PRESIDENT’S LETTER
ACCESS TO THE PROFESSION insights from practising lawyers. In return, our member firms and chambers are able to raise their profile with the legal talent of the future. As a Society, we are keen to help ensure that our profession is open to all those with the necessary skill and ability. That is why we have signed up to the Social Mobility Pledge, an initiative which encourages organisations to be a force for good by making a commitment to social mobility a key part of their focus. In her article, Alice Kinder, member of the Society’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and chair of the Social Mobility Sub-Committee, explores how law remains a profession that is more open to some than to others and the role that one’s socio-economic background can play in this. She outlines some of the initiatives that Birmingham Law Society is working on to address these barriers and ensure our legal community is a place where success relies on ability rather than background.
Around 6,500 newly qualified solicitors are admitted to the roll and nearly 500 barristers complete pupillage each year in England & Wales. Entrance to both branches of the profession remains highly competitive, with more than 60,000 undergraduate students studying law in this jurisdiction at any one time. The future of our profession; how we determine who is permitted to be part of it; what knowledge, skills and attributes those newcomers ought to have; and the means by which they acquire these are matters that will inevitably affect us all, as well as our clients. Therefore, in this month’s edition of the Birmingham Bulletin, we have a particular focus on access to the legal profession. Birmingham Law Society’s Learning and Development Director and Chair of the Education and Training Committee, Catherine Edwards, has provided an update on the latest developments in relation to the Solicitors’ Qualifying Examination (SQE). The SQE is still expected to come into effect from September 2021 and will replace the current requirements for a Qualifying Law Degree, Legal Practice Course and traditional ‘training contract’, with a requirement for a degree in any discipline, successful completion of a 4 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk
series of centralised legal assessments (a significant proportion of which will be multiple choice exams) and two years’ of qualifying work experience, which can be completed with a number of different organisations in voluntary and/or paid roles. Any organisation that recruits new entrants to the profession, whether at trainee level, or newly qualified, will need to be familiar with the implications of these changes and consider how they will affect their recruitment practices. A significant proportion of Birmingham Law Society’s members are undergraduate law students, currently studying in this city, many of whom wish to remain here and work within the legal profession upon graduation. In his article, Paul McConnell, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of the University of Birmingham Law School, explores how law schools help to develop graduates with the skills and attributes sought after by the profession through employability programmes delivered in partnership with employers and discusses the difference that exposure to such opportunities can make to aspiring undergraduates. For its part, Birmingham Law Society works closely with our university members to extend opportunities to their students to network with and gain
Also in this month’s magazine, Jayne Willetts discusses the SRA’s consultation on the future of its compensation fund, which has provided protection for those owed money by solicitors since 1941. The consultation proposes to cut costs by limiting who is able to rely on the fund, a move which could have a detrimental impact on public trust and confidence in the profession. The Birmingham Law Society Consultation Committee will be preparing a response to this consultation ahead of the deadline on 21 April. Please do get in touch with the committee and share your views on the proposals. Finally, I would draw your attention to our ‘practitioner alert’ announcing that the Solicitors’ Indemnity Fund (“SIF”) will close on 30 September 2020. This will potentially expose former principals of firms that closed after 31 August 2000, their estates and even individual employees to personal liability for losses. Firms that undertook conveyancing, wills and trusts and child personal injury are particularly at risk. Further details can be found opposite. Please share this information with former colleagues who no longer have access to the Bulletin, as they may need to take action to ensure they are protected. Linden
Birmingham Law Society is proud to work in partnership with our sponsors:
