Pinsent Masons is launching a graduate programme whose trainees will qualify into the firm's Middle Eastern offices.

In a scheme the firm says is one of the first of its kind, specially-selected trainees will spend one year with colleagues in London and their other seats in Pinsent's Dubai and Doha offices. After qualifying they will be expected to think back fondly on their days in Britain, but stay in the Gulf.

"No, no. We're sending you because we like you."

The firm has already picked four Univerity of Law students to pack off to the desert this Autumn. It said they were chosen "because of their close ties to the Middle East" and their understanding of the region’s "unique culture" (translation: they know not to organise rallies for gays or women).

The firms said the next stage is to recruit its Middle Eastern trainees directly from the region's universities, which would at least remove the impression that Pinsents is exiling people who look a bit foreign from the UK. Head of Gulf Region Sachin Kerur said "We want to recruit junior lawyers who share our excitement about the region's future and want to make a commitment to being a part of it".