Mentor

Organisation Overview

Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL) is a group of lawyers who are committed to practising in those areas of law, both criminal and civil, that have traditionally been publicly funded. YLAL members include students, paralegals, trainee solicitors, pupil barristers and qualified junior lawyers based throughout England and Wales. We believe that the provision of good quality publicly funded legal help is essential to protecting the interests of the vulnerable in society and upholding the rule of law.

YLAL’s objectives are:

To campaign for a sustainable legal aid system which provides good quality legal help to those who could not otherwise afford to pay for it.

To promote the interests of new entrants and junior lawyers and to increase social mobility and diversity within the legal aid sector.

To provide a network for likeminded people beginning their careers in the legal aid sector.

Role Details

Time commitment: Flexible depending on the mentoring you can offer, we would suggest no more than a couple of hours per week.

Attendance: Flexible depending on whether the mentor wishes to offer support in person, remotely, or on a hybrid basis.

Role Description

The YLAL mentoring scheme aims to pair a budding and hopeful legal aid lawyer with a practitioner who shares similar interests and practice areas. To date, YLAL has supported more than 600 individuals to secure mentoring opportunities, many of whom have gone on to careers in legal aid. But we are constantly seeing more and more people interested in legal aid and in need of mentors, which is great for legal aid, but we need your help to ensure we can support everybody who reaches out to us.

Required Skills and Experience

You must have experience working in legal aid practice, including barristers, solicitors, and CILex. You must be willing to offer some time and support to your mentee and committed to engaging with your mentor should you choose a match.

To apply for or express an interest in this position, please email bicenquiries@weareadvocate.org.uk