TRAINEES: prospective employers get a window of opportunity to interview law students

Prospective law firm employers may interview students before they begin their last year at university under a proposed new code of conduct the Law Society is set to introduce.

At present, all firms that offer training contracts are bound by guidelines barring them from interviewing or offering students contracts before 1 September of the year that they begin their third and last year at university.

Janet Paraskeva, chief executive of the Law Society, said: 'The Law Society does not have regulations governing the timing of a law firm's offer of a contract to a law student.

However, we do publish guidance on the recruitment of trainee solicitors - and firms are requested to work within this.

'Most firms do not interview for trainees before 1 September of a student's final degree year, but we understand that from time to time some firms do make offers or arrange interviews earlier than this.'

Ms Paraskeva continued: 'We plan to introduce a code of practice next year and firms will be invited to sign-up to this.

It will slightly alter the current requirements, but firms will be able to publicise the fact that they have agreed to work within the code.'

It is understood that the new code will allow firms to interview before the 1 September deadline, but only to make contract offers afterwards.

Claire Harris, the graduate recruitment manager at City law firm Lovells, said: 'A lot of firms have felt frustrated at not being able to interview students during their vacation schemes.

I know that quite a few firms have been doing so - not including Lovells - despite the guidelines, which is a shame.'

Ms Harris said that firms would welcome a more liberal regime that enabled them to interview before 1 September, but she added: 'It will be good to be able to offer students an interview [on the vacation scheme], but it would be wrong for students to feel pressurised into taking an interview at that stage.'

Jeremy Fleming