Written Evidence from Stephen Davies About Me I Am a Criminal Defence
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Written evidence from Stephen Davies About me I am a Criminal Defence Solicitor at Tuckers Solicitors LLP, London. I am working class, and originally from South Shields, Tyne and Wear. I specialise in criminal law, procedure, legal aid, policy and access to justice. I am a member of The Law Society of England and Wales, Junior Lawyer Division of the Law Society, Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association, London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association, Solicitors' Association of Higher Court Advocates and Young Legal Aid Lawyers. My written evidence is a combination of my opinion, experience and research, however it does not necessarily reflect the views of my firm, a political party, or any other organisation. All errors are mine, and I am very much amenable to being corrected. At the very least, I hope my evidence is a positive contribution to what I believe is a fundamentally important issue in respect of access to justice, and a civilised democratic society. I graduated with an LL.B Bachelor of Laws Degree in 2014, an LL.M Master of Laws Degree in Criminal Law and Procedure in 2015, and an LL.M Master of Laws Degree in Legal Practice (LPC) in 2017. As part of the latter, I submitted a thesis towards my degree whereby I analysed criminal legal aid and access to justice in England and Wales.1 I received student finance for my LL.B, however I self-funded both of my masters. I estimate the cost of legal education to be somewhere in the region of £50,000+. What I would say is that I would not be where I am today without the continued financial support from my parents and sister. Prior to moving to London, I previously worked for a number of high street law firms as a Paralegal in the North East of England. I gained experience in Claimant Personal Injury, Conveyancing, Family, Wills and Probate, Pensions, Family, and Criminal Defence. My salary ranged from minimum wage to £16,500. For four years I grafted relentlessly to gain the legal experience I needed to progress my career. It depresses me thinking back to redundancies, and all of the knock-backs and difficulties that come with working in high street firms, particularly those with legal aid contracts. The high street has been decimated. I moved to London in April 2018 to start my training contract with Tuckers Solicitors LLP, who are one of the largest criminal defence firms in England, and one of the few firms able to offer training contracts. I qualified as a Solicitor in June 2020 and will, I hope, be on the duty rota in due course. I was supported financially by my parents throughout my training contract, i.e. they supplemented my income which essentially paid for travel. I would suggest it takes the best part of ten years to qualify. This is important to emphasis it for two reasons. Firstly, you simply cannot ascertain a ready-made criminal defence lawyer from the shelf. I accept lawyers can re-train, and indeed many do, but it takes a significant period of time to qualify nevertheless. Second, the 1 Stephen Davies, An Assault on our Access to Justice: Advocating on Behalf of Suspects in a Cost Restrictive and Time Delayed Criminal Justice System (September 2017) average age of a Duty Solicitor is now 47 years old, and in many parts of the country it is significantly higher. My colleagues may well be glad I am bringing the average age down, but you need only attend a Magistrates’ Court in any part of England and Wales, and you will struggle to find solicitors in their 20s and 30s. I am fortunate in that still to this day I am learning from those who are far wiser and experienced than I am, but I query whether that will still occur as defence lawyers retire, or simply quit? The Coal Face I represent clients who have criminal cases in the police station, Magistrates’ Court, Youth Court, Crown Court and Appeal Courts. I have represented suspects and defendants accused of assault and murder, and pretty much everything in between. I find myself in police stations, courts, and prisons in and outside of London. My job is to advise clients on the criminal law, procedure, evidence, criminal legal aid, disclosure of evidence, allocation and plea before venue, bail, appeals, sentencing, and so much more. Criminal Legal Aid Firms and Solicitors Paralegals, Trainee Solicitors, and Newly Qualified Solicitors In 2017, the SRA reported that only 309 (2.9%) of 10,726 Trainee Solicitors were working in criminal law2. Of that 309, I assume that a fair percentage can be allocated to Trainees at the Crown Prosecution Service, and criminal firms without a criminal legal aid contract. I suspect it is difficult to obtain the numbers in respect of paralegals working in criminal defence firms. However, I can say with certainty that paralegal and training contract opportunities are like gold dust. They are few and far between. Whenever a firm advertises, I imagine in the larger cities there is a great deal of applicants. In more rural parts of the jurisdiction, I imagine they struggle to attract applicants, assuming they are recruiting in the first place. Paralegals in criminal legal aid can expect to earn minimum wage, though with some experience I suspect that may increase to around the £15,000 – £18,000 range. As for Trainees, The Law Society recommends, as a matter of good practice, that providers of training contracts should pay their trainees £22,541 in London and £19,992 outside London. It doesn’t surprise me the recommended minimum is so low, as to increase it much more would essentially prevent firms from recruiting. A newly qualified solicitor in a criminal legal aid firm is likely to earn £24,000 - £26,000. Police Station Representative Accreditation Scheme (PSRAS) 2 Solicitors Regulation Authority, Impact assessment of the deregulation of the prescribed SRA trainee minimum salary Post implementation two-year review (November 2017) at 18 The PSRAS is arguably an essential requirement to work in criminal defence. Becoming a fee earner enables anyone who is able to advocate on behalf of suspects to earn the fixed fee for the firm, and indeed earn a living themselves. In my view, the course is inaccessible from a geographical perspective; to my knowledge, only Cardiff University and Data Law are training providers. The course itself consists of a written exam, a portfolio split in two sections, as well as the Critical Incidences Test. An exemption applies to the written exam for LPC/BPTC graduates. Part of the issue, particularly if you are based outside of London, is supervision. For Part A of the portfolio, the candidate must observer a Duty Solicitor for two cases, followed by the Duty Solicitor observing them for two cases. The deadline, as I understand it, is very tight. The candidate has three months to complete Part A from the moment they do their first case. Unless the candidate is being supervised within a firm that has a healthy ‘own client’ base, it can be very difficult to complete within the timeframe, and that is without the extra difficulty of matching diaries. In terms of cost, for all three aspects of the course, including training, it is likely to set a candidate back £1145.00, and that is without travel and prospectively accommodation on top of that. I think the course is financially inaccessible for many, and whilst some firms are happy to pay to put their staff through the course, it is not always the case, particularly if you are not already employed, for example, as a Paralegal or a Trainee Solicitor. Magistrates Court Qualification (MCQ) For completeness, the MCQ is an additional course which a solicitor must complete. Adding together the PSRAS and the MCQ enables a solicitor to be added to the duty rota. The MCQ consists of a 25 case portfolio, and an advocacy assessment. Financially, this is likely to set a solicitor or the law firm back £1125.00 for the assessment of the portfolio, advocacy training and the advocacy assessment. There is a financial incentive for the firm to pay as it ultimately results in an additional duty slot on the rota, which will in turn generate duty client work. For the individual on the rota, the prospect of generating client work from the rota enables greater leverage insofar as salary is concerned. Duty Solicitors Duty solicitors have reduced by 29% when comparing the 2016 duty rota to the April 2020 duty rota. To add to the rather bleak picture, The Law Society undertook research into this area in 2018 and found that the average age of a Duty Solicitor is 47 years old, and in many areas of England and Wales, it is significantly higher. The data highlights that in 5 to 10 years’ time there could be insufficient criminal duty solicitors in many regions, leaving individuals in need of legal advice unable to access justice. This could have a catastrophic effect on the criminal justice system, as members of the profession retire and leave a shortage of experienced practitioners, impacting on access to justice. Currently, some areas are particularly affected: In Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, West Wales, Mid Wales, over 60 per cent of the solicitors are aged over 50. In Norfolk, Suffolk, Cornwall and Worcestershire there are 0 criminal law solicitors aged under 35, with only 1 in West Wales and Mid Wales, and only 2 in Devon. In a significant number of regions less than 10 per cent of solicitors in this field are under 35.