There was more evidence of the woes in the legal graduate recruitment market this week, with news that a London law firm is offering a job to law school graduates at just £6.10 an hour.
Kyriakides & Braier has exacting standards, mind you. Applicants for the "legal administrative position" should have at least a 2:1 in their degree and a minimum of a commendation in their LPC. Even Slaughter and May doesn't insist on that when taking on trainees at £38,000 a year. The rewards for such endeavour are just two pence an hour above than the new minimum wage that will come into force later this year, and £2.20 an hour below what the Mayor of London describes as the London Living Wage. The firm would have to pay an extra £3.40 an hour for someone to clean its offices. Bah, humbug.
At least there's a carrot at the end of the stick. Robert Kyriakides, a partner at K&R, told RollOnFriday that his firm had employed four people in this capacity over the last year and had offered training contracts to two of them. He hoped to be able to do the same in this case. He added that he had got by on less than this in the early stages of his career (although when he qualified back in 1974 you could still watch a moving picture and have a fish and chip supper before copping a quick feel in the car park outside the co-op and catching the bus home and still get change from a five farthing piece).
Meanwhile the SRA confirmed this week that the minimum salary for trainees will be frozen at £16,650 (£18,590 in London) for the third year in a row.
Tip Off ROF
Kyriakides & Braier has exacting standards, mind you. Applicants for the "legal administrative position" should have at least a 2:1 in their degree and a minimum of a commendation in their LPC. Even Slaughter and May doesn't insist on that when taking on trainees at £38,000 a year. The rewards for such endeavour are just two pence an hour above than the new minimum wage that will come into force later this year, and £2.20 an hour below what the Mayor of London describes as the London Living Wage. The firm would have to pay an extra £3.40 an hour for someone to clean its offices. Bah, humbug.
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But Sir, what is to become of Tiny Tim? |
At least there's a carrot at the end of the stick. Robert Kyriakides, a partner at K&R, told RollOnFriday that his firm had employed four people in this capacity over the last year and had offered training contracts to two of them. He hoped to be able to do the same in this case. He added that he had got by on less than this in the early stages of his career (although when he qualified back in 1974 you could still watch a moving picture and have a fish and chip supper before copping a quick feel in the car park outside the co-op and catching the bus home and still get change from a five farthing piece).
Meanwhile the SRA confirmed this week that the minimum salary for trainees will be frozen at £16,650 (£18,590 in London) for the third year in a row.