You would be forgiven for thinking that this is not the biggest problem facing law firms right now – firing, not hiring seems to be the order of the moment…

However, a recent ruling by The Employment Appeal Tribunal means that firms refusing to consider training contract applications from students who would need a work permit are having to review the policy. (According to the Gazette , a number of the UK’s well known firms are understood to follow this practice).

The issue came to the fore in February when the Tribunal ruled against top-30 firm Osborne Clarke on the grounds of indirect race discrimination. Osborne Clarke’s reasoning for its approach was that it would be unable to sign a declaration in the work permit application that it knew of no suitable EEA worker who would be displaced as a result of employing the applicant. It also argued that Border and Immigration Agency guidance meant any application would have been rejected anyway. Osborne Clarke are understood to be considering an appeal.

So it is intersting to note that whilst firms are facing pressure on the one side to be more open, from 31 March, new visa rules are being introduced by the Home Office and UK Border Agency that will make it increasingly difficult for firms to recruit lawyers from outside the UK and Europe. Hmmm.

Back to school…

The changes mean partners and some senior lawyers would have to obtain a masters degree in order to qualify for a tier one (highly-skilled) working visa. Also, positions directly advertised abroad for junior lawyers (in Australia for example where applicants would normally require a tier two visa with employer sponsorship) will now also have to be advertised in the UK in JobCentre Plus too.

Crystal.