Young lawyers shown the door as downturn hits top Scottish firms

Published on Sunday 21 June 2009 23:14

DOZENS of young lawyers are being cast adrift at the end of their training contracts, The Scotsman can reveal.

As the recession bites into some of Scotland's biggest law firms, one legal recruitment agency has reported a threefold rise in the number of newly qualified solicitors on its books.

Brodies, one of the country's leading firms, will retain just five of its 20 second-year trainees, while Shepherd and Wedderburn will keep just eight, from a pool of more than 30.

MacRoberts' managing partner Michael Murphy said his firm will keep just five of its 15 qualifying trainees and McGrigors will retain only 11 of 18. Maclay Murray and Spens, one of Scotland's largest firms, refused to comment on reports it will let 28 of 31 second-year trainees go.

Legal recruitment specialist Frasia Wright said her firm had seen a huge increase in young lawyers looking for employment as trainee contracts came to an end. "This time last year we were working with 80- 90 newly qualifieds – a number of whom may have been kept on by their firms but wanted to keep their options open," she said.

"This year, we are working with nearly 300, most of whom aren't being kept on."

Maryam Labaki, president of the Scottish Young Lawyers' Association (SYLA) said: "We think this is a short-term fix. It may allow a firm to balance the books and retain more established members of staff, but it is not in the best interests of the profession.

"There will be a long-term generational gap in terms of staff and experience. Who replaces partners when they retire?"

One newly qualified solicitor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said her firm had retained less than 25 per cent of its trainees. "I understand there is a difficult financial situation but I would have thought they could have offered a few more places," she said.

She added: "There's only a certain level of optimism you can have in this climate. Beyond that, it's wishful thinking."

Commenting on her firm's 25 per cent retention rate, Kirstie McLennan, human resource and development director at Brodies said: "We are doing everything we can to provide guidance to those second-year trainees that are leaving the firm, and every effort is being made to support them during this transitional time in their careers."

This is the third tranche of job losses in Scottish law firms. Many were forced to lay off staff as work dipped during the economic downturn and some incoming trainees had contracts cancelled or deferred for a year.

David Thomson, of legal recruitment specialist Hudson, said: "The profession needs more of these guys to come through; what we don't want to in two or three years time is not enough people coming through."