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This summer has seen law firms engaged in a battle for the brightest and most capable students to join their trainee cohorts. A number of firms have increased their trainee and newly qualified (NQ) salaries to dizzying figures, which have been splashed across the legal press.

For some, the prospect of earning over £70,000 as an NQ (Hogan Lovells, Slaughter and May, and Clifford Chance all recently increased their NQ salaries to this amount) may be too tempting to resist. We may, in turn, see a rise in students opting for law as a profession.

Additionally, a number of firms have announced they will be bolstering their trainee intake for the forthcoming years. Together with rising salaries, it appears that the recession years, comprising miserable retention rates for NQs and dreaded training contract deferrals, are well and truly a thing of the past.

Indeed, trainees now commencing their training contracts are potentially armed with better prospects on qualification, and a likely salary increase that would never have been enjoyed seven years ago.

When closely reviewing the press announcements, the growth in trainee intakes reflects a burgeoning economy, but, overall, the numbers are not hugely significant. On the whole, trainee intakes have been increased by a handful. For example, Burges Salmon upped their trainee intake by three this year, and Trowers & Hamlins recently announced it would take an increase of three trainees per annum, taking the total intake up from 20 to 23.

The Law Society’s Annual Statistics Report 2014 reported the number of training contracts registered in the period from
1 August 2013 to 31 July 2014
at 5,001. The number of students graduating from first degree law courses rose to a new high of 16,120 in the summer of 2014. Bearing in mind that many trainees graduated with a first degree other than law, and adding to this the cumulating number of hopefuls that did not succeed in being awarded with a training contract the previous year, the total number of those actively seeking a training contract could be alarmingly large.

Moreover, when compared to the rate at which trainee accountancy places have increased, the increase in
firms’ trainee intakes may
look quite pitiful. An article in Accountancy Live, reporting from its Accountancy’s Top 75 survey, cited an uptake of nearly 2,000 trainees in the UK’s top accountancy firms.

It is easy to be swept away with what appears to be an optimistic outlook for firms. However, there is still a serious oversupply of graduates, and unfortunately the recent increase in trainee intakes
will not adequately deal with this issue. There will be a fortunate few hired and enjoying a salary increase,
and a large number who
have missed out on a training contract that year. Either law firms bolster their trainee intakes more significantly, or
the profession as a whole takes
a serious look at how to deal with the oversupply of graduates seeking training contracts. SJ

Natasza Slater is a newly qualified solicitor at Howard Kennedy @HowardKennedy_ www.howardkennedy.com