2 September – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Linklaters is to raise the maintenance grants it pays its future trainees by more than 40 per cent, reflecting the firm’s determination to attract the best by paying at the top of market.
Currently, Linklaters LPC students receive an annual maintenance grant of £5,000 if studying in London or Oxford, and £4,500 if studying elsewhere. As from September 2006, this grant will be increased to £7,000. Students on the Graduate Diploma in Law (formerly known as the CPE) course are to see their maintenance grants increased to £6,000 if studying in London and £5,000 if studying elsewhere.
The increases coincide with the start of the firm’s new Legal Practice Course, developed in collaboration with the College of Law in London. Modelled on the existing LPC, the new approach is designed to offer an enriched learning experience and ease the transition from study into commercial practice. The course will have a mix of general curriculum modules taught in classes alongside trainees from other City firms, and firm-specific modules which provide a closer link between theory and the firm’s practice.
The increase in maintenance grants for LPC and GDL students follows similar market-leading salary rises for Linklaters trainees and associates, announced on 1 May 2005. The increases mean new joiner trainees now earn £29,700, rising to £52,000 when they qualify.
Simon Firth, Linklaters trainee partner, said:
“As part of our strategy for market leadership we are focusing on premium work and premium clients. For that we need to attract the best people. We therefore want to ensure that students are not only offered the best work and the best training, but are paid at the top of the market.”
