As the recession bites, hardly a week passes without a leading law firm announcing that it is deferring training contracts for up to a year. Eversheds is one of the latest to join the throng, with 31 of this year’s planned in-take considering whether to accept £5,000 to defer entry or be employed as a paid paralegal for a year.

So far at least 30 big City firms including some US firms such as Reed Smith, and most of the "magic circle" firms having taken this stance. And there are firms who have not publicised that they are deferring training contracts.

Firms are throwing thousands of pounds and, in some cases, further incentives at trainees to encourage them to take up a deferral – with many firms unwilling to admit just how many trainees are agreeing to defer.

The sums of money being offered range from £2,500 to wait six months, to £10,000 or more. Simmons & Simmons for example, offered £15,000 to trainees if they enroll on an MBA with 29 out of 55 trainees taking this up.

Travers Smith has offered £10,000 while at Penningtons, there have been five volunteers accepting £5,000 to defer including Helen Wright, 22, from Canterbury.

Ms Wright, a law graduate from Southampton University and presently doing the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the College of Law in Guildford, says her first reaction when receiving the offer was "fantastic". And, when September arrives, instead of settling into a new routine of research, meeting clients and legal drafting, she will be enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime round the world trip, visiting the warmer climes of East Asia, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Los Angeles.

She explains: “I saw this as a brilliant opportunity. I jumped at the chance to take time out to do something completely different for a year. I think I am incredibly lucky to have both a paid deferral and the guarantee of a training contract in September 2010."

While she will qualify a year later than expected, she remains positive about the benefits her year out will bring: “I am not losing anything from this situation, instead I am gaining additional experiences, skills and knowledge that will be beneficial to me as a trainee solicitor.”

Ben Sealy, 24, from Hinckley, Leicestershire took a little longer to consider whether Norton Rose’s offer of £10,000 would be beneficial to him, eventually deciding it was too good an opportunity to miss. Sealy, a politics graduate from York University, did the GDL (the law conversion course) at Nottingham Law School and is doing the LPC at BPP Law School in Holborn.

He says: “Hopefully, I’m going to use some of the time to learn French at a language school in France. Also, if possible, I am going to spend time in one of the firm’s international offices. Developing language skills will be useful for my future career and spending time in one of the firm’s offices would provide me with valuable experience before joining as a trainee.” He will now start his training contract in January 2011.

The decision by firms to put off trainees is, in most cases, a direct result of the economic climate. Andrea Law of Penningtons says: “By moving back the start dates for some of our trainees, we can ensure that they all have the right balance of good quality work and receive appropriate experience throughout their two year training programme."

Norton Rose says the deferral process will “ensure high quality training contracts for current and future trainees and maximise job opportunities for qualifiers”.

There will undoubtedly be more deferrals in the near future. Trainees should prepare for how they might react and consider positively the benefits that can clearly be gained.

But it’s not all good news for trainees as many will feel in a particularly vulnerable position with the Solicitors Regulation Authority saying deferral of training contracts is not a regulatory issue but an employment matter.

Clive Howard, 48, is an employment partner at Russell Jones & Walker that has no plans to defer any trainees. He says: “The starting point is that any changes to an employment contract cannot be made unilaterally. They can be made only by agreement. If the trainee agrees then that is the end of the matter.

“But if they do not agree then they have a claim for breach of contract and, if this is pursued, then they will be entitled to damages to place them in the position they would have been had it not happened. This generally means loss of earnings: it is essentially a contract issue. There is also potentially an age discrimination issue.” He points out that generally the trainees will be young and if they are the group targeted then unlawful discrimination may arise.

But whether any student who has a potential claim will actually pursue the matter through the courts is unlikely given the probable knock-on effect on his or her career. Perhaps only time will tell.

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