It might be true that no one forgets a good teacher - but it's also true that no one forgets a really bad one.John Yates, chief executive officer of Worksop-based IT law alliance v-lex, and joint winner in the recent small/medium firm category of the TSG/Gazette training awards, tells the story of a 'dreadful' trainer many years ago.

'He's now descended into a certain amount of notoriety,' says Mr Yates, 'and it's fair to say he wasn't exactly an inspiration to me.'The same, almost certainly, will not be said in years to come of Mr Yates, one of four trainers honoured for their contribution to training young solicitors.

The awards, devised by the Trainee Solicitors Group (TSG) and presented by the chairman of the judging panel, Attorney-General Lord Williams QC at a ceremony in Coventry a fortnight ago, were the first of their kind, designed to highlight the importance of training in the profession.

The other winners were: Hume Hargreave of Dickenson Dees in Newcastle; Clair Lipworth of Peters & Peters in London, and; Jason Bentley of the Tr easury Solicitor's Department.'Training is extraordinarily important - it colours your whole professional experience from the outset,' says Nick Armstrong, a solicitor at Sheffield-based firm Irwin Mitchell, a former TSG chairman and a member of the judging panel for the awards.

'Good training will obviously make you a better lawyer.

But at the same time, if you have a bad trainer it could well influence you to leave the profession altogether.'Because of that delicate balance, Mr Armstrong says training needs to be taken more seriously by many firms.

'Training is just as important as fee earning - it needs to be ranked alongside it in terms of priorities, and firms need to get a proper balance between the two.' He remembers his own trainers at Irwin Mitchell with affection partly because of their enthusiasm for law, but also - and perhaps crucially - 'because they took training and management very seriously'.Mr Yates - unscathed by his own unfortunate experience - agrees with the importance of good training, and sees it as having major economic benefits for the firm.

'Training our new intake well is very important for business reasons,' he explains.

'We estimate that each trainee has about 100 to 150 hours of fee-earners' time invested in them in their first six months.

As a result of this intensive training, when they qualify, they have a level of maturity and experience usually associated with someone qualified for two or three years.'Perhaps one of the reasons that Mr Yates's intensive training seems to work so well is because he has adopted a policy of leading by example.

He cites an example when he was training in litigation, and came into the office at the weekend to help his trainees out with some of the more mundane paperwork.

'I would never ask a trainee to do something that I wasn't prepared to do myself,' he says.The time and effort that Mr Yates and his colleagues put into trainees pays off not only during the training - 'we can delegate complex work to the trainees, which works out cheaper for us' - but also afterwards.

'We have a grow-your-own policy here - we keep all our trainees on after qualification.'His training focuses on the core 'professional skills' that he sees as vital for a good lawyer.

'Communication with clients, learning how to take meetings, learning how to make reports - these things are the bedrock of anyone's career.

You can have the best technical skills in the world, but if you can't apply them properly, you won't make a good lawyer.'Hume Hargreave, head of agriculture law at Dickinson Dees and winner of the large firm prize for training, takes a different approach.

'In general, the trainees who come to me have much better communication skills than ever before, but often a corresponding lack of legal knowledge.'Before the introduction of the legal practice course in 1993, trainees had a good grasp 'on the minutiae of law, but very little else,' according to Mr Hargreave.

Now, however, the balance appears to have swung the other way.

'The greater emphasis seems to be on communication, and less on law - as a result, I try to give my trainees a basic, fundamental grounding in the nitty-gritty of the law.'The judging panel described Mr Hargreave as 'a good, traditional trainer', and this is a judgment he is happy with.

'It's very important to do the law correctly - some see this as tiresome, and I do have a reputation for being critical.' However, he does object to the attitude of many firms who see trainees as 'cheap slave labour'.Mr Hargreave explains: 'Once they've filled in one Lan d Registry form there's very little point in making them do six.'He prefers to tailor trainees to certain jobs.

'I try to talk to each trainee individually, assess their personality to work out what sort of work would suit them best,' he says.

'There are so many areas of the law that you can easily find one to suit everybody.

For example, if they like sitting at a desk and working out solutions by themselves, I may give them property work.

However, if they're more extrovert, they'll feel more comfortable with private client work or litigation.'Feeling comfortable is something that Claire Lipworth, partner at London-based white-collar crime specialists Peters & Peters, views as imperative for her trainees.

The other joint winner of the small/medium-sized firm prize, she thinks that trainers have 'an obligation to make their trainees feel comfortable'.

Ms Lipworth agrees strongly with Mr Hargreave's objection to trainees being used as 'dogsbodies'.

As she explains: 'The fact is that these people are going to be practising as qualified solicitors in two years.

They need to be given practice in making decisions so that they feel confident and comfortable with it.'However, Ms Lipworth is at pains to point out that training is a two-way relationship.

'The fee-earners and partners need to feel happy with the trainees, they need to be confident that they are reliable and capable enough for work to be delegated to.' As a result, the general atmosphere in the firm can be massively affected by the trainees.

'If the trainees are happy and fulfilled with what they're doing, it's good for all-round morale.'She maintains passionately that trainees need to begin work at the coalface - with clients - as early as possible.

'If trainees are simply working in an office by themselves, they tend to forget what the job's all about.

I try to get them in contact with clients - in court, in meetings - as early as they can, so they start building their confidence.' As qualification day approaches, Ms Lipworth lets her chicks gradually fly the nest: 'They need to feel autonomous and happy about standing on their own feet.' The main way that she helps her trainees to reach this level is through an open-door policy.

'Trainees need to know that nothing is too trivial to ask - there's nothing worse than if they feel isolated or cut off, when their trainer is behind a closed door doing their own work.'Hazel Raw, one of Mr Yates' trainees at v-lex, sees his open- door policy as highly valuable.

'He always makes time to see his trainees, and, importantly, he doesn't mind if you come back time and time again.'So what are the lessons for wannabe star trainers? Give trainees as much client contact as possible; give them work that is appropriate for their abilities and personality; keep the trainer's door open at all times.

And perhaps most importantly, avoid the easy option, and keep them away from the photocopier.