National legal recruiter Naiman Clarke is receiving 'dozens of phone calls each week' from students graduating from university with high grades but who are still struggling to find a position. Managing director Elvira Naiman told Lawyers Weekly: 'In some ways, they are the ideal graduate candidates ... and for no other reason than bad luck they don’t get into a grad role….It is the worst time in living history to be a law graduate.'  Many of them are even finding it difficult get a place as a paralegal. 

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Sydney is seeing the biggest shortfall of places, according to Ms Naiman, as - with ten law schools in the state - it produces more law graduates than anywhere else in Australia.  Until recently Australia had been seen as performing strongly despite the global economic crisis - but the climate has changed this year as Chinese growth has slowed. Australia's continuing strength had been seen as being closely linked to that of China.

Naiman Clarke is also concerned that, when times improve, the Australian legal profession will be left with a shortage of lawyers who would be completing their training now. 'The long-term skills gap is going to be wide,' added Ms Naiman.