Trainee solicitors are to pocket a small increase in pay to a recommended minimum salary of £19,619 outside London and £22,121 in London.
‘Nobody should face unnecessary financial barriers,’ said Christina Blacklaws, president of the Law Society, which recommended the 2.6% salary rise.
‘I urge all law firms to adopt this recommendation for their trainees, which represents a fair salary, and to consider how else they can contribute to greater social mobility to the benefit of their business, society and the profession.’
The minimum salary, introduced in 2015 after the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) ended the regulatory requirement for a minimum salary, is updated annually. The new rate comes into effect on 1 May 2019.
Amy Clowrey, chair of the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society, said: ‘There has been a fall in average pay and the gender pay gap has widened since the minimum salary for trainee solicitors was scrapped, according to data published by the SRA in 2018.’
