Last month the Firm published Mike Dailly's contribution to the Scotsman debate on the subject of trainee exploitation, which challenged the Law Society's stance on key issues. Nick Taylor of the Law Society's Admissions Committee responds to Mike's points. 

Mike Dailly’s speech for the SYLA debate in October in which he opposes the motion “This house believes that trainees are there to be exploited” demands an answer. His speech pushed the issues, and raised important points which I’d like to address as a former trainee, now trainer who is involved in overseeing current traineeships through membership of one of the Society’s Committees.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mike’s sentiments about how we should treat trainees.

Trainees are the future of the profession and ensuring a quality training for each trainee is a key priority for the profession and the Society. I have not forgotten how it felt to be a trainee – exciting and daunting at the same time: every day a step into the unknown. I had no idea how much I had to learn about managing workload, time and clients. A traineeship can also involve handling stressful and difficult situations all of which train us for practice because as solicitors these are everyday aspects of life for us. I am sure my fellow committee members feel the same.

I am a member of the Society’s Admissions Committee, which oversees traineeships. We work (along with other Society departments) to ensure that training is of the highest standard and that trainees and trainers have the information and support that they need to achieve their goals. Crucially, the Committee can intervene in traineeships if necessary. We have been approached by trainees faced with difficult situations in the past and the Committee has both discharged traineeships and assigned them in circumstances where the employer has been unwilling to assist for what the Committee felt were inequitable reasons. This work has been invaluable in ensuring that trainees receive and complete the training that they rightly expect. The Society has also acted to restrict the ability of some solicitors to take on Trainees where it is felt they are not providing a proper training. So I do not think it can be said that the Society doesn’t take sides or action: it does.

Katie Meanley (Manager, Registrar’s Department) supports the Committee and provides a help and support service to guide trainees and training providers particularly if the Committee needs to intervene. Katie often works with individuals on a confidential and anonymous basis. She has offered guidance, advice and assistance to countless trainees who needed help dealing with a variety of issues affecting their traineeship but who do not wish to identify themselves or their employer. The Society assists trainees whether they are seeking formal intervention or not. The Society is, of course, unable to intervene if it is unaware of the individual, firm or organisation but will still provide support and advice. Recent research undertaken by the Society shows that 91% of respondents want us to continue with this trainee representation and support.

It can be difficult to have complete equality of arms (to adopt Mike’s phraseology): in any complaint scenario tensions will arise which may result in a solution and route to reconciliation – or not. Each case is dealt with individually and sensitively releasing as much or as little of the nature of the complaint to the employer as the trainee permits. This is right given the tensions that arise in these situations. With Katie’s support many of trainees have gone on to have successful careers, and she has the “thank yous” that show that her work has made a difference to many.

While Katie deals with trainee problems and informal complaints, it is true that these rarely become formal complaints - which would come to the Admissions Committee via the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. Where a formal complaint is made, the Society will assess the complaint and intervene if necessary. It is difficult to make a judgement as to why so few complaints become formalised. Some of these are simply resolved between the parties; in some the Society will draw the employer’s attention to the issue and the matter will be resolved and in others the trainee assigns their contract. I think there will be an element of “put up and shut up” in some cases and we will continue to strive to address that.

I would also make the point that the Society is not there simply to look after the interests of the trainees – but also its members and the wider public.

The job of a solicitor can be demanding and is not suited to everyone. The traineeship is often where that becomes clear. I wish to see high quality training producing excellent professionals to the benefit of the profession and the public. In this trainees must demonstrate some element of intellectual and personal robustness. I encourage trainees to stand up for themselves as they will be expected to do for their clients: speak to the Society and seek assistance. Some complaints, are considered to be unfounded and that can be hard for the trainee concerned but we seek to be fair in every situation.

The Society will implement changes to the route to qualification and CPD in September 2011. The new system has an outcomes based model for all stages of qualification, including the traineeship. There will be greater guidance for firms and organisations taking trainees, producing ‘best practice in training’ guidelines and running ‘Train the Trainer’ events to assist trainers to fulfil their training obligations. The aim is for training firms and organisations and trainees to have clear expectations and greater consistency of quality in training.

Policy development in this area is still underway and input from both trainees and trainers is welcomed.