Recent events have highlighted the importance, and seeming fragility, of legal aid work. From firms being the target of racist attacks to the possibility of 24-hour courts, it seems inevitable that legal aid’s very existence is under threat.

At Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL), we continue to witness the erosion of sustainability of a career in the sector. We see our colleagues leave legal aid, and the diminishing of interest from prospective candidates who cannot fathom how they can build a future career in it. Yet legal aid lawyers stand up daily to do their jobs and uphold the rule of law. There are, of course, headline-grabbing cases, but every day, up and down the country, legal aid lawyers help hundreds of asylum-seekers, people at risk of homelessness or human rights violations, and those facing criminal charges. Despite what the rioters were wilfully blind to, legal aid lawyers would represent them if they were eligible, because it is their job and they believe in it and in the rule of law.

We attended the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards in July 2024. The joy, pride and solidarity shared in that room is often overshadowed by the difficulties in the sector. It is this persistence in holding the government to account, the unwavering demand that our peers and colleagues deserve better, and, most importantly, the steadfastness in how we fight for our clients, this is, to YLAL, the cornerstone of legal aid and why we believe that there is so much to fight for.

Although it seems that legal aid will bend (often beyond belief) instead of break, its importance and relevance to society means that YLAL continues to advocate for better conditions in the sector. In the past, we have joined calls for additional funding for criminal legal aid, and continue to advocate for more sustainable levels of funding and investment. Post election, we have relaunched our Take Your MP to Work campaign, inviting MPs to see for themselves the realities of working in the legal aid system. YLAL believes that any proposed solutions should be sustainable, long-term and stand a real chance of moving the dial.

It is with this outlook that we do not, and will not, allow superficial solutions to continue acting as the red herring that they are. For example, the proposed solution of the Additional Courts Protocol in recent weeks to handle the surge of criminal cases may, on the surface, seem viable. However, it is merely a sticking plaster and distracts from the parlous state of the criminal justice system. That system is unable to handle this flood of cases because it is already stretched beyond capacity.

In this overstretched system, recruitment into the sector is a way forward to ensure that existing lawyers are not stretched further and no cases are unjustly delayed by the lack of representation.

On 30 July 2024, the Law Society released its minimum salaries for trainee solicitors and Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) candidates: £27,418 in London and £24,320 outside the capital. With many paralegals and legal assistants undertaking qualifying work experience as part of the SQE route, YLAL believes that no person should be doing this for less than the minimum salary as set by the Law Society.

A career in legal aid comes with enough challenges without the added financial concerns of making rent and bills. The difficulty of making ends meet with little to no financial security has been proven to have a detrimental impact on mental health and well-being. In the short term, it has a chilling effect on the entry of young lawyers to the profession; in the long term, it reinforces the impact on social mobility and diversity.

There are numerous grants and funding opportunities that aim to ameliorate this. YLAL is proud to be assisting where possible to continue to address the challenges through the Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund. This tackles one of the significant barriers that aspiring social welfare lawyers face: the cost of qualification. Although it currently does not extend to salaries, we believe that it is a key first step in ensuring a continuation of young legal aid lawyers into the sector.

While there is so much to still fight for, YLAL will consistently remind its members and the sector that the longevity of legal aid lies in the investment, support and care for all practitioners. Just as the way has been paved for this cohort of young legal aid lawyers, we continue to fight for better conditions for those of the future.