Category Archives: Social justice

Bar Social Mobility Scheme Strikes Blow For The 99%

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Inner Temple's work experience initiative is infused with the spirit of the Occupy movement, writes OccupyTheInns

Well done to the Inner Temple! I know that this may seem like a strange sentence coming from somebody who advocated a campaign to occupy the Inns of Court just months ago, but I am really rather impressed by the Pegasus Access Scheme Inner launched this week to encourage greater social diversity at the Bar.

With 100 less privileged students expected to do the scheme in September, the atmosphere of the Inns of Court will certainly change for the rowdier that month. In its own way it will be rather similar to the occupation scene that I envisaged in November...

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‘IT’S TIME TO OCCUPY THE INNS OF COURT’

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Jobless law graduates should follow the St Paul's protesters' example, argues OccupyTheInns

As the Occupy Wall Street camp is cleared, and the City of London commences legal action against the Occupy London protesters, why am I proposing the occupation of the Inns of Court? Simple. Because I, and many law graduates like me, are angry. As we have seen in Egypt, New York and at home in London, anger can be a great energiser.

Through no fault of our own, a generation of Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) and Legal Practice Course (LPC) graduates find ourselves with no jobs – or no jobs as lawyers anyway. The lucky ones are paralegals. The unlucky ones work in bars (not the Bar).

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OCCUPIED WITH THEMSELVES

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The OccupyLSX protesters have lost sight of their original objectives, says law graduate blogger the Training Contract Hawk, AKA Krish Nair

Let me tell you about an old schoolmate, Mitch (not his real name). Mitch was that guy in class with the shabby hair and intentionally oversized uniform who ‘played’ acoustic guitar. I bumped into Mitch a month ago -- the first time I’d seen him in a number of years. That he ended up a (self-proclaimed) hippy is less a testament to my clairvoyance than to predictability. Today, Mitch trots the globe in search of things to rebel against and people to scorn. He told me why he was doing it: “things need to change”, he said. I didn’t listen too closely to his response -- possibly awed by details of his capricious lifestyle and his loud bandana -- but I agreed with him.

I came across Mitch again last week at OccupyLSX outside St Paul’s Cathedral. It was a warm evening but dark, verging on depressing. But Mitch and Co. were at hand to brighten things up. Mitch -- 6’2” with unearthly shocks of brown hair, beard to match -- doesn’t smile but his demeanour is otherwise one of acceptance and generosity. He offers me a homemade pierogi. I decline. I ask him why he is here. “People are losing their jobs and the banks are raking it in”. That’s all he says.

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