As firms approach the spring's mini peak of recruitment activity it is striking that while many practitioners feel that too many students are trying to find training contracts, others are concerned that there is a shortage of admitted solicitors.The profession is expressing views similar to those of employers in small to medium-sized enterprises throughout commerce and industry.

Although investment in recruitment and training has held up remarkably well through the recession many employers continue to report shortages in key skills.

They still express concerns about the cost of recrui tment and training and yet they are generally reluctant to contemplate the systems which might make life easier for them and for potential recruits.

Above all there are still too few firms which try to match their recruitment and training activities to the needs of their businesses, which in turn reflect clients' needs.Changing client needs are reflected in the continued pressure on traditional staple areas of work such as conveyancing and probate.

They can also been seen in the new opportunities resulting from, for example, the growth of European Union law, information technology, privatisation, rights of audience in the higher courts and discrete investment business.Most practitioners will never have been formally trained in these areas of work.

It is a tribute to the professionalism of solicitors and the strength of their training that many have moved successfully into new areas.

But, as the pace of change increases the Law Society's training committee sees a more strategic approach to recruitment and training as essential to firms' competitiveness.

Firms naturally want to recruit and keep the best people and to ensure that they remain the best.

But to know what this means in practice requires the firm to have a clear set of aims and objectives into which its recruitment and training policies are integrated.If a firm has clear job descriptions and person specifications it becomes much easier to sift large numbers of job applications quickly and fairly and to analyse the firm's training needs.

The result should be a plan which provides a flexible structure for recruitment and training which meet the needs of the business and not just the whims of individuals as to the courses they might like to attend.Of course effective training need not involve expensive external courses.

Much can be learned by observing more experienced colleagues.

Where courses are required, providing them in house -- using members of the firm, audio-visual materials or an external trainer -- can provide a cost effective means of tailor-made training.

Firms can get together to form training consortia.

Courses run by local law societies or local teaching institutions can provide excellent value for money.

Whichever method of delivering training is chosen it is essential that the usefulness of the training is evaluated, for example through the firm's appraisal system.Individual members of staff also has responsibilities.

They must have a realistic assessment of their skills and knowledge.

There is no reason why a property lawyer should not become a litigator, or a litigator a mediator or any of them a business lawyer, so long as these developments are planned over a reasonable period and proper support given.This is where the Law Society sees its role.

By undertaking research and liaising with consumer and government bodies it is well placed to help the profession understand clients' changing needs.

Through its regular contacts with training providers it is also well placed to influence the provision of education and training to meet these needs.For example, the continuing professional development (CPD) scheme allows for the designation of 'priority areas' so that additional CPD credit can be given to courses in particular areas where practitioners need to increase their expertise.

The current priority areas are European Union law, languages and practice management.The training committee, with the support of the Law Society's revenue law and international committees, is encouraging teaching institutions to develop diplomas in revenue law and EU law to provide a good basic grounding in these important areas.

The training committee has encouraged firms to become Investors in People by taking firms which achieve the award out of routine monitoring of CPD compliance and training contracts.The profession will always bemoan the fact that there are too few 'good' recruits whether for training contracts or assistant solicitor posts.

If these comments reflect concerns about particular stages of the process of legal education and training, the training committee is anxious to hear about them.But questions of recruitment should be addressed by the practising profession.

The training committee will do what it can to ensure that those coming into the profession are trained in the realities of life as a solicitor, are competent on admission and remain so throughout their practising career.Those individual solicitors and firms who cannot keep up with clients' constantly changing needs may find that there is no demand for their services in the legal profession of the 21st century.