Why be a legal aid lawyer?
Being a legal aid lawyer in any area of law is difficult, and because of the challenges we face, the question of why follow this route is one that I am asked a lot when speaking with friends, family, colleagues and other lawyers who practice in other areas of law which are largely funded by individuals or companies. This is probably because they hear so much about the challenges and difficulties, together with the fact the renumeration is not as attractive as some other areas of law.
Previous articles produced by the Legal Aid Committee have set out those challenges and difficulties, which include:
- low hourly rates set and paid for by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)
- overly burdensome legal aid regulations
- reduced availability of legal aid for clients
- complicated billing procedures
Combine the above with complex cases, difficult clients and achieving outcomes which are never really “win” or “lose”, and I can understand why people ask this question.
However, being a legal aid lawyer can be – is – extremely rewarding. You are helping the most vulnerable in society, whether that be children, young people, victims of domestic abuse, clients with mental health and/or addiction difficulties. You are helping protect and safeguard clients, and achieve fair outcomes. It’s important work. When you are faced with a very difficult case, or represent a client where there is an obvious imbalance of power, and you achieve a positive outcome, you know you played a part in that case and helped that person. You should rightly feel proud, important and that you have made a difference.
What is also difficult when you are a manager in a law firm, is trying to convey this message to aspiring or junior solicitors, who are not sure which area of law to qualify into. They see TV programmes, or hear stories on the news of what a stereotypical lawyer should look like and that isn’t a legal aid lawyer!
From my own person experience and training, I do not recall covering any in-depth or meaningful module around family legal aid, especially care proceedings. I only became aware of legal aid and its availability once I obtained employment – prior to that I never knew it existed. It just wasn’t promoted anywhere, and if that’s the case, it is never really going to be on the radar of aspiring lawyers unless they see it for themselves in employment, work experience or their personal lives.
All of that plus the costs of training staff and the lack of support from the government/LAA to help attract individuals into legal aid, make it extremely difficult to recruit. I recall many years ago the LAA offered grants to law firms to help fund young members of staff to qualify into a legal aid position, but that was short-lived and is no longer available, which is a real shame. More should be done to attract future legal aid lawyers, or we will continue on a trajectory where there just aren’t enough of us. The recent legal aid contract bid rounds have again shown a reduction in law firms offering legal aid.
On a positive in my practice, I have found that once individuals start to work within family legal aid, you see quite quickly if it is for them or not, and if it is, you will see that they have the passion, the social conscience and the commitment to helping the most vulnerable in society, and when you see that, you can see they fall in love with that area of law.
However, given the challenges we face, what they then need is support to continue with that path: both financial and practical. This is something which currently the government does not help with. It therefore falls to law firms to bridge that gap, against a backdrop of them struggling to manage and navigate the legal aid system. However, there are many of us who still do it and that is because we are passionate.
The valuable work undertaken by Resolution’s Legal Aid Committee is to try to resolve these difficulties we face, even if at times it is only small steps.
So in answer to the question, why when after reading all of this (which sounds so bleak), would I be a legal aid lawyer? My response would be… why wouldn’t I? Every day, I am in the fortunate position where I can help and reach out to the most vulnerable people in society, and have a meaningful impact on the lives of many families. I really enjoy it, even when the cases are complex and difficult; some of the cases are interesting and most are unique. It’s extremely rewarding. You are facilitating access to justice to those who cannot afford it. You can become a specialist in your field, and ultimately you make a difference. Its hard work, but worth it.
Emma co-chairs Resolution’s Legal Aid Committee