LSEW brings in "good practice" trainee rates

Recommended trainee solicitor pay rates are being brought in by the Law Society of England & Wales, a year after the Solicitors Regulatory Authority abolished the mandatory minimum pay rate.

The Society is recommending that, as a matter of good practice, providers of training contracts should pay their trainees a minimum salary of £20,276 in London and £18,183 outside London. This is based on a 35-hour week at the living wage (£9.40 per hour in London; £8.25 outside London) to which has been added £3,168, the average yearly Legal Practice Course repayment. The rate will be reviewed every November.

The previous mandatory minimum rate, which was ended by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in August 2014, was £18,590 in London and £16,650 outside the capital. The Law Society of Scotland currently recommends £17,034 for first year trainees and £20,400 for second year trainees, with firms being bound to pay at least the national minimum wage.

LSEW chief executive Catherine Dixon said: "The recommended minimum salary for trainee solicitors will contribute to better equality and diversity within the solicitor profession, enabling and supporting entrants from all backgrounds.

"Qualifying to be a solicitor should always be on merit. We never want applicants' backgrounds to be a barrier. Many firms have developed recruitment policies that promote equality, diversity and inclusion, and we hope that firms will also adopt the recommended minimum salary for their trainee solicitors."

LSEW research into the likely impact of the abolition of the minimum salary requirement foresaw a negative impact in particular for entrants from less affluent backgrounds, and a disproportionate impact on black, Asian and minority ethnic representation in the solicitors' sector.

Welcoming the new rates, Max Harris, chair of LSEW's Junior Lawyers Division, described their introduction as "a huge step forward for social mobility in the legal profession". He added: "Of course there are sound commercial reasons for social mobility, which many firms and employers around the country recognise. By creating a profession that is open to all, the profession will attract the best calibre of candidates in all areas of practice. Firms, the profession as a whole and consumers of legal services all benefit."