Sparks fly over trainee solicitor salary drop
The Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) has reacted furiously to a regulatory decision to drop the minimum £16,650 salary requirement for trainee solicitors.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) board agreed this month that setting a minimum salary level above the national minimum wage—£6.08 per hour—was not in the public interest, and that the change would be introduced in two years’ time, on 1 August 2014, to minimise impact.
Approximately 29% of trainees are currently paid the minimum salary.
Hekim Hannan, JLD chair, says the decision will “discourage people from non-wealthy backgrounds from entering the profession”.
“At the minimum wage, trainees will get £11,065 per year, which works out, after tax, as £838 in your pocket each month. The LPC loans repayment comes to about £300 per month, which leaves you £500 to pay for travel, rent and food.
“It’s not enough. Trainees will have to get second jobs and they already work unpaid overtime.
“The SRA has tried to argue that this will lead to more training contracts, but there is no evidence. Not one single firm has come out and said this. A drop in salary of £5,000 won’t be enough for smaller firms to create more training contracts—the cost of training someone isn’t just the salary, it goes beyond that.
“The Legal Education and Training Review (LETR), which is looking at different routes into the profession, is still going on. It seems silly to make a decision on salary now—why not wait until the review is complete?”
An SRA spokesman says: “We found no regulatory benefit or public interest in setting a minimum salary—it was something we inherited from the Law Society. Perhaps the Law Society would like to set it—has anyone asked that question?”
He says the SRA is committed to social mobility, adding: “Evidence suggests that the most diverse professions are those with a diversity of routes to qualification, and that starting salaries are a less important factor.”
He says there is “no justification for hesitating” while waiting for the LETR to conclude, and that the board hoped more training contracts would be created.
A spokesperson for the Law Society, which has opposed the SRA’s decision, says it only has the power to give non-binding guidance to members on salary.
