Navigating the Legal Ladder: Examining the Factors Affecting Social Mobility in the UK Legal Profession

Nov 30, 2023

Written By Megan Hornsby

Social mobility is the ability of individuals to progress in their legal careers irrespective of their socio-economic background. The legal profession has struggled with elitism and lack of diversity for hundreds of years, despite the changing dynamics of the global commercial sector. The age-old question for law firms is finally being addressed: How can we best advise culturally diverse clients when we ourselves are not diverse?

Barriers to social mobility in the legal sector

Barriers to the legal sector can be categorised into two main areas: educational and socio-economic.

Educational

The legal profession is often categorised as one that only individuals of high intellect and eloquent speech can enter. The biased view (unconscious and conscious) that only graduates from certain universities or types of schools are good enough to enter law has helped create the image of elitism in the profession.

Underfunded and overcrowded schools, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas, struggle to provide students with the same level of education compared to their private school peers. Students at underfunded schools often do not have access to extracurricular activities such as mooting, critical thinking, and advocacy sessions. The importance of these skills in the legal profession is paramount, and the lack of access at the earlier stage will always put these students at a disadvantage.

Socio-economic

The famous saying of “Who you know, not what you know” is pretty applicable to the legal profession.

Seeking work experience is a lot easier when you know people who work in the industry, who can get you an internship, a shadowing week, or even just a conversation about what law is like. Without having access to these legal networks, students from disadvantaged backgrounds will continue to be behind in the early stages of their career.

In addition, financial barriers are particularly pronounced, as pursuing a legal career often involves substantial educational costs. The route to becoming a lawyer is very expensive, when you take into consideration a university degree, preparing for the SQE and taking the exams. Many work experiences do not offer a salary, support for travel or other expenses, leaving opportunities restricted to those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

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Impact of social mobility on career progression

A diverse workforce reflects a commitment to driving equality in the workplace but also an understanding and enhancement of the law firm’s adaptability to the changing legal landscape.

In leadership, representation matters. How do you know you can reach a certain leadership level or enter a field if no one who looked like you or had the same background has before?

Questions around maternity leave, adoption leave, or working during religious holidays were never raised when individuals for whom these aspects did not impact were the only ones leading the firms. Social mobility at the leadership level is a key driver of adapting the workplace environment to recruit and retain top talent across all backgrounds.

The diversity of thought and working practice greatly enables law firms to adapt to their client needs. Law firms that understand the nuances of different backgrounds will always be more successful, especially when working on cross-border transactions.

Current initiatives promoting social mobility

Law firms are increasingly investing time and resources in promoting social mobility internally and through their recruitment processes. When researching law firms, you may note that their diversity and inclusivity initiatives include references to affinity groups, which raise awareness of the difficulties faced by individuals from different backgrounds.

With regards to the hiring process, Rare’s contextual recruitment is used to review the academic background of candidates while taking the environment they grew up in into consideration. Mentoring schemes have also gained popularity, with law firms linking with specific universities or outreach programmes to provide one-to-one coaching to aspiring solicitors and barristers. Covington and Burlington LLP now offer mentoring schemes, giving aspiring solicitors access to mentoring from top professionals.

Strategies for overcoming social mobility barriers

Specific open days for different background groups have also gained popularity. Firms such as Linklaters now offer open days for black lawyers in addition to their general open days.

External organisations also now play a pivotal role in improving social mobility within the profession. Aspiring Solicitors (AS) is now a leader within this space, providing work experience weeks and mentoring for individuals from diverse backgrounds.

The benefit of external organisations like AS is the expertise they bring to law firms and in-house legal teams, that may not have the capacity to review and implement social mobility schemes and hiring practices.

Looking ahead: shaping a more socially mobile legal profession

Efforts have also been made to improve barriers to legal education. The requirement of legal education has often been a stumbling block for aspiring solicitors, due to the expense, lack of flexibility, and increasingly competitive spaces for law firm training contracts.The implementation of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) was in response to the lack of flexibility for individuals without the private funding available to achieve qualification.

The movement of larger city law firms to open apprenticeship routes to qualification is also a welcome change, allowing people to enter the profession without attending university.

Conclusion

Social mobility is multifaceted, with individuals facing a range of socio-economic challenges to joining the legal industry. Addressing the barriers to entry for prospective solicitors is crucial for creating a more inclusive legal profession and a better-equipped industry for the ever-changing legal landscape. Law firms, legal professionals, and educational institutions must all work together to address these barriers, to create a more equitable profession.

Diversity