NEED FOR UNPAID EXPERIENCE LOCKING POORER GRADUATES OUT OF THE PROFESSION
Britain’s top female judge has warned that the growth of unpaid internships is a “grim” and “very gloomy” trend that is undermining efforts to improve diversity in the legal profession – and questioned why the number of law schools is growing while the number of jobs is declining. This supports the stories from many of Graduate Fog’s users who are finding it extremely tough to get their career in law started – having spent tens of thousands of pounds on gaining their degree – and other industry insiders who have warned previously that legal degrees are a £60,000 con for many.
In a speech in London, Baroness Hale, the deputy president of the Supreme Court, said the latest figures revealed a “startling leap” in the proportion of privately and Oxbridge educated lawyers. She said she was concerned that the “precipitous decline” in legal aid funding caused by Government cuts was forcing “diverse and socially mobile lawyers” from the profession as the “combination of a high-cost education and a low-paid career” became “more and more” of a deterrent. Lady Hale said:
“One of the causes of this, apart from all the networks that their parents have, is the prevalence of work experience and internships in today’s recruitment criteria.
“Diverse candidates find it much harder to get these, partly because they don’t have the contacts and partly because they can’t afford to work without pay for any length of time. All of this bothers me hugely.”
The Yorkshire-born and state-educated judge, who remains the only woman on the Supreme Court bench, added that what was happening “was the opposite of everything that many people of my generation hoped for” and came as a blow after previously successful efforts to widen access to the legal profession.
Her comments came at the launch of a report on social mobility and diversity by the Young Legal Aid Lawyers group, warning that a “proliferation of unpaid work experience” is creating a “barrier” to social mobility.
Lady Hale also she was disturbed by the “greatly increased” number of law schools, law graduates and young people qualifying as barristers and solicitors at a time when the number of jobs was going down. She asked:
“What is the point of all our outreach work with schools.. and similar initiatives by the professions.. if we tempt more and more young people to aspire to a legal career that most of them can never have?”
Lady Hale also repeated her call for greater female representation in the highest ranks of the judiciary, saying that it would stifle the “casual sexism and racism” still afflicting the bench.
*ARE YOU FINDING IT TOUGH TO BREAK INTO LAW?
What do you think of Lady Hale’s comments – do you agree that there are problems with the entry pathway into this profession? If you’re trying to become a lawyer, how are you getting on? Have you worked unpaid – or have you had to pass up vital opportunities because you couldn’t afford to work for free?
I remember hearing Brenda Hale talk when I was at a RG uni studying law.
You could count the number of students from non-selective state schools there on one hand. Or at least it felt like it. My point being the elitism starts much earlier than when students are looking at internships. I remember one seminar when a black boy asked what “crossing the Rubicon” meant in a judgment and was treated to a lament that they don’t teach Latin/Classics in schools any more!
I would like to see some regulation of GDL/LPC courses or even the number of LLB courses. Too many are happy to take the money of students when there are simply not enough jobs at the end of the course. People are being set up to fail.
Everyday I wake up wondering what the world is going to look like in ten years time.What annoys me the most is that I know why this is happening and who is doing it. But no matter what I do I can’t stop it from happening.
We live in a system where the reserve banks print money out of thin air causing every person to work harder and take on more debt in order to keep up with inflation. This is the major factor causing unemployment for graduates.To make matters worst employers are outsourcing and automating jobs on top of the over supply of graduates with massive student loans.
I am starting to realise it is mordern day corporate slavery and does not matter if you limit the amount enrollments for a course. The result will be the same “The UK will Collapse” Let be clear Japan, America, and the UK currencies are going to collapse to carve a way for the New World Order:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO24XmP1c5E
If I were you guys I would forget about applying for jobs and start a small business to support yourself. It is clear that getting a graduate job is almost impossible and you will need to create your own job during these rough economic times. Also, I suggest you guys to start stocking up on food to prepare for your UK dollar collapse.
@Chris Wells – we can probably get you a tin foil helmet so “the man” can’t read your brainwaves!!
@Barry – lol straping tin foil around my head is not going to solve your country’s problems. You see barry I do not live in fantasy land like the majority of people do.
I simply look at the numbers and tell the people the truth. For example, Uk’s Debt to GDP ratio is 90.7% and its unemployment rate is 7.7% (this figure does not include unpaid interns).In other words, your country has spent money irresponbly for a lifestyle it did not earn.
Do you wonder why UKs interest rate is so low at 0.5%? If your reserve bank of england chose to rise interest rates to 3 – 4% it will raise governments interest on the debt. When the governments total tax revenues cannot cover the interest on the debt. It is game over and your country will default.
So if we know this what can we do about it? Well you guys have only three choices: (1)Choose to live in fantasy land and pretend that your government is going to look after you, (2) Wake up and move to another country with a low debt to gdp and unemployment rate such as Australia, (3)Choose to stay in United Kingdom where you can’t even get a job and struggle to survive while watching your country go into a great depression. It is as simple as that