Adlawgroup, an Australian law firm, is asking graduates to pay an up-front fee of A$22,000 for a job which does not even carry a proper salary.  The firm says the money will go towards the cost of education programs and a practising certificate as well as a few nice dinners for the firm's principals.

Under the scheme, the graduates will only be paid to the extent that they carry out work for clients and so there is no guaranteed income for them.

The scheme has drawn plenty of criticism in Australia. The Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating its legality, and the President of the Law Society of South Australia has weighed into the debate warning that it may attract graduates in a "vulnerable position".

Adlawgroup's project manager, Tina Hailstone, told RollOnFriday that since there are limited jobs for junior lawyers, Adlawgroup is providing "professional support" to out-of-work graduates by offering employment. Hailstone also claims the scheme has a "strong social justice element" as it will allow the firm to offer low cost legal advice to a broader section of the community, and so she sees it as a "classic win / win scenario". Although given the junior lawyers are paying for the privilege, the main winners may be Adlawgroup's principals and the P&L account.

Adlawgroup providing support. How it might look.

Hailstone added that there has been a significant response to the advertisement "with a higher than expected number of applications and expressions of interest".  While Adlawgroup has described the fee as a way for graduates to "invest" in their careers, those gradates will no doubt be aware the value of investments can go down as well as up, and that investing in unproven investment schemes with massive up-front fees is not always a great idea.