The future of legal recruitment

On 1 April 2015, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) removed itself as a signatory
to the voluntary code of good practice in the recruitment
of trainee solicitors, in a move some parts of the media called ‘one of the biggest changes to hit the profession in decades’.

That is a bold statement, given other recent events, such as the cuts to legal aid, reforms to education and training, and abolition of the minimum wage, but the voluntary code certainly has attracted its fair share of press and controversy.

Fair and effective

Ultimately, the purpose of the code is to ensure a fair and effective recruitment process. Among other things, the code encourages law firms to wait until 1 September of a student’s final year of undergraduate study before making training contract offers.

The purpose of this is to ensure that students are provided with sufficient time to gain a breadth of experience, and are not put in a position where they are required to make a long-term commitment in the early stages of undergraduate study.

In return, the code encourages students to promptly reject excess offers so that those positions can be offered to other individuals.

Despite its voluntary nature, there is widespread compliance with the code. Indeed, I remember eagerly awaiting 1 September in 2010 (incidentally, I also remember getting rejections from several law firms on that day). This timing allowed me to undertake various types of work experience in the summer, which in turn led me to pursue a career in technology law. That was certainly the right decision for me, but not one I would have made in my first year of university. 

The principles of the code, if not the code itself, are valuable for both firms and students.

Renewed focus

The code still exists with three signatories: the Association of Graduate Recruiters, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, and the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society (JLD). The remaining signatories are currently assessing whether to find an appropriate fourth signatory.

The SRA withdrawal has encouraged a renewed focus on the contents of the code.
The JLD and remaining signatories are assessing whether the code should be modernised (and, if so, how). One suggestion is that firms should be able to make offers at any time, but that offers should not expire before the final year of a student’s undergraduate study.

Alternatively, firms may be permitted to tell students at any time whether they will be making an official offer on 1 September (several firms already do this, but some believe it is against the spirit of the code). Either of these suggestions could ensure that firms which comply with the code are not missing out on the best talent. 

Max Harris is an associate at Baker and McKenzie and chair of the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society of England and Wales @juniorlawyers www.lawsociety.org.uk/juniorlawyers