IT Generation I was delighted to read Scott Pearman's comment 'Trainees bring the modem touch' (see [2001] Gazette, 21 June, 15).It was refreshing to hear a solicitor singing the praises of trainees' IT skills, and encouraging firms to use and develop those skills.I teach on the legal practice course at Birmingham University (run by De Montfort University) and for the last two years all our students have been provided with laptop computers, which are theirs to keep.

Consequently, by the end of the course, our students do indeed have first-class IT skills.They are proficient in the use of forms packages and drafting tools, and they use the Internet for research as easily as most lawyers still pick up a textbook.Sadly, we have to warn our students that the firms they will go to work for will not necessarily appreciate their IT skills, and indeed may lack the inclination or technology to utilise those skills.

It was for this reason I was pleased to read Mr Pearman encouraging firms to be 'far sighted' and to invest in up-to-date IT systems, so that they can indeed 'reap exponential benefits from...

trainees'.

I would encourage all firms to investigate and utilise the IT skills of their trainees - you could be pleasantly surprised at what you discover.

Edwina Turner, senior lecturer, DMU at Birmingham University