Law Society lambasts minimum trainee salary consultation

The Law Society has attacked the Solicitors Regulation Authority's (SRA's) consultation on the abolition of the minimum salary for trainee solicitors. In a forthright statement, the possibility of trainees earning an hourly wage of £2.60 and having to claim housing benefits was criticised by the Law Society as "not the type of image that befits the profession".

As reported by Legal Futures, the SRA consultation has been strongly criticised by the Law Society and other entities such as the Junior Lawyers Division on the grounds that scrapping the minimum trainee salary is likely to be utilised most by those firms already paying their trainees the bare minimum. The move could potentially damage social mobility and diversity in the profession, with fears that high qualification costs and low pay could deter all but the rich from becoming lawyers. The Law Society has also questioned whether firms wanting to pay their trainees £2.60 per hour should be offering training contracts at all, on the basis that such constraining financial conditions would cast doubt on a firm's ability to provide adequate training and resources.

The Law Society went on to express concern at the potential step backwards into a more elitist and archaic legal profession: "BME and female solicitors are currently over-represented at this [the lower] end of the wage scale and it seems very likely that they would be disadvantaged by any reduction in the minimum payable. Equally, there is likely to be a disproportionate impact on potential trainees from disadvantaged economic backgrounds. Many people on the minimum wage have to seek additional employment to pay living costs. It could be seen that without reasonable financial payment, such as the current minimum salary represents, this may be the only recourse for some trainees."