solicitors is to investigate the so-called ‘two-year wobble’ – when a large number of two-year qualified solicitors either change jobs or leave the profession altogether.


The Law Society’s newly formed Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) – the voice of the 70,000 members of the profession who are enrolled students, trainees and solicitors with up to five years’ active practice – was launched last week at a reception hosted by Clifford Chance.



Katherine Gibson, the JLD’s first chairwoman and an in-house lawyer at Nortel Networks UK, told the Gazette: ‘We intend to help counter the two-year retention wobble. It’s a waste of talent.’ She explained: ‘In the years up to qualification, you are driven by short-term goals – pass your degree and legal practice course (LPC), get a training contract. That all changes once you’re in a firm. You feel the lack of career structure… In your first year post-qualification, you are busy learning your role. In your second year, you have time to look around and ask: Is this all?’



She added that the JLD would encourage firms to give their young lawyers more support and variety of work, as well as address the perennial problem of work-life balance.



Speaking at the launch, Law Society President Andrew Holroyd said: ‘There’s a difference between working very hard and over-working. Stress isn’t just a personal enemy; it’s the enemy of good business and the best friend of mistakes.’



Ms Gibson said that the JLD, formed in partnership with and replacing the Trainee and Young Solicitors Groups, would also be looking at minimum training salaries and the cost of LPCs. She added: ‘Another priority is to improve training standards for trainees and, crucially, their supervisors. Good supervision enhances trainees’ experience of the profession and produces more rounded practitioners.’



Membership of the JLD is free to all who qualify for it. Benefits include networking events, mentoring, CPD training, a confidential helpline, careers advice and a website.



See Editorial, page 13



Jonathan Rayner