Trainees: wannabe solicitors or bona fide dogsbodies?

Now in the final seat of my training contract, increasingly I have been looking back at my last 20 months as a trainee solicitor, and considering how typical my experience has been. In particular, I've thought about how my peers in other firms are treated and how that ultimately affects the calibre of their training contract.

The shocking news last November of intern Moritz Erhardt dying after allegedly pulling three consecutive all-nighters at the London bank where he was trying to secure a full-time post sparked a debate about who was protecting such budding employees. Fortunately, the idea that someone could literally work themselves to death trying to impress a prospective boss turned out to be more salacious than gospel.

However, it got me thinking about the lengths to which desperate young people will go. Crucially, to what extent are employers willing to take advantage of such clear desperation? And how will this situation affect their future careers? It's a point pertinent to trainee solicitors, who may well find that although a training contract gives you the foot in the door to a potential job, it does not automatically mean it will provide you with the calibre of training you need.

I often hear horror stories about trainees/interns who are effectively no more than a glorified tea maker or who spend 90 per cent of their two years' training fused to a photocopier in their bid to secure a job; the most amusing 'trainee tasks' include being asked to untie a tricky knot and locate a phone charger for a partner.

Back to basics

That said, as a trainee, there is a real advantage in being involved in the 'basics', as long as that isn't all you are doing. It affords you an invaluable working knowledge of your firm, something that often more senior solicitors lack. Similarly, the interpersonal and networking skills derived from playing the role of catering staff at our numerous marketing events, are extremely beneficial.

While there have been a few occasions where the trainees at Michelmores have had to form the manpower behind a large document-proofing task, I can count the 'menial' jobs I have been given on one hand. Recently, there was a mammoth document-proofing exercise where everyone, from partners to secretaries, had to pull together to hit a deadline.

Throughout my training contract, I have been given real responsibility in each department. I have been actively encouraged, not just allowed, to run files and conduct client meetings with little supervision. I discovered that I began to work more proactively when I worked independently. Therefore, almost all my personal and professional development has been directly linked to the level of responsibility that I have been trusted with. This has built my confidence in terms of my general 'solicitor skills'.

My first supervisor actually chastised me for offering to make him a cup of tea, telling me that I needed to remember that I was here to train to be a solicitor and not to make the drinks. I feel hugely fortunate not only to have secured a training contract but to have had the benefit of the firm's investment in my personal development as an individual and the calibre of training that affords me for my future career.

At what cost?

Ultimately, the question has to be: should you seek to secure a training contract at any cost? Is a training contract where all you do is photocopy and make tea (or similar) really worth it? The accolade of being a trainee with a Magic Circle firm may, on closer inspection, transpire to be only a badge with no real substance.

Prospective trainees should be encouraged to remember that a training contract is meant to be a symbiotic relationship between trainee and firm, and not a one-way street sometimes akin to slave labour. It is hard to remember, in such a competitive arena, that you need to get the most out of your training contract.

Pippa Allsop is a second-year trainee at Michelmores, currently in the family and contentious probate team

She writes a regular blog for Private Client Adviser