The SRA wrestles with a finely balanced argument to phase out minimum wage for trainees. Sofia Lind reports

If Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) decisions often struggle to generate huge interest – let alone controversy – the regulator last week found an exception with its decision to phase out minimum salaries for trainees in England and Wales.

Critics, including the Law Society, legal education representatives and the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS), to name a few, were quick to argue that the SRA had gone against the grain of its own research and disregarded risks raised in its own consultation.