Class and Costs Obstructing Underprivileged Solicitors

Tue, 02 Mar 2010

A new report published by the Young Legal Aid Lawyers organisation has criticised the lack of social mobility in the legal sector, which it says has reached critical levels. The Lost Generation and Legal Aid Lawyers report claims that the cost of training to work in the legal aid profession is prohibitive, meaning many people from less privileged backgrounds find it difficult to gain the qualifications and experience required to work in the legal aid sector.

The legal services industry is not renowned for its diversity, though leading law firms are beginning to introduce changes to accommodate female lawyers and solicitors, while barristers are perceived as being almost exclusively middle class. Sara Lomri, a solicitor at legal firm Bindmands and committee member of Young Legal Aid Lawyers, claims that the governments efforts to promote social mobility has yet to reach the legal industry, and believes that it could have a damaging effect on the future of legal aid.

Legal aid is designed to provide those who cannot afford the legal costs of expensive solicitors with free legal advice, but the quality of advice offered and the feasibility of the legal aid industry as a career are both decreasing.
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.