Trainees and junior lawyers are being unfairly kept ‘in limbo’ as firms delay making a decision on whether to retain them until the last moment as a result of the recession, the Gazette has learned.

Kevin Poulter, former chairman of the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD), said some firms were waiting until the last week of the contract before telling trainees whether they would be kept on.

JLD chair Heidi Sandy said trainees had to ‘wait in limbo’ until firms made their decision. Because trainees specialised so early in their careers, this then limited their job prospects, she added. The JLD is looking at ‘measures to delay specialisation’.

Charity LawCare said that in one typical call to its helpline, a newly qualified lawyer was ‘made sick with anxiety’ after her firm took five months to decide who to select for redundancy.