Burges Salmon sets up job site for Halliwells trainees
Students whose Halliwells training contracts were cancelled after the firm went into administration have been offered a potential lifeline by Burges Salmon.
Stephen McNulty
The Bristol firm hopes that every law firm in the country will sign up to a project that will attempt to match trainees with firms located in a region where they are able to work.
The firm has launched a portal on its website for trainees to submit their CVs and offer letters, which will then be sent on to other firms taking part in the scheme.
Burges Salmon senior partner Stephen McNulty has already contacted at least five top 50 firms to drum up support for the scheme, which went live today (2 August). He said it would be “a litmus test for the decency of the profession”.
McNulty pledged that his firm would take on at least one of the 51 students left without training contracts after Halliwells went into administration last month.
“Halliwells won’t have offered contracts to people they didn’t think were good enough,” added McNulty. “It’s a question of matching them to the right firm.”
One trainee who had been set to join Halliwells said: “What Burges Salmon’s proposing for us would really be a lifeline to all the trainees who’ve forked out thousands of pounds to train and have been left jobless.”
The first wave of CVs sent to firms signing up to the scheme will be from those offered contracts beginning this September. There will be further waves for the prospective January and June 2011 intakes.
To access the portal click here.
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Readers' comments (38)
Metallica | 2-Aug-2010 9:38 am
Stephen McNulty - what a top guy.
I hope the SRA is reading this and hanging their head in shame at their spineless response.
If someone from the SRA is reading this could you please explain why you couldn't do this and why you left it to others in the profession to take the initiative? It's not about an employment matter, it's about doing the decent thing especially as these students are forced to pay for memberships.
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Anonymous | 2-Aug-2010 9:48 am
Fantastic idea and I truly hope that firms get behind this and help out those trainees who were not fortunate enough to be taken on buy the firms that purchased Halliwells' assets. Well done Burges for taking the initiative on this.
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Anonymous | 2-Aug-2010 9:52 am
I couldn't agree with the above comments more. It shows there are still decent people in this profession who are willing to go out of their way to help others. Well done Stephen McNulty and well done Burges Salmon.
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Anonymous | 2-Aug-2010 10:18 am
Fantastic news! Well done Burgess Salmon. SRA please take note; if you cannot help our young professionals flourish what hope is there for future of the profession.
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Anonymous | 2-Aug-2010 10:26 am
Hmmm. Great PR for Burges Salmon. In reality, is this project actually going to find 51 Training Contracts for the 51 jobless Halliwells trainees? I doubt it.
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IHateBPP | 2-Aug-2010 11:11 am
BS are obviously not doing this for the sole reason of the common good as it is guaranteed to give them considerable media coverage and it will increase BS' standing with potential applicants considerably. Nonetheless, they deserve great credit for at least doing something and it's a good idea.
It's just a shame that it was left up to individual law firms to do something rather than the regulators, who seem content to put every possible bar in the way to becoming a lawyer but do nothing to actually help someone.
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Anonymous | 2-Aug-2010 11:13 am
Anonymous @10.26 - this certainly is great PR for the firm, and I agree that finding every trainee a new home is ambitious, to say the least. But surely there's enough cynicism in this profession already without belittling a scheme that, if it even helps just one person find a job, should be applauded. Sometimes good PR and good intentions can be in alignment
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Anonymous | 2-Aug-2010 11:14 am
Good for Stephen McNulty and Burges Salmon! And I agree, SHAME on the SRA (that utter joke of an organisation)
Even if B.S is aware it will get some good PR from this, the actual idea is clearly aimed at helping the students in the first place. There has been so much trauma and upset in the legal profession over the last few years that it's refreshing to see senior people think about their role in helping juniors.
It's a pity no one has had the same idea about helping all those NQs who can't find a qualified position at the moment for love nor money. The mid range PQE market may be moving, but its still a NIGHTMARE for NQs who have not been retained at their training firms...
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Matthew Taylor (MTPT) | 2-Aug-2010 1:21 pm
Echo what others have said - of course BS see benefit to themselves in this scheme, but that doesn't detract from their choosing to take a lead on this issue. Hopefully it will lead others to get involved, but I share anonymous@1026's scepticism that more than a small minority will find places.
I don't share the view that the SRA should be getting involved (frankly, I'd be unsurprised if they managed to make matters worse for those affected) but the Law Society should. What on earth is our trade union for if it's not for this kind of situation?
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Anonymous | 2-Aug-2010 1:36 pm
If it was just for PR, other firms would have come up with this idea by now. BS is undeniably trying to do the decent thing. Of course it cannot house all of the trainees. Even for PR I hope many other regional and city firms join this scheme.
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