Society denies criminal legal aid link to trainee court plans

Moves to allow trainee solicitors to appear in court after just three months of their two year traineeship are not a response to the growing shortage of criminal legal aid solicitors, the Law Society of Scotland stated last night.

The Society was responding to a press report that the proposals, announced last February as part of a review of the regulations governing admission as a solicitor, are an attempt to make up the shortfall of new entrants to the criminal defence sector of the profession, which has been severely squeezed due to legal aid cutbacks. Defence lawyers have expressed their concern that people accused of crimes could find themselves represented by unqualified individuals lacking the necessary skills.

For many years the admission regulations have allowed trainee solicitors to be admitted after 12 months of their contract, after which they hold a restricted practising certificate and can appear in many matters in the criminal and civil courts. The Society has been working on the possibility of moving this date to an earlier point, subject to safeguards including a requirement for a minimum of 20 hours' sitting-in in court and to undertake an advocacy course designed by a retired sheriff along with civil and criminal court solicitors. The trainee's supervising solicitor will still have to confirm that the trainee is a fit and proper person to be admitted, and new guidance will outline exactly what a trainee solicitor can and cannot do in court. 

The Society said the fundamental reason it was looking at reform "is that we have been consistently informed by the profession and the Sheriffs’ Association that the quality of trainee advocacy has increased since reforms to the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice in 2011". It continued: "The current position which prohibits trainee solicitors undertaking court work has a number of negative effects. These include advocacy experience gained on the diploma degrading over the first 12 months of a training contract and, also, that many firms cannot afford to hire a trainee solicitor only for them not to be able to undertake court work for 12 months."

The interests of the public and in particular the client had remained to the fore, and the Society was liaising with external stakeholders including the Lord President’s Office, which has to approve changes to the practice rules.

Whilst the Society was "extremely aware of the financial pressures on many firms, perhaps most obviously those operating in criminal law," this was not related to the proposed rule change, as "The impetus for change here is to improve the quality of training. A by-product of doing so may be that more traineeships are available."

Society President Alison Atack commented: "There is an important debate to be had on the resourcing of legal aid and the pressures which are being placed on criminal defence solicitors. After all, fewer and fewer new solicitors are choosing to undertake criminal defence work.

"However, separate from these trends, we think that there is a strong and positive case for allowing first year trainees to appear in court. Trainee solicitors have for many years been allowed to appear in court after 12 months of being a trainee. Given Scotland’s high standards of legal education and the compulsory and rigorous postgraduate legal diploma, we think it right to allow those trainee solicitors who are able and competent to start appearing in court after three months of being a trainee.

"These trainees will have additional training and extra hours of observing court work. They will be supervised by an experienced solicitor who must vouch for their readiness to appear in court. This change can not only build experience but also ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in our society continue to get the legal representation they need."