“My firm has offered me and my fellow trainees scheduled to begin in September 2009 a sum of money to defer for a year. I am anxious to begin my legal career and I’m not looking forward to a year of unrelated work.

“However, if I opt to reject the offer to defer, will the quality of training I receive suffer due to the reduced work levels at the firm during the downturn? I am also afraid that rejecting the deferral offer may harm my chances of being offered a NQ position down the line. Are these fears justified?”

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