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Legal life changers spread their wings

26 July 2018 / Fiona Bawdon
Issue: 7803 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession
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The first two cohorts of Justice First Fellows have now qualified. Fiona Bawdon looks at how are they faring

The Legal Education Foundation (TLEF) launched its Justice First Fellowship scheme in 2014, when the LASPO (Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012) cuts and reductions in local authority grants had started to bite, prompting a virtual collapse in the availability of training contracts in the social welfare law sector. Against this backdrop, the scheme was seen as offering a ray of hope for the sector.

TLEF developed the blueprint for the fellowship after drawing inspiration from similar programmes in America. As well as meeting the cost of each trainee’s salary, TLEF grants (averaging around £80,000) also cover all the associated supervision and management costs.

An inevitable question from the outset was what would happen to the fellows after qualification? Would they still have jobs? Or would hard-pressed social welfare law providers be unable to afford to keep them on, once TLEF’s funding for the posts had come to an end?

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

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