Legal aid to become preserve of rich?
updated on 28 January 2011
The Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) has expressed concern that the proposed cuts to legal aid will make a career as a legal aid lawyer a viable option only for those with the financial backing to support themselves. The JLD warned that the cuts will severely affect entry to the profession for low-income students, create job instability and losses, and hinder social mobility.
JLD executive chair and legal aid specialist Camilla Graham-Wood said: "Faced with such levels of debt, those from low-income families find it far harder to forge a career in legal aid and social mobility in the sector is poor. They cannot afford to become legal aid lawyers and the legal aid profession is becoming less and less representative of the people it serves; those without means. The legal aid system needs to be sustainable and we need to ensure that the profession has passionate and diverse young lawyers entering the sector. Either the grant scheme should be brought back or an alternative found."
This is another blow to the legal profession's reputation for diversity, given the recent reports of its increasing elitism (see "Working-class accents bad news for legal wannabes" and "Legal profession favours the privileged").