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02 September 2020 / Fiona Bawdon
Issue: 7900 / Categories: Features , Profession
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The Legal Education Foundation: Jolly good fellows

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Paths to social justice law: Fiona Bawdon explains why Justice First Fellows sign up to change the world
  • The Justice First Fellowship scheme.
  • The earnings gap.
  • The law of ‘everyday life’.
  • Political motivations.

For public law barrister Ollie Persey, it was a foot and mouth outbreak; for social welfare solicitor Mark McDonald Loncke, it was street homelessness; for children’s rights solicitor Karolina Rychlickla, it was the fall of communism.

These are just some of the reasons cited by Justice First Fellows for why they chose a career in social justice law, despite the multiple challenges facing this sector after years of under investment.

Fellowship scheme

The Justice First Fellowship scheme was set up in 2014 by the grant-giving charity Legal Education Foundation as a response to fears that the supply of new entrants into social justice law was drying up. Financially straitened organisations could no longer afford to take on trainees, leading to predictions of a looming skills gap. To date, TLEF has funded over

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