My partner graduated a year and a half ago from the College of Law with a distinction. As has been exhaustively publicised, the lack of trainee positions has been a major upset to many who graduated then and subsequently. I would like to comment on the lack of courtesy that firms have shown in basic job application protocol.

Perhaps less than a quarter of firms have even bothered to acknowledge her applications. Those that have responded have generally been very helpful, sympathetic and encouraging, but the vast majority have either ignored the application altogether or, having reached interview stage, just abandoned all communication.

It might be easy to distance yourself from the plight of the next generation of solicitors but can you imagine applying for over 200 positions, hearing nothing from 150 of these firms and not even knowing whether your application ever arrived?

I understand the administrative nightmare of a saturated job market, but it does not take a huge amount of effort to copy-paste a reply to the applicant so they know not to hang on to the application.

While I have no right to comment on the state of the legal profession, I would like to urge firms to please acknowledge your applicants, even if it is a simple ‘sorry, you have not been successful on this occasion’-type reply.

Thomas Calpin, address supplied