My first attempt at something for the paper... may or may not get printed but hey!

When I was at college I was asked the golden question by my teacher: ‘what do you want to do after University?’, when I told him I wanted to be a barrister he soon crushed my dreams with two harsh words: ‘Don’t bother.’ Not your typical motivational speech, but upon quizzing his pessimistic statement I could see his point: There is a strong class division in the legal profession and since I had attended a state school and sixth form college, the chances of me making it to the bar were slim.

Success in the legal profession is barred by what is referred to as ‘the old boys network’, which sees attendance of private school and family connections endorse a successful application. An applicant may have a multitude of fantastic grades, reams of extra curricular attendance and outstanding references, but those outside of the inner circle, without the ‘correct’ social and educational background of the privileged classes will lack the social networking required to be a success in the legal field. The former chairman of the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) put it simply- ‘nice but- dim’ applicants often prevailed over the merit and endeavors of those who were less socially advantaged.”

Amongst law students the message given seems to be that is not what you know but who you know. I have spoken to some of Salford Law School’s students, and many agree there is still a class system in place which prevents them from attaining the career they seek, many have opted to take different career routes due to social prejudices they feel are against them. A few students had already been refused placements on this basis- one girl was told that not attending a private school meant that firms ‘could not guarantee the quality of her education’; another student was told ‘not to waste her money’ on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) because employers would not deem Salford University as ‘good enough’ no matter what her grades were like at the end of her degree.

Legislation and social attitudes forces firms to ensure that an ‘equal opportunities’ policy is in place. This, to some extent, has led to diversion within the legal profession, but not nearly enough. The profession remains to be dominated by white middle class males and although statistics from The Bar Council show a sharp increase in the number of female Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) solicitors and barristers, these figures also indicate that the inclusion still only applies to the higher classes, ‘as a result of the preference of employers for the graduates of ‘old’ universities, sections of society are filtered out of the profession’ according to research form the University of Westminster. Students who make a conscious decision to attend a ‘less prestigious’ University, or study closer to home to keep their debt at a minimum are disadvantaged. And with an increase in student’s fees deterring young people from a lower socio-economic background from attending University at all, any progress already made in attempting to make the legal profession more diverse is certain to regress. 

Frustration...

When I was at college I was asked the golden question by my teacher: ‘what do you want to do after University?’ I replied: ‘I want to be a barrister.’ He soon crushed my dreams with two harsh words: ‘Don’t bother.’ Not your typical motivational speech, but upon quizzing his pessimistic statement I could see his point: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, and since I had left a state school to attend a sixth form college, the chances of me making it to the bar were slim.

Success in the legal profession is barred by the what is referred to as ‘the old boys network’; in that you could be as thick as two planks, but if your parents paid for you to attend the right schools, or granddad plays golf with a judge your chances will vastly improve. On the other hand, you could have a multitude of fantastic grades, reams of extra curricular attendance and outstanding references, but without the ‘correct’ social and educational background of the privileged classes you will struggle. The former chairman of the SRA put it simply- ‘nice but- dim’ applicants often prevailed over the merit and endeavors of those who were less socially advantaged.”

Legislation and social attitudes forces firms to ensure that an ‘equal opportunities’ policy is in place. This, to some extent, has led to diversion within the legal profession, but not nearly enough. The profession remains to be dominated by white middle class males and although statistics from The Bar Council show a sharp increase in the number of female and BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) solicitors and barristers, these figures also indicate that the inclusion still only applies to the higher classes ‘as a result of the preference of employers for the graduates of ‘old’ universities, sections of society are filtered out of the profession’ according to research form the University of Westminster. This sees students who make a conscious decision to attend a ‘less prestigious’ University or study closer to home in order to keep student debt at a minimum at a disadvantage. And with an increase in student’s fees deterring young people from a lower socio-economic background from attending University at all, any progress already made in attempting to make the legal profession more diverse is certain to regress. 

Another phase...

Currently writing on my iPod as I am annoyed with myself for not keeping up my blog. Not that I have dOne anything worth informing the cyber world of.

It's 2am, so I will divulge my comings and goings tomorrow. I know the suspense is killing you right?..

I will however welcome suggestions fOr a topic I can write a piece on, as my sample piece my student university paper! I need to 'get involved' this year if I ever want a shot a getting q pupilage one day! Ah, the woes of a law student.

Goodnight

Laughter is the best medicine.

My productive stage isn't getting me anywhere as of yet. But having a night out with an old college friend certainly has cheered me right up, despite how disastrous the night may have been.

My second job is promoting an event at a club in Manchester, let’s call it 'Lion, Lion'... I have to admit, it isn't my scene at all, but the money was (note the past tone) good, and I was willing to try it out. So I, an old college comrade and a few University friends dolled up and headed off to Manchester.

 Let it be known that before setting of into town we first consumed copious amounts off rum, and then visited my wonderful workplace that is the 'Hula Lounge' and drank even more rum, tequila and sambuca, then we fell over a lot outside, then we made our way to the club.

I stick out like a sore thumb in clubs... I'm not orange enough, I hate the music and when I dance I look like I am doing aerobics. I do however have a fantastic time as my friends are also absolute idiots!

I have to admit though I was getting rather bored, until I received a panicked text of one of the girls saying: 'Meet me at the bar!!' I did so, to find her pale faced, when I asked her what had happened and she blurted out ''A' just stole a bottle of Moet from behind the bar!'

So we went to find 'A' sitting on her own with the stolen goods drunkenly mumbling 'Ta Da!//###!£"'

Had we been sober, we may have come up with a better plan other than 'LEG IT!'

So once caught, 'A' was banned from 'Lion, Lion', I was £52 short after paying for the unconsumed bottle, and I think its safe to say I wont be receiving this weeks wages or asked to work in the future.

On the plus side, we did get to then go to Satan’s Hollow which is always good fun, and I am not going to lie, the whole thing was rather funny and did perk me up.

However, I am a big softy and begged my boss to understand I had nothing to do with the theft, yet I still feel overwhelming guilty for some reason! I think I will remain on the right side of the law for now, I'm definitely not cut out for the criminal world.

I'm a terrible speller...

Today I woke up fully dressed...

Oh dear, we did make a little mess of ourselves last night...

Sign of a good night
1) It takes you a good ten minutes or so to figure out how you got home.
2)You don't remember eating chips, but you are vomiting chips.
3)You have two dishes on your room because apparently you came home and decided to cook at least three different meals.
4)You have no idea how you got that bruise.
5)You cringe at the pictures.
6) You smell of tequila.
7)You cannot look at the tequila.

But apparently I had a wonderful time and danced the whole night.

I would like to write about a topic matter today, but to be quite frank I'm far to hung-over today.

So I shall bid farewell until I CAN write about something insightful.

Wine and indoor games

Charades was a success, followed by 'Who am I?' the classic game in which players stick a name on each others forehead, then players ask a series of yes or no questions until they can guess who they are. My personal favourite names to use: Hitler, Jesus etc. For example:

Player Named Hitler: Am I fit?

Hilarious. Maybe it was the consumption of wine that made the games that much more amusing. However the miming out of 'Free Willy' was undoubtedly entertaining.

Tonight however we are embracing town. We cannot afford to indulge in our love of the Northern Quarter so it’s a 'Standard 5th' night, in other words: Get so drunk you don't realise you are in fact the eldest people there and that you could recite the playlist by now...

Cheers!