Barrister Belle Turner in a recent article for the times found here explains how she can no longer afford to take on legal aid work.
The article does discuss some rather interesting points for any of us who are considering legally aided based careers such as those of us who want to do Criminal work (Bar or Bust, Rock n Roll Law and myself included)
£5.90 an hour? I am not sure if this is the same for criminal cases as I am currently ignorant of what rates people actually get paid.
But this is more discerning for those of us who want to do legal aid work.
As Simon Myerson QC says on his blog - there may well be a case that legal aided work no longer attracts the best and brightest.
Now I realised that choosing a career in Criminal Law wouldn't be extremely glamorous I am more interested in it because the law interests me more than anything else, its people orientated and sometimes people are innocent and need good representation, but how can anyone want to represent a client for £5.90 an hour? Whilst I didn't expect to be rolling around in Louis Vitton bedsheets, I did expect that I would make a reasonable living after all I have racked up a HUGE amount of debt already and I am still yet to embark on the BVC.
There was a report elsewhere that most barristers would drop legally aided work if the Carter reforms were implemented as it simply would not be worth their while. Of course the LSC would refute this and say that people will always continue to do work.. yes I gather that people would still continue to do the work, but not senior members of the bar who are best equipped to do it, rather junior members trying to pay off their extortionate fees.. moreover if there is such little money going about it really looks like the criminal Bar will dissolve rather sadly.
This is all rather worrying after being told repeatedly by a very senior academic that he is always told that the Criminal Bar is dying and now seeing what this barrister is actually being paid it really does make me think is it all worth it?? I want to be a barrister but do I want to be a barrister THAT badly...
Then again I had a look on the pupillage portal and there are some sets that do purely crime that are offering £15k-30k during pupillage...? What does this mean? I am caught between two conflicting ideas one that says you can have a medicore life but will not be earning shit loads unlike a civil barrister and one that says you will basically be paid less than a cleaner...
Perhaps I'll become a lecturer instead...
5 comments:
It is indeed truly shocking that Barristers at the Criminal Bar are paid such rates for their hard work and enthusiasm; though it has been purpoted to be dying for many a year, it still clings to life, thanks to the dedication of its practitioners, only to have a fresh pair of Dr Maartens Boot Marks applied to its increasingly Bony Derriere by the likes of the Legal Services Commission ( talk about kick a dog when its down, for God's Sake...)
Not too long ago, when the fancy took me,I could cheerfully expect to earn between £70-100 per hour, with double and treble the going rate for bank holidays. This doesnt sound like much, but the shift was at best 7.5 hours and at worst 12, and there was NO taking work home at the end of it. I worked enough to be comfortable, slightly harder for luxuries, and when I didnt want to work I didn't.
Sounds not too dissimilar to the lifestyle desired by many a Barrister - except that this was Nursing in Intensive Care for an Agency.
Makes you think why we bother, sometimes, dont it?!?!?
Lost, it is a very important topic and not just in the context of LSC derived income. It remains one of the mysteries to me why there is no general appreciation of what juniors earn (in all fields, not just criminal) and, moreover, why students do not see this information as being vitally important to their career and study choices. I fear that the current generation of students need to wake themselves up a bit in this regard. Debt is a lot harder, not just to service, but to repay, than many people might think and the merit in taking on huge amounts of debt relative to the prospect of low earnings needs to be considered far more seriously than seems to be the case currently. It seems not at all unusual for people to land themselves with, say, £50K of debt by the end of the BVC only to then find they are in a 1 in 5 lottery for a "job" which is unlikely, in many fields, not to offer a worthwhile earnings level to allow them to live, let alone repay debts, buy properties, start families etc.
Sorry to come across as bleak but I worry for those who seem to approach the whole issue with rose tinted glasses. Righting wrongs, fighting for democracy blah, blah, is all very laudible, but it's hard to do when also having to stave off bankruptcy and starvation into the bargain.
I have been told that I could make up to £60,000 at the criminal Bar after about 5 years call IF i am any good.. I'm not sure how happy other people would be about that.
That is £60,000 after having slaved your assed off and asslicking other barristers and solicitors... doesn't sound that grand when an IT consultant can make about double that amount.
I agree with you Bar Boy it is an important issue to think about. I will take a very conscious decision to see if I want to do the BVC (still awaiting reply from the M.Phil)
I am told that lecturers even at the very bottom level can earn just under £40k with the more respected ones earning about £80k... Depending if I get into my M.PHIL I will hopefully got into academia to secure a foot in the door that way perphaps and then seek pupillage?
Still cannot believe that your son is older than me!
Lost, also be careful when people talk about earnings, and make sure these are defined. In other words, what about the VAT (LSC rates are quoted inclusive, for example) chambers rent and other expenses. What anyone is really interested in is not the turnover but the profit , i.e., the equivalence of a salary rate.
It is easy to hear a figure and assume that is the net figure when people talk about earnings, and especially with lawyers who are not known for their numeracy. This is, of course, what the press take advantage of when they want to report on one of their high earning lawyer scum stories.
The lady who does Pink Tape flagged up some earnings stats recently. These might prove reliable as a guide for more info.
With your generation being the first to hit the real world with shedloads of student debt, it is more important than ever to suss out the earnings prospects. Old farts like me were paid to go to uni and, being careful and with a bit of holiday work, it was perfectly possible for us to graduate debt free. I have every sympathy, and a fair bit of concern, for those today who, in comparision, have got a right bum deal.
Fingers crossed for the MPhil.
Thanks Bar Boy, I will take a look at Pink Tape, of course the alternative is to do no legal aid work at all, but I do think that junior members of the bar probably on the whole struggle and are smacked in the face with the reality that they will not earn shit loads and drive nice fancy cars.
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