Trainees get 2% rise in recommended rate

Trainee solicitors in Scotland will see their recommended rates of pay rise from 1 June, the Law Society of Scotland's Council decided today.

Council agreed to a 2% increase, bringing the recommended pay rate to £17,034 for first year trainees and £20,400 for second year trainees. It follows a 3% rise in 2014, before which trainee rates had remained static for two years running.

The Society’s recommended rate is not compulsory and it is for individual law firms or in-house employers to decide how much they pay trainees. However 92% of trainees are currently paid at or above the recommended level.

In 2012, Council determined that the national minimum wage must be paid to all trainees in respect of their contracted hours. Today's Council meeting discussed the living wage but decided against an immediate move to setting it as the mandatory minimum rate, while expressing a desire to move towards the living wage as an alternative to the national minimum wage over the next couple of years.

Recent Society figures show traineeship opportunities have improved, with 530 traineeships registered in 2013-14, an 11% increase compared with practice year 2012-13, and 93% of trainees going on to become solicitors, compared with 88% in 2012-13.

Eilidh Wiseman, convener of the Society's Education & Training Committee, said: "We need to strike the right balance when setting the recommended rate for trainee salaries. Trainees are the future of our profession and we want them to be paid properly for the work they do. However we know that while there has been an improvement in the economy, which has undoubtedly contributed to the increased number of traineeships on offer, employers continue to have to control their costs, including salaries.

"The reality is that today's law graduates have more choice than ever before in terms of what kind of career they want to pursue. Around half choose not to join the solicitors' profession and new roles, such as legal analyst positions, offer an alternative and attractive career path in law. We need to do what we can to ensure that we continue to attract high calibre individuals to the profession, which includes maintaining competitive pay rates."

She pointed out that some law firms cannot afford to take on a trainee, particularly in the legal aid sector where reduced rates of pay have left margins extremely tight.