The idealistic notion that the legal profession should become something of a pure meritocracy hasn’t always appealed to everyone. Conservative and slow to adopt change, the profession was long dominated by privately educated, predominantly white, middle-class men. The last decade or so has seen a marked change on this front and equality has improved greatly. However, does this mean unfair advantages can’t be sought elsewhere?

Que: Oxbridge Training Contracts , a company providing model essays and training contract and pupillage applications to university students. In an age where the ambitious will do whatever it takes to get ahead, is this sort of service unexpected? The company offers model application form answers, CVs and covering letters provided by "a growing team of skilled and experienced Oxbridge-educated and Magic Circle-trained lawyers, trainees and lawyers-to-be ". Its charges range from £400 for a training contract covering letter and CV to £1,000 for a non-OLPAS model chambers application answer set. They even have a next-day service. Bargain you think?

Well the Bar Council appears to be miffed by the idea and has issued a warning which reads: "The Bar Council is aware of companies operating via the internet who offer to write pupillage applications and provide other services to assist with applications and interviews. We strongly advise applicants that it is likely to be detrimental to their applications to use any service containing customised model entries or answers on application forms or for interview. We have warned chambers about their existence and to be alert to their use. "

Now its easy to jump on the "tantamount to cheating" bandwaggon that has been doing the rounds but John Foster, spokesman for Oxbridge Research Group, has stepped up to defend the company in a podcast with Charon QC . He makes a valiant defence of the company and one might just be tempted into thinking that this capitalist endeavour may just be doing its part to level the field in a different (albeit a slightly ethically challenged) way. Being a privately educated, middle-class white boy may no longer be the trump card for a legal career these days but tutor favoritism, varying standards of quality in tutoring and the old nepotism are all still factors. So what’s an extra few hundred pounds for some ‘professional assistance’ in the scrabble to the top?