The art of course limits

It appears that the end of 2002 will not be a terribly festive season for many trainees and young lawyers, with indebted students paying up to 8,000 to get through the legal practice course and a slow-down in the number of trainee and job vacancies for young aspirant lawyers.

Economies are cyclical and the legal profession is susceptible to the same forces as the business community.

In the recession of the early 1990s, thousands of law students were unable to get jobs and were up to their eyes in debt.

The result? Many bailed out of the profession completely.

There is an obvious question: is it good that the number of LPC places keeps rising - up to 7,376 in 2000-1 from 7,088 the year before (plus another 1,500 part-time places) - while there were only 5,285 training contracts available in 1999-2000?

During the last recession there were loud calls for the Law Society Council to control and limit the number of LPC places available.

Similar cries will be heard if the economy falls further in 2003.

However, limiting course places could be seen as a crude and unfair solution.

The legal profession is rightly under pressure to become less elitist and more open to entrants from less traditional socio-economic backgrounds.

Tampering with the market and limiting LPC places to the number of training contracts could have a negative impact on that aim.

As with every economic slow-down, tough decisions lie ahead.