This year has been very testing, especially for students in the diploma who have been told that there was no longer a place for them at the firm they were expecting to join this September. As hiring for firms is done two years in advance, and the 2010 places have already been filled, this means that they would now have to start in 2011. If they had previously taken a year out before starting their traineeship, this meant that the diploma would then be out of date, and this is why the Law Society have had to say that they will extend the validity of the diploma because of the unique situation we find ourselves in. Prospective trainees must however, keep up their knowledge of the current law.

The issue of firms walking away from offers already made to final year students led the Society to publish a statement with their views on the subject. They basically said that offering a student a traineeship was akin to a contract and that firms could not just withdraw this. so what firms have been doing is asking the future trainees to defer starting for a year. If they agree, then some firms are offering them £5-6k for their troubles. Some firms are making all of the future trainees apply again for the job in order to ascertain who is to be deferred. I know of one girl who started a traineeship in September 2008, and was told in December that she was being made redundant.

Just this morning, a girl at uni got a phonecall from one of the Edinburgh firms asking her to voluntarily defer. If nobody wanted to voluntarily defer, the company were going to put names into a hat, and whoever was picked out would have to defer for a year.

For the foreseeable future, things do look bleak from a lawyers prospective, apart from things like bankruptcy and repossessions where business is booming! However, things will most definately pick up again in a few years......we hope.

It's all form filling now, unless you are a litigator and can fulfill the role of a stereotypical lawyer whom everyone thinks argues a case in Court. The diploma is all about filling in forms, ticking the correct boxes. It's mind numbing. The only reason I am doing it is because I imagine it will pay off one day when I become partner and have a great salary to take home every month. To be honest, some of the forms are raelly complicated to fill in (IHT400 anyone!?), and the high rates of lawyers are entirely justified in my opinion.

This is a symptom of the hard times. However I believe that these decsions are being made by partners who are only thinking of their share of profits rather than anything else. EFP looks like being one of those who wants to earn big bucks. Whatever happened to young lawyers who wanted to help people and make a difference? Too many are heading into commercial law just to make money and have no interest in helping others. Lawyers have always overcharged and are now under pressure to do billable hours a la American system and the clients suffer. It will all come home to roost one day when people wake up and shop around for better deals. These fat cat lawyers don't just pay what is asked in their private lives yet expect clients to pay what is demanded without question. Come on the next generation and make a change to the climate of greed!

It certainly has been a worrying 12 months or so for those students approaching graduation. I know some who have had traineeships secured for some time that are worried and waiting for a letter of deferral or cancellation to come through their letterbox. I think it's the uncertainty that's more unsettling than the reality though, as again, I know many students who have started their traineeships without a problem.

As grumpy said, it's interesting to see what other doors can be opened by having a law degree, as some graduates are turning to other more stable employment. Off the top of my head, some of my students have gone to work for the PF, the Children's Panel as reporters, I know of one that managed to get an executive position with a large debt collection firm, and several that have gone into either NHS or Government positions.

These aren't happy times for those qualifying and hoping to move into the legal profession, but then I'm sure that's the case with a great many other vocations and not just the law. The world will always need lawyers (though I'm not too sure whether that's a good or bad thing!!  ).