Trainees pay price

On behalf of the Trainee Solicitors Group, I would like to put into context the figures regarding law graduate salaries referred to recently (see [2001] Gazette, 19 July, 5).

Some 23.4% of trainee solicitors get the minimum salary or less.

The minimum salary in London is 13,600, and elsewhere in the country it is 12,000.In addition, the AGR's survey neglects to take into account the length of the training period and the expense of the legal practice course, which is no doubt set to increase again with the advent of the City LPC.However, the other side of the coin, is that although working in the City can obviously be a financially attractive proposition, having to work longer hours to justify these salaries is a market reality.The increasing number of calls to the Trainee Solicitors Group Helpline and SolCare from trainees and newly qualified solicitors who are suffering unreasonable workloads and expectations provides clear evidence of the increasing pressures which are already pressing down on the future and fledgeling members of the profession.

The lawyers' lifestyle survey which was carried out by recruiters Hays ZMB found that 70% of respondents in larger firms worked more than 50 hours a week, with 70% of the calls regarding stress taken by SolCare being from lawyers who had qualified within the past five years.

Theeba Ragunathan, chairwoman, Trainee Solicitors Group