Social Mobility and the Legal Profession

Social mobility, access to the professions, and the efficacy of professional associations in affecting the profession with which they are intertwined come together here in an exploration of access to the UK Bar.

Dr Elaine Freer is a criminal barrister at 5 Paper Buildings where she prosecutes in criminal cases, and appears for registrants in professional disciplinary matters. She is also a College Teaching Officer and Fellow in Law at Robinson College, Cambridge, where she supervises undergraduate students from across the University in the modules of Criminal Law, and Criminology, Sentencing and the Penal System. She is currently the academic member of the Sentencing Council, and sits as a Deputy District Judge (Civil and Family).

1. Social mobility and the professions in the 21st Century 2. Social mobility and the legal profession - getting in and getting on 3. Conceptualising professional associations - powerful or power-hungry? 4. Values, attachment and professional associations 5. The importance of individuals within professional associations 6. Transformative action for social mobility: Radical innovation or maintenance of status quo? 7. Wider constraints on interventions by professional associations: Challenges within and challenges without? 8. Putting theory into practice - general themes for access schemes 9. Conclusions and postscript