UK-based firm Osborne Clarke has been embroiled in a discrimination case brought by an Indian law student for its refusal to accept his trainee application.

The firm dismissed the student's training contract application in 2007 on the grounds that he was a non-EEA (European Economic Area) resident and needed a work permit. The student received an automated message declining to process his online application, which read as follows: "We are sorry but we are unable to accept applications from candidates who require a work permit to take up employment in the UK." A ruling issued in March this year by the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that the firm "could not justify their policy of not accepting applications for training contracts from non-EEA nationals."

A spokesman from Osborn Clarke told ALB that the firm was disappointed with the tribunal's ruling of indirect discrimination. "We believed that, given the significant volumes of UK/EEA applicants for our trainee scheme, we would be unable to satisfy the government's strict resident worker requirements for granting work permits to foreign nationals. As such, our policy was to not consider any trainee applicant who would require a work permit in order to work lawfully in the UK," he said.

The firm is now believed to be undertaking measures to comply with the ruling. "We have already re-assessed our position on this issue to ensure that our policy complies with the original tribunal's ruling. Osborne Clarke takes its responsibilities as an employer very seriously and we constantly strive to ensure our policies and practices do not discriminate either directly or indirectly in any area of our business."

The judgment could pave the way for more Indian law students to obtain positions in UK firms. The spokesman said that as the issue has been "common practice" among other mid-tier UK law firms, the tribunal's decision could affect those firms as well.

The Bar Council of India (the main body opposing the entry of foreign law firms in India), has previously raised the issue of reciprocity, whereby Indian lawyers would be allowed to practise in the UK, as part of a full legal market liberalisation.