Happy Birthday Legal Aid
We salute Legal Aid on its 65th Birthday.
We salute how it has helped and assisted less fortunate members of the Communities which we serve.
We also salute the many BAME solicitors,barristers,legal executives and paralegals who work in the Legal Aid sector.
Proportionally BAME lawyers form a greater proportion of lawyers involved in Legal Aid than non BAME lawyers.
We bemoan the cuts in Legal Aid which mean that members of the communities we serve are less likely to obtain access to justice
We bemoan the fact that those cuts disproportionally affect BAME lawyers who are more likely to be found working in smaller law firms(More than 50% work in firms of 5 partners or less according to Law Society figures).
The destruction of these firms means that BAME solicitors are less likely to be able to access firms who have a cultural or linguistic understanding of them.
Moreover their destruction means that ultimately the communities we serve will not see themselves represented in the lawyers who represent them or the Judges who dispense Justice. That is a Recipe for social disaster.
We ask The Lord Chancellor to think again before making any further cuts.
Asian Lawyers GB
A group of leading influential Lawyers of Asian background fighting for the rights of the communities we serve and for diversity within the legal professions.
For more information contact
Sundeep Bhatia on 07803727534
Sailesh Mehta on 07958 580768
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