{"id":2269,"date":"2020-09-21T12:35:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T11:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/?p=2269"},"modified":"2023-03-08T13:44:05","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T12:44:05","slug":"legally-disabled-the-career-experiences-of-disabled-people-working-in-the-legal-profession-in-england-wales-research-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/legally-disabled-the-career-experiences-of-disabled-people-working-in-the-legal-profession-in-england-wales-research-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Legally disabled? The career experiences of disabled people working in the legal profession in England & Wales: research & resources"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Professor Debbie Foster together with members of the Lawyers with Disabilities Division. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Legally Disabled? project, explains Cardiff Business School\u2019s Professor Debbie Foster (lead researcher), is an ongoing unique collaboration. Chosen for funding by Disability Wales<\/a>, the grant came from a national lottery initiative involving disability rights organisations across the four nations of the UK. Research was done in partnership with Dr Natasha Hirst (independent disability researcher) and The Lawyers with Disabilities Division (LDD)<\/a> of The Law Society of England and Wales<\/a>. <\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A number of valuable resources have also been created: an evidence-based report<\/a> (the first of its kind in the UK) on the career experiences of disabled people in the legal profession; a project website<\/a> and personal profile videos<\/a>. These assets challenge what the project participants believe is \u2018a culture of low aspiration\u2019, which is routinely attributed to disabled people in the UK labour market.  <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Disabled people are the most under-represented group within\r\nthe legal profession. Our research found they not only encounter physical\/\r\nsensory barriers (e.g. inaccessible work environments and courtrooms), but also\r\nunnecessary obstacles arising from inflexible practices, attitudes and rituals.\r\nSignificantly, we found in 2020, disabled solicitors, barristers and judges are\r\nstill \u2018unexpected\u2019 in the profession, experience ill-treatment, are poorly provided\r\nfor and an untapped resource of talent.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Often viewed as a bastion of privilege, the legal profession\r\nhas become increasingly conscious of a need to reflect and represent diverse\r\ngroups in society, not least to counter accusations that the law is shaped by class-based,\r\ngendered, racist and ableist norms. By using the methodology of co-production the\r\nproject sought not only to produce knowledge, but to empower disabled people in\r\nthe profession to contribute to and use that knowledge and the resources\r\nproduced from it to bring about change and increased representation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Delegates at the Legally Disabled? Conference in January 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As part of our impact agenda, we held a conference at The British Academy in London<\/a> in January 2020 to present and discuss our research findings. It was attended by professional associations and regulators as well as disabled people in the profession and received considerable attention. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You can access the research reports, press release and\r\nconference report on our\r\nwebsite<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We continue\r\nto coproduce resources with The Law Society to enable the profession to implement\r\nthe recommendations of the research.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

During lockdown 2020 we also co-hosted a number of virtual\r\nroundtable events with the LDD and The Law Society\u2019s Diversity and Inclusion\r\nteam. These attracted over 100 attendees from across the legal profession and\r\nprovided us with both an opportunity to present our research to a larger\r\naudience and for participants to ask and pose questions. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

With The Law Society, we also promoted a series of \u2018Easy\r\nWins\u2019, drawn from our research recommendations, for firms and organisations to\r\nconsider. These resources will be added to our website as they are finalised. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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