Society to send out monitoring teams to keep eye on trainees

The Law Society is poised to dispatch a crack team of monitors on UK law firms to protect trainees from law firms and vice versa.

It has recruited Debrah Ball from top City law firm Lovells, where she was professional development director, as chief monitor.

She will lead a 21-strong trainee monitoring team that will be sent to law firms to investigate the quality of training received by trainees.

Ms Ball has already supervised pilot visits, and the firms selected for the first round have been contacted.

It is understood that monitors can be called out either by law firms or the trainees themselves.

Visits are likely to consist of interviews with training principals, supervisors and trainees.

Monitors will also examine training documents.

If they think the training is below par, they will make recommendations to training principals.

Monitors will then agree action plans with the firms and give oral and written feedback.

Anne Mizzi