legal profession

• Sticking your head in the sand doesn't stop the tide coming in
  Posted on June 8, 2012 by Louise Restell
  Consumers, it seems, still don’t trust lawyers. In fact, depressingly, while consumer satisfaction with the value for money of legal services has risen over the past year, trust in the profession has actually fallen. The 47% it started at wasn’t exactly remarkable, but it’s now only 43%. That may be more than for some professions, notably journalists, politicians and bankers, but it’s way behind doctors (80%) and teachers (68%).
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  Posted in: Legal services
  Tagged: barristers, consumers, legal profession, legal services consumer panel, legal services market, solicitors
• You get what you pay for: the SRA and the minimum salary
  Posted on May 9, 2012 by Louise Restell
  This week, it appears, I am regulator bashing. It’s not much of a sport as it’s so easy to do, but hey, we all have to get our kicks somewhere. Yesterday I was rather disparaging about the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) website for consumers. Today I am taking them to task over their ‘consultation’ on whether to scrap the minimum salary for trainee solicitors.
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  Posted in: Employment law
  Tagged: diversity, law graduates, law students, legal profession, LETR, minimum salary, social mobility, SRA, training contracts
• When is a job not a job? When it's 'work experience'
  Posted on February 27, 2012 by Louise Restell
  I could have been a lawyer. I don’t mean in the way that anyone could, in theory, become a lawyer if they wanted to. I mean because I went to Oxbridge and I came from a family who could afford to support me through some unpaid internships or work experience to help me get a foot in the door. In fact, I did attend one milk-round event to find out how to become a human rights lawyer. Who knows what would have happened if it hadn’t been Linklaters?
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  Posted in: Employment law
  Tagged: Alan Milburn, Fair Access to the Professions, internships, jobs, legal profession, Nick Clegg, social mobility, Tesco, training contract, work experience, workfare
• All lawyers should be made equal, but some are clearly more equal than others.
  Posted on August 31, 2011 by Louise Restell
  When I was at school I very distinctly remember being told that ‘the world was my oyster’ and I could be whatever and whoever I wanted to be. I imagine that similar messages intended to inspire young women are given out today – I will certainly be encouraging my daughter to reach for the stars (not necessarily literally). What they didn’t tell me, as possibilities raced through my mind, was that I could do whatever I wanted, but I shouldn’t expect to get paid as much as a man.
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  Posted in: Legal services
  Tagged: BME lawyers, diversity, equal pay, equality, law firms, law society, legal profession, Legal Services Board, women