Where did my thread go?

looking4advice

I started a thread "annoyed trainee solicitor"......where has it gone? Anyway having read it, it seems there isn't much sympathy out there for lawyers,(nothing new there!!).
I have been hearing a lot of anecdotal evidence re lawyers being let go recently. A large medium sized law firm in Dublin just announced it to its staff there last week. Having read the threads, there was a lot of talk of there always being new areas. Well that is true to a degree but it certainly won't cope with the numbers that are qualifying. PIAB probably was the biggest blow to the profession and the recession now will hit all other areas except insolvency, debt collection and criminal litigation and possibly family law which is increasing generally.
40% of last years PPC1 students failed their exams this compared to an average of about 5-10% of previous years. Personally I think the Law Society are just paying lip service to cutting down the numbers and anyone who did fail will not be delayed in qualifying. I know of somebody who failed a repeat exam and just had to write an essay to pass.

dazza21ie

What would you like the Law Society to do e.g.

i) Make FE1'S more difficult - that would be very cruel on those currently sitting them as they are already difficult and people invest alot of time and money (revision course fees and exam fees) preparing for them. It wouldn't have an immediate impact in any event as there is plenty of people on the other side of the FE1's trying to get an apprenticeship.

ii) Limit the numbers for the PPC1 & PPC2 Courses? - The Law Society purposely increased these numbers to show the Competition Authority that it was making the profession more competitive. It cannot reduce them now.

iii) Increase the qualification fees? These are already very high and get increased every year in any event. Again the Competition Authority would be watching closely.

Outside of the above i don't really see what the Law Society can do. Do you have solution?

I would personally support a condition being inserted into the Deed of Indentures that the Training Solicitor is obliged to employ the Trainee Solicitor for at least one year after qualifying should the Trainee solicitor elect to take this employment and for a minimum wage to be set by the Law Society for this year to prevent the Training solicitor from offering so low a wage that the trainee solicitor would have to refuse. My thinking on this is that it would give a trainee some security as to employment after their apprenticeship ends. With one year PQE it should be easier to gain employment. I think it would limit the practice that had developed over the last few years of offices taking on trainees as cheap labour with no intention of keeping them on after their training period. This would obviously reduce the numbers coming through the system as some solicitors would not take on a trainee with this condition. However, i think it would benefit the profession in the long term because it will lead to the trainee getting a better training.

I think the Law Society are also investigating whether they should make it compulsory for trainees to have pre-office experience before attending on PPC1. I think this is a step in the right direction because there are too many people that start PPC1 without ever being in their office. Therefore, the Law Society spend so long teaching the basics to everyone they haven't time to concentrate on more complex matters.