This is YLAL’s response to the Civil Justice Council (‘CJC’) Rapid Consultation.
The CJC launched its consultation on 1 May 2020, against the backdrop of significant adaptations to the justice system and the format justice is delivered, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the statements from the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor that jury trials in some courts will resume as early as the 18 May, YLAL calls for the Ministry of Justice to guarantee that the safety of our members and other court users will not be put at compromised when jury trials resume.
Young Legal Aid Lawyers provided a briefing on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis upon junior legal aid lawyers.
The Justice Select Committee heard evidence from the Ministry of Justice and legal professionals on the impact of the pandemic upon lawyers, their clients, and the Court System on Monday 4 May 2020.
You can read live tweets of the hearing: Tweets by CommonsJustice
On Wednesday 22 April 2020, YLAL hosted its second remote meeting, 'Remote justice and our clients: the view from YLAL North'.
We were delighted to be joined by four expert speakers and members of YLAL North: Alice Stevens (Broudie Jackson Canter), Elizabeth Ridley (Irwin Mitchell), Yara Ali-Adib (Broudie Jackson Canter) and Hannah Costley (Burton Copeland).
The meeting was expertly chaired by Rebecca Kingi, YLAL committee member and New Zealand-qualified solicitor at ATLEU.
You can watch the meeting here:
On Wednesday 8 April 2020, YLAL hosted its first virtual meeting, 'Human rights and access to justice during COVID-19'. We were joined by four expert speakers: Steve Broach (39 Essex Chambers), Steven Galliver-Andrew (Legal Sector Workers United), Jo Hynes (Public Law Project) and Bella Sankey (Detention Action).
YLAL is 15 years old today!
COVID-19 means that our party plans are on hold, however, we would still like to celebrate 15 years of fighting for legal aid and access to justice!
Please post your #YLALMemories on Twitter! Photos, anecdotes and any other YLAL-related memories are all welcome!
We attach the minutes from our very first meeting. Hopefully we have gone above and beyond the original aims!
Yours,
YLAL Committee
On 7 April 2020, Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL) published an important report on the impact of COVID-19 on its members’ professional lives. The report analyses survey data collected from more than 300 YLAL members between 26 March- 03 April 2020.
On 10 February 2020, YLAL Midlands hosted an event on the challenges of working in the legal sector, with a focus on mental health and general wellbeing.
Our event began with contributions from the panel. This was chaired by YLAL Midlands and national committee member Malvika Jaganmohan, who has been vocal on Twitter about her own mental health struggles. She outlined the tension between having a frank discussion about mental health and also pursuing a career as a young legal aid lawyer.
On 19th Feb 2020 YLAL Liverpool met in a cosy library at The Quaker Meeting house lit by fairy lights to discuss wellbreing and self care for those working in the sector.
Siobhan Taylor-Ward opened the meeting by giving some information about the resources available to lawyers, findings of the Social Mobility survey and JLD's wellbeing survey and also a bit about her experiences and how she has managed stress and pressure in the workplace.
On 16 February 2020, YLAL responded to the Solicitors Regulation Authority's Survey about the Solicitors Qualifying Exam ('SQE').
SQE will be the new way for people to qualify as solicitors. It will be in place from 2021.
YLAL has been engaging throughout the SRA's Training for Tomorrow project. You can view all of YLAL's previous responses about SQE.
