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09 September 2011 / Christopher Stephens
Issue: 7480 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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A call to arms

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Christopher Stephens presents the case for solicitor judges

The need to attract more solicitors to the judiciary is one of the challenges I have been determined to take up since I became chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) in February. The lord chief justice told the Lords’ Constitution Committee last year that he has tried hard to both persuade solicitors to apply and firms to support applications, without much success. So this is a tough challenge, but an important one, because I believe that if we can solve the issue of solicitor judicial appointments, other under-represented groups will also come through in greater numbers because of the diversity of the solicitor pool.

Opportunity knocks

Solicitors make excellent judges and now is a good time to consider putting yourselves forward. There are entry-level positions coming up from November, such as deputy district judge (magistrates’ court and civil). And in October, the High Court chancery division is encouraging lawyers with relevant experience to apply straight from practice, without the requirement to have gained

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