Page 61 - Judicial Diversity Update report

on the sitting cohort, nor on those appointed to the senior courts over the last
two years.

2.100. We have, however, sought to collect qualitative data from several
organisations and individuals who were able to share their experience of
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disability in the legal professions and in the judiciary. The main themes that
emerged from this evidence were as follows.

2.101. First, we have been struck by the inaccessibility of the legal profession to
disabled people. This fundamentally undermines achievement of a
representative judiciary. Many people with disabilities, who have secured the
educational qualifications required to practice, struggle to secure pupillages
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and tenancy or training contracts. Disabled lawyers report feeling
‘invisible’, saying that their views were rarely sought and that they often felt
that their disability created unease for others in the profession. We took
consistent evidence that to succeed disabled lawyers needed to be particularly
tough and thick skinned. The Bar particularly, we were told, can be an
unforgiving place if one is ill or perceived to be ill or disabled. Those lawyers
who do succeed speak of particularly supportive managers in firms and clerks
in Chambers. They highlight that the challenges of securing good work and
receiving adjustments from courts lessen with increasing seniority.

2.102. Lawyers with court-based practices are particularly tested. We took substantial
evidence on the failure of judges to make reasonable adjustments required for
disabled barristers appearing before them. We were told that the Equal
Treatment Bench Book is adequate but widely ignored. In the extreme, we
heard of instances where some barristers who use wheelchairs were
admonished for failing to stand up for the judge; more common were ‘micro
aggressions’ from the bench about pace of argument, fluency of
communication and other matters directly related to the barristers’ impairment.
A number of disabled barristers observed that such treatment meant that they
would not consider a future on the bench. Even where buildings are accessible,

139 We have, for example, taken evidence from the Lawyers with Disabilities Division (LDD). The
Lawyers with Disabilities Division (previously called the Group for Solicitors with Disabilities) was
established 30 years ago by Sire John Wall, the first visually impaired judge to sit in the High Court in
recent times. The LDD supports mainly solicitors and trainees seeking to progress in the legal sector.
140 Our evidence from the Lawyers with Disabilities Division indicates an overall positive trend in the
solicitor profession; there appears to be a greater willingness among firms to offer training contracts to
disabled graduates, however this is very much dependent on the firm.
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