I posted a
blog last year raising concerns about the shrinking access to careers in the
law.
I questioned whether the law was becoming a career for the rich –
This
followed a decision by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to abolish the
minimum salary for Trainee Solicitors. These concerns have been echoed this
week by Baroness Hale who is the Deputy President of the Supreme Court and the
most senior woman judge that we have ever had. She was speaking at the launch
of report by the Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL) which calls for return of the
minimum salary.
Lady Hale expressed
gave concern about the disparity between the number of students being trained
in the law and the number of jobs available. She actually said that many aspire
to a legal career that they can never have –
She went on
to say that it was a major worry that we could be returning the days when “social
advantage, independent schooling and Oxbridge”, determined access to a legal
career.
It is certainly true that there are far too many students
being trained than there are training contracts available. Those institutions
who a charging huge fees need to ask themselves some difficult questions.
Baroness Hale agrees that we cannot block access to that opportunity. But there
are many disincentives. Why would the brightest students want to run up
thousands of pounds in loans with little prospect of a career at the end?
The abolition of the minimum salary is just one such
obstacle but it is significant. Why struggle through years of academic training
to end up being paid buttons. In their report, published this week, YLAL
acknowledge that most who work in the legal aid sector do not expect huge
salaries but –
“The combination of prohibitively expensive professional
courses, high levels of debt and low salaries makes it extremely difficult for
those from a lower socio-economic background to enter the legal aid profession
and then to sustain a career in the sector”.
They also express concern about the impact on social
mobility caused by the requirement for most students to carry out unpaid work
experience.
This should
be a real concern for us all. We need a diverse legal profession. Legal
problems affect the whole population and those who represent them should not
come from a small social group who can afford to pay the fees, do the unpaid
work and earn low salaries whilst training. In the current climate, it is
highly unlikely that I would ever have been able to qualify.
We should
be doing all we can to encourage entry for all based on ability and not on
wealth. A starting point will be return to a realistic salary for trainees. It
would be a great step forward if the government provided funding for work experience
in the legal aid sector although this is highly unlikely with the present
government.
There's a very simple way of looking at this - if one of my children expressed an ambition to become a lawyer specialising in one of the publicly funded branches of the law, how would I respond? Answer, I would do my utmost to stimulate their interest in some other area of law. As an experienced and capable advocate, I would like to think that I would be successful, too. That, however, is academic.
ReplyDeleteSadly I have to agree ....
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