DLA Piper is offering future trainees grants in return for deferring start dates.

DLA Piper is offering thousands of pounds to future trainees who voluntarily defer the start date of their training contracts as part of the latest measures by the firm in light of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The firm is offering future trainees three choices regarding the start date of their contracts. They have the option to start as normal in August; defer by six months until February 2021 and receive a £5,000 grant; or delay by a whole year and start in August 2021 in return for a £10,000 grant. 

The options apply to all future trainees in the UK's London and regional offices. 

The financial measures are the latest taken by the firm in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In May, the firm began offering its international workforce options to reduce hours and pay as part of two flexible working schemes. 

The previous month, DLA Piper also confirmed it had put a number of its non fee-earning staff on furlough.  

As well as offering future trainees money for voluntary deferrals, the firm has also moved its summer vacation scheme online to a virtual platform. Many other firms including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance and White & Case have made similar moves. 

In a statement, Liam Cowell, DLA's UK managing partner, said: "In line with many other law firms, we are preparing for a gradual and voluntary return to offices over the next few months, and as such, are offering all our new trainees a similar gradual approach by phasing our dates to start their careers at DLA Piper.

"Fostering an environment that is supportive and collaborative is central to our values as a firm, and with this staggered approach we will be able to offer our intake the very best in-person training experience, even during these challenging times."

One person with knowledge of the measures added that it was "not a money-saving exercise", saying: "The issue we've got is that as we gradually introduce people back into the workplace over a couple of months, what we don't want to end up doing is actually having a pretty small number of people in the offices and a load of trainees who will be like 'well, who am I sitting with, what am I supposed to be doing' all that kind of thing.

"So we're just trying to make sure it's phased so that people are introduced back into the workplace and get the best kind of training experience that they possibly can."

The news was first reported on the Legal Cheek website.

The move comes as various firms grapple with how to handle their trainee intakes at a time when transactional activity has fallen and everyone is working remotely. Large firms including Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Slaughter and May have all confirmed they are not planning to defer their incoming trainees.

But DWF and Irwin Mitchell, which are among those delaying their August intakes till February 2021 and Squire Patton Boggs and AIM-listed Gateley have yet to decide.

Commenting on deferrals in general, one London-based private equity partner said he would ask to defer if he was an incoming trainee at a firm as the first training seat is "all about face to face transactions".

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