In his Comment Hekim Hannan states: ‘Why take on a trainee in Sept 2013, pay them £33,300 over two years when you could take on a paralegal on the minimum wage... give them a training contract the following year and pay £33,195 over a three-year period’.

The simple answer is that not all law firms take trainees for granted or treat them as slave labour.

For years we have paid over the recommended salary for ‘out of London’. Trainees can and do make a valuable contribution to our firm and are potentially the lifeblood of the future - many previous trainees have indeed become partners over the years. I suspect though that the previous recommended salary levels were not necessary for firms like ours.

John Egan, training partner, Woodfines, Milton Keynes