Supporting trainees

I was engraged to read a recent advertisement for a trainee who 'must have experience and [be able] to deal with minimum supervision'.

This reflects the growing expectation, particularly among small firms, that trainees will be able to work unsupervised from day one, generating income for the firm without pestering the busy partners.

Applicants are presumably expected to have gained experience by working for nothing before seeking a lucrative traineeship.

Firms should be reminded that taking on a trainee involves responsibilities as well as benefits, and legal practice course graduates, rather like everybody else, need to earn a living.

Andrew Howarth, legal practice course student, Wolverhampton University