.
What do young people want from their lawyers?
Joe Lee-Dowd, a young campaigner working with JustRights, explains how this group is being failed by the existing system and what changes they want to see
Youth Access and JustRights consulted with hundreds of young people across England last year while developing a youth manifesto on rights and advice services.
The need for free legal advice and representation was made perfectly clear. Young people didn’t care how it was funded – as long as it was there and accessible to them. When legal aid cuts were explained, young people tended to become genuinely angry.
Young people’s previous experiences with solicitors were largely negative.
‘Those who had had contact with solicitors who specialised in working with young people reported much more positive experiences.’
Frequent complaints revolved around the way solicitors interacted with their young clients. Young people often felt as if they were being spoken down to or not being taken as seriously because of their age.
Those who had had contact with solicitors who specialised in working with young people reported much more positive experiences. Young people claim that a general ethic of care, concern and understanding of the needs of young people are far more apparent with such solicitors, on both a practical and an emotional basis.
Young people’s priorities for change
•We need to have free access to lawyers who specialise in working with young people.
•We need to be able to see these lawyers in places where we feel comfortable and can get the other support we need, for example, in youth advice centres.
•The legal support we need must be properly funded. The government must ask us what we think before making any more changes to legal aid that affect us.
•All lawyers who ever come into contact with young people should be trained in how to talk to us and listen to us.