‘Legal aid lawyer wanted: must have own silver spoon’
People of modest means are increasingly being priced out of the chance to become legal aid lawyers. What more can firms do to ensure that this field of law doesn’t become the preserve only of those from wealthy backgrounds? Catherine Baksi investigates.
Elite City law firms have been accused of sidelining wannabe solicitors from working-class backgrounds with an unofficial ‘poshsness’ test that favours wealthier students from more privileged homes. In a more insidious fashion, legal aid firms are guilty of doing the same thing.
High levels of student debt, combined with the requirement for unpaid work experience and low salaries, make legal aid unsustainable for those from poorer backgrounds.
Anecdotal evidence and common sense suggest that the profile of the sector, traditionally the most diverse part of the profession, is becoming increasingly homogenous, and closed to those without private means.
And, commentators suggest, firms in survival mode, besieged with consultations and fee cuts, have taken their eyes off the ball when it comes to ensuring the diversity of the next generation of legal aid lawyers.
Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL) has flagged up the problem for some time. Its 2010 report, Legal aid lawyers: the lost generation in the ‘national crusade’ on social mobility, concludes: ‘[A]spiring lawyers from diverse backgrounds are finding it harder than ever to forge a career in legal aid … those from low-income families cannot afford to become legal aid lawyers and the legal aid profession is, therefore, becoming less and less representative of the people it serves: those without means.’
‘Some commentators suggest that firms have taken their eyes off the ball in terms of ensuring the diversity of the next generation of legal aid lawyers.’
A further YLAL report from 2013, One step forward, two steps back, raised the same concern. A survey of its members found that with the cost of their higher education topping £40,000, 65 per cent had debts of more than £15,000, and 15 per cent of over £35,000. In contrast, looking at their wages when they finally qualified, 50 per cent earned £20,000 or less.
YLAL committee member and solicitor at Birnberg Peirce & Partners, Camilla Graham Wood (pictured), notes that since the reports, the situation has become even worse. She insists that many aspiring lawyers remain keen to do publicly funded work, but lack of finances means it is not a viable option.
Graham Wood blames firms for contributing to the problem, with their insistence that candidates have done work experience, and their failure to pay them to do it. ‘You can only complete unpaid work experience if you have someone supporting you financially, so this excludes a lot of students,’ she says.
‘There is a real divide between those with means who have work experience and foreign placements on their CVs and those that don’t,’ she adds, warning that the playing field is becoming seriously sloped.
In addition, she says, many legal aid firms employ students unable to get training contracts as paralegals, for little or no wages. She berates their ‘exploitative practices’, and is unimpressed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s failure to act and its citing of the fact that it has no remit in employment law matters.
Diminishing diversity not only means the sector will no longer be representative of those it aims to assist, and give the impression the legal profession is a closed shop, but, adds Graham Wood, it will lead ultimately to a less diverse judiciary. Lack of diversity among the judiciary could ultimately have implications for the rule of law and undermine public confidence in the legal system as a whole. The less judges look like the rest of the population, the more vulnerable they are to attacks from a hostile media for being elitist and out of touch if they make decisions that are seen as controversial or as defending the rights of unpopular groups.
In its manifesto, published prior to the election, as a solution to the lack of diversity among entrants, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group called for the Legal Aid Agency to reinstate the training grants offered by its predecessor, the Legal Services Commission (see page 11).
The grants, which from 2002 helped meet the fees of 750 students, were scrapped in 2010 in order to save £2.6m a year. In the current environment, with the Ministry of Justice’s budget slashed by a further £249m, their return seems unlikely.
While the overall picture looks gloomy, there are brief flashes of sunshine, however.
Legal Education Foundation
The Legal Education Foundation (LEF), created from the £200m sale in 2012 of the College of Law, has set up a fellowship scheme that includes a fully funded training contract.
Launched last year, the Justice First Fellowship provided nine students with training at law centres, charities and private practice firms. As well as completing a training contract, the fellows must develop and implement a project that will advance access to justice.
The inspiration came from two initiatives from across the pond – the Skadden Foundation and Equal Justice Works – both set up in the 1980s to provide fellowships for public interest lawyers. LEF chief executive Matthew Smerdon (pictured) says: ‘We want to help those looking for training contracts in a way that contributes to the health of the sector. We are concerned about the lack of law graduates getting training contracts in the social welfare field and looking to answer the question of where the next generation of experienced lawyers in this field will come from.’
The LEF’s application form specifically does not ask about voluntary work experience, so those who cannot afford to do it are not prejudiced. Instead, applicants write five short essays on aspects of access to justice and being a lawyer. ‘This gives them a chance to show their passion and commitment to this area of law,’ he adds.
‘Those from low-income families cannot afford to become legal aid lawyers and the profession is becoming less and less representative of the people it serves.’
The first batch of fellows, all nine of whom were women, indicates the state of play for those looking to become legal aid lawyers. ‘All but one were already working in a legal role and butting up against the barrier of lack of access to training contracts,’ says Smerdon.
Applications for the scheme’s second year open in August 2015, with fellowships starting in either December 2015 or January 2016.
The foundation is looking to extend a similar scheme to aspiring barristers. It has been working with the Bar Pro Bono Unit to devise a model under which students spend a year as a caseworker with the BPBU, and a second year doing pupillage in a relevant set.
It is trying to recruit chambers, but, says Smerdon, so far they have been ‘resistant’, for reasons he cannot explain.
Looking to the future, he says: ‘We need a structure in the sector to generate employment opportunities for the next generation of lawyers who want to work in this area of law. If over the next 10 years we can fund 100 fellowships, that’s 100 qualified lawyers working in this sector.’
Bhatt Murphy summer placements
Bhatt Murphy, in London’s fashionable Hoxton Square, is a rare legal aid practice that offers paid work experience. It runs four summer placements – two fortnight stints for four lucky candidates. They pay the London living wage, together with travel and accommodation costs for those outside the capital.
Says partner Tony Murphy (pictured right): ‘The placements are open to all, rather than just those who can afford to work unpaid. They are designed to increase diversity within our firm and hopefully more generally within the profession.’
He supports the profession’s encouragement of paid work experience, explaining the importance for students to see what practice is like: ‘Those who have actually spent time within a firm have a distinct advantage when it comes to recruitment for full-time posts.’
How the LEF’s fellowship scheme opens doors
Maryam Hussain, Deighton Peirce Glynn
I’ve always wanted to give people a voice, and to improve the balance between the huge influx of those desperately in need of assistance and advice, and the completely under-resourced services available to deliver that. Even though the sector is under-resourced, it is incredibly competitive to get a training contract if you haven’t had substantial relevant work experience – it is definitely a barrier. But it’s difficult to get paid legal aid work experience in entry-level positions (ironically, it is significantly easier in commercial practice than it is in this area). It’s catch-22 – which is why the fellowship made a complete difference for me. It has provided a stepping stone, enabling me to train with one of the pioneering firms in the social welfare law sector.
Fanny Forest, Coventry Law Centre
I want to become a social welfare lawyer to work towards a more just and equal society. The fellowship helps me achieve that by offering more than a training contract. I was matched with a host organisation that fosters my commitment to social justice, working with lawyers who understand people’s complex needs.
As part of the fellowship, I am involved in a project to increase legal awareness among victims of domestic violence, which allows me to move beyond casework and engage in public legal education at the outset of my career.
The support provided by the LEF makes me feel part of a broader movement of like-minded professionals.
Murphy hopes more legal aid firms will offer paid work experience in the interests of supporting the next generation of legal aid lawyers.
Explaining the ethos of his firm, which gets hundreds of applications from students wanting to do legal aid, Murphy says: ‘We are committed to legal aid in order to contribute to social justice. A diverse profession with equality of opportunity serves that cause. We hope our paid placements make a small contribution towards that goal.’
CILEx route to qualification
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives offers a flexible and affordable route to qualification as a specialist lawyer through vocational and apprenticeship routes, meaning aspiring legal aid lawyers can earn while they learn.
University graduates are also able to take CILEx’s graduate fast-track diploma to qualification, enavbling them to qualify as lawyers through work-based learning as opposed to securing training contracts.
A CILEx spokesman says: ‘We recognise though that this is not a panacea, for while reducing the debt burden on legal aid lawyers is important, it is no substitute for a properly funded legal aid system.’
YLAL’s Graham Wood suggests firms could make a big difference by engaging with the different routes of qualification, including CILEx, and state clearly on their websites that they do so.
In five years’ time, she adds, qualification will be considerably altered, but if firms are not looking at the alternatives now, they will miss opportunities to support staff and new entrants.
‘Due to the legal aid cuts and raft after raft of consultation, social mobility and diversity have not been given the focus they should have.’
Popular grant scheme was victim of MoJ policy switch
In May 2004, Independent Lawyer magazine reported on the popularity of the Legal Services Commission’s training grant scheme, which had been launched two years earlier. Some firms in receipt of these grants had advertised trainee vacancies – where candidates would have LPC fees paid by the LSC – on the Legal Aid Practitioners Group’s website.
Two days later, they were begging LAPG to take down the ads, as they couldn’t cope with the deluge of applications they were getting.
The LSC’s new (and short-lived) chief executive Clare Dodgson told the now-defunct magazine that training the next generation of legal aid lawyers was one of her priorities.
The scheme ran from 2002 until 2010, when the legal aid minister Jonathan Djanogly axed it, saying that one of his priorities was to deter the next generation of legal aid lawyers. There were ‘too many lawyers’ doing legal aid, he said.
The scheme was clearly popular, but its legacy is harder to judge. As part of the deal, firms had to keep trainees on for two years after they had qualified, but the LSC kept no track of them after that, so it’s impossible to tell how many of the 750 grant recipients remain in the field.
One who does is Paula Harris (pictured), head of David Gray’s civil and housing department in Newcastle. Harris led last year’s Supreme Court case Scott v Southern Pacific Mortgages, representing 50 clients. The case ran for seven years, almost exactly the same amount of time she has been in the profession.
Harris says that the LSC scheme acted as a major incentive for people to enter publicly funded law. ‘The fees for the LPC are so high that it can put many people off – particularly when faced with the risks of a career in legal aid and the limited job opportunities.’
As much of a draw in her case was the guarantee of a job for at least two years after qualification, she says.
‘The risk for legal aid practices, especially in times of fee cuts, is the ability to keep trainees on and offer newly qualified roles, and the LSC training contact grant made that a possibility.’
Fiona Bawdon
■
Legal Action would like to hear from you if you were a recipient of an LSC training grant
fbawdon@lag.org.uk Law Society Diversity Access Scheme
The Law Society Diversity Access Scheme aims to increase the social diversity of the profession as a whole; it is not limited to the publicly funded sector. It provides financial help with LPC fees, access to work experience and mentors for candidates who meet the criteria.
The scheme is based on financial need. Applicants must show they do not have access to money or familial loans and that they attended a non-fee paying school, are the first generation of their family to attend higher education and/or were eligible for free school meals. Those without means who face or will face exceptional circumstances to pursue their studies may also be eligible.
Inns of Court scholarships
For those with their sights set on the Bar, the Inns of Court offer a range of scholarships. Though some are purely based on merit, others are awarded according to need. The pupillage matched funding scheme encourages the provision of additional pupillages in chambers doing predominantly publicly funded work, by matching chambers’ funding of the first six months’ pupillage to fund the second six.
Securing a future
Due to the legal aid cuts and raft after raft of consultation, Graham Wood observes that social mobility and diversity have not been given the focus they should have. While ‘everything feels very negative’, she notes there are things firms can do.
And while accepting that many are cash-strapped, Murphy’s message to his colleagues is: do them. ‘The only way that legal aid is going to survive is if we invest in the future now.’