Training of New Lawyers
 June 6, 2004

One of the most fascinating recruiting trends is how the very different system of training lawyers in the U.S. and UK will mesh as more firms have offices in both countries. In the UK, Canada and other British legal system countries, law school graduates spend two years “articling.” The training program rotates new lawyers through all of a firm’s practices. Because salaries in the UK for “trainees” are generally £29,000 ($50,000), the program emphasizes learning rather than generating revenues. Upon completion of the training, lawyers are “qualified” and may or may not be offered jobs with their current firm. First year
qualified lawyers start at around £50,000 ($86,000).

The 80 U.S. law firms with offices in England find themselves ill-equipped to operate large scale training programs and prefer to hire laterally, often substantially overpaying to attract top talent. As UK firms increase their presence in the U.S. they are shocked by the high salaries commanded by young lawyers who are, by UK standards, untrained. With more mergers between U.S. and UK firms, it will be interesting to watch which system wins out.