Dr Victoria Roper
Aassociate professor at Northumbria University and chair of the education and training committee at the Law Society
The Covid-19 pandemic has irrevocably changed our professional and personal lives. Since March 2020, solicitors have been working and supervising junior staff and trainees remotely.
The pandemic has changed the way we view working arrangements and as offices open up many firms and organisations are considering a hybrid model, with some form of remote working alongside time spent in the office.
We want to support our members through this transition, so we have produced guidance which sets out areas of good practice that firms and organisations should consider when deciding working arrangements, to ensure junior staff and trainees are appropriately supervised and supported when working remotely.
By Eduardo Reyes2021-04-30T10:32:00+01:00
The Solicitors Regulation Authority and its exam provider Kaplan have been accused of signalling to disabled people that they are not welcome in the profession, by barring the use of popular assistive technology products in the Solicitors Qualifying Examination part 1.
Candidates who routinely depend on specific assistive technology products could instead sit with an ‘amanuensis’ – a person who will read out the 360 questions and 1,440 multiple choice answers and input the candidate’s response. Extra time will be allowed for these candidates.
The prospect of assistive technology such as Jaws, Dragon and ClaroRead being barred from the exam has been criticised by the Law Society’s Lawyers with Disabilities Division (LDD), which first raised the issue with the SRA in 2017. LDD chair Jane Burton, who is also a member of the SRA’s SQE reference group, told the
Aimey Sherwood
Often when organisations make adjustments and amendments for those with protected characteristics, they are reactive instead of proactive.
It shouldn’t be that workplace adjustments and internal policies are only revisited, or introduced, when a disabled person is hired within an organisation or raises an issue they are experiencing.
Changes should be made as the business learns, using new information to ensure they are cultivating inclusive workplaces, both in location and culture.
A new resource from the Law Society’s diversity and inclusion team discusses
It has been developed with the Lawyers with Disabilities Division and the Legally Disabled? researchers from Cardiff Business School, to help address issues highlighted in two pieces of research published by them last year. It offers suggestions on what to think about when creating or reviewing policies and how they should be reflective of the entire workforce.