BEIJING - To narrow the growing income gap between lawyers in the capital, legal industry leaders have pledged to prepare more young attorneys for the tough market.

The Sunshine Growth project, organized by the Beijing Lawyers' Association, will be aimed at lawyers without court experience and will equip them with the skills to find clients.

The program will be similar to one in 2009, which helped 120 young attorneys with less than three years in the job.

"We're considering covering more young lawyers and enriching our courses," Zhang Xuebing, president of the association, said on Tuesday. "From next year, we'll invite experienced lawyers at large firms or who are familiar with big cases to give speeches and offer training in law."

New lawyers will be able to ask for advice through the platform and also learn how to communicate with clients in a simulated court environment, he said.

"Some lawyers in large firms get higher pay than those in small offices, as the latter can't often touch big cases," Zhang added. "But the new people may be professionally proficient, they just might not have enough knowledge about the market, while others may have fallen into a career jam."

The association also plans to offer a course on how to open the market.

"Every lawyer in the city can take part in the training each Saturday over a three-month period," he said, adding that online courses will be available for people too busy to attend.

According to the first Blue Book of Beijing Lawyers, which was released early this month, the average annual income of a lawyer in the capital was 164,000 yuan ($26,000) last year.

However, Yu Ning, president of the China Lawyers' Association, said that figure is far higher than most attorneys make, with some earning the equivalent of a taxi driver.

Li Ping works at a small law firm with about 20 employees in the capital's Haidian district and specializes in civil cases. He made less than 10,000 yuan last year, despite handling almost 60 cases.

"I find it hard getting clients here," says the 40-year-old, who hails from East China's Anhui province and lives in a cheap rented apartment in the rural Changping district.

"All I can do is help clients cope with labor and contract disputes, and that doesn't bring much money for me," he said, adding that the Beijing Lawyers' Association training was welcome news. "It will be good to talk with experienced attorneys and make connections through this opportunity."

In addition to the Sunshine Growth project, Zhang Xuebing says his group is working on setting an industry standard for the maximum amount lawyers can charge clients.

"Some attorneys ask for unreasonable fees to boost their income, which is also a factor contributing to the salary gap," he says. "We'll stop them to keep incomes balanced."