INTRODUCING LAWYERS WHO CARE CIC

So…the UK’s first mentoring organisation for us care-experienced aspiring lawyers has officially launched. No longer will we be told to “be realistic” when aspiring for law or allow others to drop our career expectations. The launch of Lawyers Who Care proves to us that Care Leavers Can Be Lawyers Too (and we will be brilliant ones).

This evening, for our launch event at Garden Court Chambers, we heard from our Lucy Barnes, Kate Aubrey-Johnson and Gemma Creamer as well as inspiring speeches from Luke Rogers BEM (CEO of The Care Leaders) and Judith Denton (Founder of The Transformed You and The Black Care Experience). 4 out of 5 of our speakers are care-experienced. Our photographer was care-experienced and, of course, Ric Flo, our incredible performer, is also care-experienced. We have launched with a bang to show what we mean by care-experienced excellence and inclusion.

---

WHY US?

Have you ever aspired to work in a profession that doesn’t sound, act or look anything like you? Had to work part or full-time at university to fund your studies? Feared homelessness? Felt you couldn’t connect to your peers at networking events? Had to create your network entirely from scratch? Been unsure which fork to use when there’s more than one at a legal dinner? Awkwardly asked what an “Inn of Court” is to a barrister?  

The list of questions is endless for a care-experienced person and the barriers are infinite. That is not to blame the profession for these experiences, it just proves that the bar is not equal. We remain to be the invisible inequality. Until now…

Not only does LWC gain us visibility, as well as wider support of allies who champion us, but we will shape the landscape of what inclusion means in the legal profession. That our backgrounds do not define us, and we are whoever we choose to become. At Lawyers Who Care, we want to expose and mitigate the barriers to our success and show what we have to bring to the table to diversify and enrich the legal profession.

As our Co-Founder Lucy Barnes says, "we deserve to be seen for our talents in legal careers."

What we do:

We facilitate long-term mentoring (2+ year, 1 hour per month) and paid work experience opportunities for care-experienced aspiring lawyers[2] across all areas of the legal profession. There is also no care-leaver cut off age.

We also train our mentors in care-experience and trauma-informed training alongside our partner organisation, The Care Leaders, to enhance awareness.

“Because we should be doing more than just preventing exclusion, we should be actively promoting inclusion.” – Lucy Barnes, Our Co-Founder

We will also build a community of care-experienced aspiring lawyers and care-experienced lawyers with social events, essay competitions and networking events.

If you are care-experienced, we already have a kindship by virtue of experience. There is no need to disclose your story, just know that you will be supported by us.

---

Care-experienced? Aspiring for law? We want to know YOU.

If you are a care-experienced aspiring lawyer (or have any interest in law), please register to become a mentee on our website (lawyerswhocare.org/cepaspiringlawyers).

You will get exclusive access to our resources, including our:

·         Inclusion Inventory on current paid work experience offers;

·         Guides and videos on legal lingo and unwritten codes of the profession;

·         Signposting documents for further support and advocacy;

·         Downloadable links to help you understand and engage with your legal entitlements and Care Leaver Offer;

·         Guides and videos on navigating the legal profession and different pathways etc.

---

ALLIES - How can you get involved?

Mentoring/Mentorship Organisations

Are you a prospective mentor wanting to make a difference? We want to hear from you and your organisation. Please have your EDI departments to reach out to us via info@lawyerswhocare.org.

Our first cycle of mentoring applications closes on 30th June 2024, to prepare for our Care Aware and Trauma-Informed training sessions (2 hours each) on 4th and 11th July, so please do reach out.

Our alliance currently consists of: Garden Court Chambers, Blackstone, East Anglian Chambers, Oliver Fisher Solicitors, 3 Verulam Buildings Chambers, Dawson Cornwell LLP and Spire Chambers. Thank you for championing us.

Donations

We are a non-profit organisation that relies on community support. We appreciate any support by way of donations. Please visit https://donorbox.org/lawyers-who-care to donate to support our work.

Spread the word...

Engage with us on socials and help the world see what Care Leavers can and will become.

We’ve got our voices at the table.

Now it’s time to be heard.

[2] For more on the term and figuring out whether you are care-experienced, please visit our website https://www.lawyerswhocare.org/cepaspiringlawyers for our definition.