Trainees: firms would not need to pay above national limit


The training contract and minimum salary will be victims of the new training regime if it is approved, it was confirmed last week.


The published consultation on the training framework review proposes that a prospective solicitor would have to achieve a series of 'day one outcomes' relating to knowledge and skills, duly assessed, before being admitted.


Trainees would be able to choose how to study, and although a period of work-based learning would be required, it would not be a specific period. The consultation estimates that it would take aspiring solicitors at least 16 months to compile the portfolio of work and experience required to qualify.


There would be no training contract as such and the Law Society would not seek to impose duties on either side beyond those provided by legislation and the professional rules. 'The requirement to pay a minimum salary over and above the national minimum wage would therefore cease,' the consultation said.


Trainee Solicitors Group chairman Peter Wright said the group broadly supports the reforms - arguing that the current system has not served trainees that well - and accepts the end of the minimum salary, for which it has campaigned for many years.


He said 'market forces will maintain the salary at a similar level'. The consultation suggests that a firm paying the minimum wage but supporting a trainee in qualifying may be as attractive as one that pays more but offers less support.


Legal practice course providers - whose courses would no longer be compulsory - have been vocal in their opposition to the changes, arguing that they may lead to a fall in standards. The Legal Education and Training Group, representing large law firms, has also expressed its disquiet.


A final decision on the reforms will be taken in the autumn.


Links: www.lawsociety.org.uk


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