The Law, Worker Exploitation and What is to be Done by Oscar Davison

There are few careers looked upon with as much prestige as the career of a lawyer. Whether you work as a solicitor or a barrister, the ‘I am a lawyer’ badge carries significant weight and has for centuries. This regard is understandable. Lawyers often see themselves as the ones truly making a difference in the world, the ones fighting the good fight, helping those in need, no matter what it takes. As lawyers, we are, of course, greatly rewarded for these efforts. Unfortunately, however, the badge of honour is shrinking. Creeping out behind this badge is the harsh reality of the legal world: worker exploitation.

It is not uncommon to hear stories from solicitors about how they sometimes work 80 hours a week for months on one case or, more commonly, that they work without breaks to meet deadlines. Law differs from many other industries in that these remarks are not met with shock but adoration. The reactions to these stories is just as dismaying as the original story itself. Many are immensely impressed by the lawyer’s dedication to their work. Others justify such practices with the squillions of dollars that lawyers make. Another lawyer will ‘one-up’ the first with a horrific story of their own. However, these comments are not ones to be impressed with; they are some of the many ways legal workers are exploited in their working life. There is a perception that all lawyers are cashed up due to television programs like Suits. This perception is rarely true, especially for junior solicitors. Lawyers are expensive; however, like most industries, most of the money is not in workers’ hands. While clients pay enormous amounts for legal representation and advice, a fraction of this money is paid to the person doing a lot of the work. Junior solicitors and paralegals often complete complex legal work and menial administrative work. In contrast, the partners and senior solicitors who delegate the work reap many of the rewards that align most with the perception created by popular media.

There is also an attitude amongst the profession that this exploitation is a right of passage. If junior lawyers put in their 80-hour work weeks and show some dedication to the firm, masquerading as family, they will eventually be promoted to the role of oppressor and delegate work to their own junior solicitors while reaping the rewards themselves. The dream of stepping into the role of oppressor and making money is often not actualised. However, many junior lawyers burn out and leave the legal profession before they get the opportunity to place 15 hours of work on a junior’s desk, and demanding it is finished by close of business. This is not a cycle that can, or should, continue. So that’s the problem, but what is the solution?

A legal industry union, according to professionals in New Zealand. A group of young lawyers across the Tasman have recently taken a stand against the workplace exploitations that are commonplace in the legal industry. The group established the Aotearoa Legal Workers Union (‘ALWU’) after a sexual harassment scandal at a top law firm rocked the New Zealand legal industry. Female clerks at the firm were harassed by male partners so severely that an internal investigation was launched. While the sexual harassment scandal was the catalyst for ALWU to begin, it was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. As stated by ALWU president Hayley Coles, ‘There’s generally an awareness growing worldwide in the legal sector around bullying, harassment and conditions of junior lawyers and lawyers in general.’ The exploitation and harassment suffered by junior solicitors and other legal workers are a known unknown. Fortunately, those outside the industry are becoming more aware. ALWU has started to combat some of the injustice’s legal workers face, demanding fair compensation for work. They note that “work can come in on an urgent basis, and therefore junior lawyers have to stay behind and carry it out, there are, nevertheless, solutions to having people stay behind into the night.” likely to become burnt out and leave the industry before that happens. Many of us enrolled at law school because we want to make the world a better place. But it is hard to see how we shall change the world, and harder to see how we can be trusted to change the world, whilst our own house is a mess. The way the legal industry treats its most valuable asset, its people, needs to change. While I believe that change will come, it is not coming fast enough. The ultimate success would be to not have a legal workers’ union at all; however, it may be the only way to stop the cycle of exploitation in this industry.

SOURCES ELEANOR AINGE ROY, ‘NEW ZEALAND LEGAL PROFESSION SHOCKED BY SEXUAL HARASS- MENT SCANDAL’ (WEBPAGE, 16 FEBRUARY 2018) THE GUARDIAN <HTTPS://WWW. THEGUARDIAN.COM/WORLD/2018/FEB/16/ NEW-ZEALAND-LEGAL-PROFESSION-RUS- SELL-MCVEAGH-SEXUAL-HARASSMENT-SCAN- DAL>