[1 April 2009 spoof story] city law firms have welcomed government plans to fast-track redundant investment bankers into the solicitors’ profession.

Under what the Ministry of Justice is calling ‘Fast Track to Success’, former bankers are to undergo a month’s intensive legal tuition before sitting examinations for what industry insiders have dubbed the ‘mini LPC’.

No training contract is required, although candidates will need to show they have adopted some understanding of ‘lawyer culture’ – ethics, code of practice and basic arithmetic. The fast-track process, devised by the MoJ in collaboration with law schools and university departments, echoes government plans to recruit unemployed professionals into teaching.

One magic circle firm’s spokesman said: ‘There is a natural synergy here, with erstwhile bankers combining a wealth of transactional experience with the can-do approach of City institutions. They also have very useful friends.’

Phase one of the MoJ’s ‘Fast Track to Success’ launches today.