Junior Lawyers' Division: View from the Chair
updated on 04 March 2008
Kat Gibson is a two-years' qualified employment solicitor working in-house at Nortel. She is also the new body's chair and was heavily involved with the TSG. As such, she is uniquely placed to tell us about where the body has come from and where it's headed.
A meeting of minds
Kat explains the background to the amalgamation of the two groups: "The first time it was mooted was in 2005 when the TSG and the YSG sat down together and did an internal audit, looking at what we did, what we were trying to do and what resources we had. On paper, the exercise proved that we really weren't that different at all - the main difference was the practice levels of those we represented. The TSG covered everyone from student members of the Law Society up to newly qualified solicitors (NQs), while the YSG was from NQ up to 10 years' post-qualification experience (PQE). Even bearing in mind that we had two distinct memberships, we wanted to avoid unnecessary duplication."
Having arrived at that realisation, the ball really got rolling when the Law Society conducted its 'Have Your Say' consultation, which was a vast, practice-wide survey looking at all kinds of issues. Part of what it established was that both the TSG and YSG were very well regarded and perceived as valuable. Kat continues: "We then met with the Law Society to discuss the 'recognised group' scenario as a working model for the new body. Recognised groups are separate from the Law Society - they're independent, limited companies - but all funding comes from the Law Society." More consulting went on, taking into account the views of the existing and subsequent TSG and YSG executives, the national committees and the entirety of the memberships. Kat says: "The majority of the feedback was that linking up was a good idea, particularly in terms of saving money and having the resources of the Law Society behind us, provided the level of representation didn't suffer."
Over two years on from the original discussion and the JLD finally exists. The time it took to arrive reflects, says Kat, "the fact that we took the consultation process very seriously". The new body represents LPC and GDL students who are enrolled as Law Society student members, people looking for training contracts, paralegals, NQs and solicitors up to five years' PQE.
Think global, act local
Over the past month or so, Kat has had the enviable task of trekking around the country and attending a variety of launch parties to celebrate the birth of the JLD. She says: "We've been trying to visit every region and spread the word. We want to show people that we've landed! And the events have been extremely well attended. In Leeds we had around 300 local junior lawyers, around 280 in Manchester, and around 250 in Birmingham. We've also been in Cardiff and Bristol. The London event has yet to happen, but we have a guest list of over 400. All the feedback has been very positive. We want everyone to know about us - we're here to stay!"
In addition to hosting glitzy parties, the JLD has a regional presence in the way of local groups. Although they very much have their own remit, as Kat explains: "The local JLD groups are not run by the national JLD. Rather, they're independent bodies that are affiliated with and feed into the national body. We don't give them any funding but we do offer support and assistance. Most run their own ball, drinks evenings and careers advice events. And there are lots of new groups this year, including in Hull, North Hampshire, Worcestershire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country."
Kat notes the following: "The old TSG and YSG groups still exist, and feed into the national JLD in the same way as they did the national TSG and YSG. Therefore, the group local to you may well still be branded a TSG or YSG - but all details of groups to join are available through the JLD website."
Help me!
One of the most important services offered by the new body is the JLD Helpline (phone 08000 856 131). Continuing the good work done by the TSG, the confidential freephone advisory and referral system is manned by volunteers, who are usually trainees, NQs or qualified solicitors. It provides much needed and valuable support to JLD members on a variety of issues including finding a training contract, debt, stress and problems in the workplace. The volunteers apply every year and, once selected, are sent on a training weekend and are given further training updates when necessary. They are also given Samaritans and LawCare training, so they're well placed to listen, and provide advice and support.
Kat explains in more detail what the helpline is all about: "Our most recent figures, from March 2004 to March 2005, show that we received 2,241 calls in that year. That will definitely have gone up each year since then. We take calls from 9:00am to 9:00pm every week day, dealing with any kind of problem. So that might be about how to qualify, where to look for a training contract or how to write a CV. You also get people who are being bullied at work or not receiving adequate training, and more general employment issues. Then there are the stress level and work/life balance calls. It's extremely well used and is very much part of our raison d'être. Nothing else out there does quite the same thing."
Big issues
Another important part of the JLD's job is to highlight issues of concern to its constituency and campaign on their behalf. Kat explains that there are three main issues to focus on this year.
Money matters
Never far from the student or junior lawyer's mind is the issue of pecuniary difficulty. The JLD monitors all debt-related issues, but Kat details a particular area of concern: "We're looking at whether LPC providers are charging a fair amount, or whether there is some 'gold-plating' going on, by which I mean providing non-essential extra course topics to bulk out the LPC. This can create a two-tier system, whereby a course that has been gold-plated looks better than a standard course, even though they’re not really any different. At the JLD we can't change the world, but we do plan to identify what the issue here is, how it affects people, and then look to publish information on the providers so people can make their own decisions about who to go with."
Wibble, wobble
Next, the JLD has identified a particular phenomenon among the younger section of the profession and coined a phrase with which to describe it - the 'two-year wobble'! Kat describes what this means and why it's an important wobble to address: "Based on anecdotal evidence, after two years of being qualified, there seem to be a lot of people either changing jobs or leaving the profession altogether. Up until then, people have been working their entire academic careers to reach one point - qualification - but actually arriving there can be a bit of an anti-climax. You've not got any short-term goals anymore. Plus you're also now a junior lawyer in a department and there's nobody looking after you in the same way. There’s also a culture in this profession whereby you're not told if you're doing well or how valuable to the firm you are. Plus junior lawyers are usually working lots of hours and are under lots of stress. But it's hard to speak out."
All of this can leave young lawyers very wobbly, says Kat: "There are no complete publicised figures on this, so we're going to do the research to find out if it's a real issue and, if so, why it exists. From that, we want to extrapolate out how it can be counteracted. And if a culture change is required, we'll shout about it! Firms should be worried about the retention of their junior lawyers - I know we're partisan, but it's important for all the profession to ensure that we are happy, productive and motivated."
Who supervises the supervisors?
Big issue number three is the quality of the actual training or mentoring that a trainee receives throughout his/her two-year contract. Kat tells us a bit about how this can affect trainees: "Last year the Solicitors Regulation Authority made some proposals for the reform of supervision, which were based on the premise that there are two types of firm - those that train in-house and those that don't. They also proposed removing the trainee supervisor in some places. We opposed these suggestions and the process has halted, and things are being reassessed. We think that the supervisor is the most important person in the whole training process, other than the trainee of course! So poor training can seriously affect the trainee at the point of qualification. They may not know what they're doing or be very demotivated - possibly even unable to do their job properly. We think all trainees should be trained only by those who themselves have been trained specifically as trainers. We want to see real valuable Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for supervisors, so that the profession gets people who are sufficiently trained right from day one. We may even think about running our own CPD training on this."
Moving forward
So things are only just getting started for the JLD and, as you can see, there's lots on the agenda. But Kat says there's so much more they want to do: "We've got loads of ideas about other things we could be doing to help, but rather than doing what we think is needed, we want to do the research to find out exactly what's missing and what people consider to be valuable. For example, do they want training events, social events, mentoring opportunities, conferences, international links, exchange programmes or CPD courses? So that's what we've got planned for the final part of this year - finding out what our members want so we can put it in place next year.'
More specifically, the JLD is keen to hear from university students: "We want to engage with them more. It can be hard to find out what their issues are because the membership is so fluid. We'd love to know what their gripes are and what's going on in their lives, and how they see themselves fitting into the Law Society. Basically, how can we help?" She says the best way to let them know what you're thinking or worrying about is through the website (www.juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk) or by ringing the helpline.
So it's full steam ahead for this fledgling organisation. Kat wants to capitalise on the work started by the TSG and YSG, but really make the JLD the single voice of all aspiring and junior lawyers in England and Wales. With all it has to offer and the commitment to its members, we predict great things.
