The legal scene
person.” It is now for thegovernment todecide whether itwill act topreserveaccess to justice and theconcept of equalitybefore the law, or whether itwill continue to leave the justice system “on thebrinkof collapse”. Brexit As of 1 January 2021, several changes came into effect impacting solicitors in England and Wales with clients in the EU. According to the Law Society, they are “now subject to 31 different regulatory regimes, one for reach jurisdiction”. With freedom of movement terminated in the EU, new rules have been introduced to control how solicitors can cross the border to each EU member state, EEA countries and Switzerland. Those interested in working in the law should be engaged with Brexit and its impact over the months and years ahead. This will involve analysing its ongoing effect on the business and legal worlds, and more specifically understanding the aspects that could affect your shortlisted firms and their clients. Diversity in the profession Looking inwards, the legal profession isstill nowherenear asdiverseor asaccessibleas it shouldbe, although important progresshasbeen (and isbeing)made insomeareas. Ethnicity Of solicitors andpartners inEngland andWales, around21%and22%, respectively, are froman ethnicminority background, according to the SRA’s latest statistics. At firmswith 50ormore partners, only 8%are froman ethnicminority background. Meanwhile, at theBar just under 14%of practising barristers andonly 9%of QueensCounsel (QC) are fromethnicminority backgrounds, according to theBar Standards Board (BSB), with ethnicminority candidates making uponly 23%of pupils.
met in resolvingadispute”.Whilecovid-19has worsened theexistingproblem, at theheart of the access to justice issue is funding. Inearly2020 thegovernment proposed to inject anextra£32 to£50million intocriminal legal aid funding, but theLawSociety stated that thiswouldnot be enough toalleviate thecurrent threat to “the very existenceof criminal defencepractitioners”. TheLawSociety reporteddata fromHer Majesty’sCourt andTribunal Service (HMCTS) that indicates thebacklogof cases incriminal courts increasedby27%from446,460 to 568,678at theendof July2020, and those in family courts rose20%to65,429. TheHouse of Lords constitutioncommitteealso found that theall-timehigh in thecurrent backlogof crown court cases is likely tohaveadisproportionate impact onchildrenandyoungpeople fromethnic minoritybackgrounds. In the last quarter of 2020, 18%of cases hadbeenoutstanding formore thana year – up6%on2019, according todata fromtheMinistryof Justice. In response to the backlog, 10Nightingalecourtswereopened, with government plans tobuild 14newNightingale courts recently revealed to tackleoutstanding court cases causedby thepandemic. Meanwhile, inDecember 2020 itwas revealed that university studentswere set toplay an important role inproviding free legal aidas law schools forecast a rise indemand for probono support, followingunmet needand theongoing impact of legal aidcuts. Several student-run advicecentres haveopened inaneffort to fill thegap, with those involvedbeingpraised for their efforts. Despite legal technologydevelopment, there are still issues that remain tobe resolved. In its Lawunder lockdown report, theLawSociety of EnglandandWales said: “Governmentmust maintainaccess to legal adviceandcourts during emergencies, socitizens areable tochallenge exceptional measures. Butmany havebeen unable toaccess legal advice, despiteefforts to set up technology to replaceprohibited visits in
Research by theBSB relating to students enrolledon theBPTC (the old vocational stage
16
THE LAWCAREERS.NET HANDBOOK
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online