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I'm currently going through two JAC exercises for part-time posts. Both the paperwork and the exams have posed challenges. How to complete the forms in the way that maximises your chances. How to get two suitable references without tipping off your boss that you don't wish to spend the rest of your career in middle management bringing in the big money for the EPs. How to prepare for the selection day beyond watching the video on the JAC website.

Ironically the Law Society runs courses that assist with JAC selection day preparation, but charge £425+VAT for the privilege. And I'd have to travel from the North to London or Bristol even to attend, so let's say £600 in round figures. There is a world in which solicitors have that kind of cash to spare for training, but it isn't mine. No way is my firm going to pay for that, and I don't imagine many others would either.

If solicitor numbers are so poor, and if the Law Society/JAC do truly wish to increase them, then they should be falling over themselves to provide such training to solicitors, for free, in all major cities.

While they're at it, the JAC/MOJ could change the rules on minimum sitting days so that I can do part-time judicial work using some of my annual leave rather than needing my employer's approval or having to seek a part-time job elsewhere if, by some small miracle, I do get one of the posts I've applied for.

There, fixed it for you.