Law firms and chambers fall short on disability inclusion
updated on 01 July 2024
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Law firms and chambers are failing on inclusion as disabled lawyers are significantly underrepresented in the legal profession compared to the wider employed population.
Figures from regulators indicate that only 6% of solicitors are disabled and 6.8% of barristers (who disclosed their disability status) identify as disabled, compared to 16.4% of the wider employed population.
Inaccessible court buildings are one of the cited ways that the profession is failing on disability inclusion.
An aspiring barrister with Ullrich muscular dystrophy, Konstantina Nouka, uses a wheelchair and described feeling like a “trespasser” in the legal profession. Nouka faces challenges accessing court buildings due to inadequate support from court staff and physical barriers such as narrow courtrooms and lack of height-adjustable desks.
Mark Henderson, a barrister who became a wheelchair user after a spinal cord injury, highlights similar challenges. Henderson’s first court appearance had to be cancelled because the wheelchair lift at the Royal Courts of Justice in London was broken, an issue he deemed as a “common theme”.
Disabled lawyers are also at a higher risk of experiencing bullying and mistreatment in the workplace.
According to surveys conducted by the Bar Council, disabled barristers in England and Wales are more likely to face bullying, harassment, or discrimination compared to their non-disabled counterparts. Research by Cardiff University found similar results as, among 300 legal professionals with disabilities, 60% of solicitors and paralegals, and 45% of barristers had experienced bullying or mistreatment in the workplace.
Efforts to improve inclusion for disabled people within the legal profession are underway. The Bar Council’s disability panel, led by Henderson, has created guidance on reasonable adjustments, effective communication with deaf or hard of hearing individuals, and an accessibility self-audit tool.
The Law Society has also developed comparable guidance for law firms but the chair of its disabled solicitors network, Reena Parmar, is critical of the slow progress. Parmar said that while many law firms champion themselves for inclusion, “this is not always followed through in terms of actions, attitudes or culture”.
