Letters roundup: 3 March 2023

How to tackle ‘toxic’ workplaces

After 35 years in the profession, I do sometimes wonder what I have got myself into. I have seen junior staff sacked on the spot, secretaries told on a Friday afternoon not to come back on Monday morning (‘don’t tell them in the morning as we may as well get another day’s work out of them’) and, most alarmingly, senior lawyers dismissed without explanation.

I have heard comments such as ‘they are trouble’, ‘they like to say what they think’, ‘she needs to retire’, and ‘I don’t like the way he walks around the office’ all openly discussed as valid reasons to let someone go.

I have tried to speak up for people whenever I have seen unfair treatment. Even as a partner, I have been told ‘be quiet’, ‘don’t cause trouble’ and ‘keep your opinions to yourself’. I have worked in firms which joke they have revolving doors, as new employees come and go so quickly that one never gets to know their name let alone meet them.

We are very keen as lawyers to see justice done for people who cannot always speak up for themselves. We spend hours compiling office manuals and internal policies to show how we ensure our staff are treated fairly. We spend thousands to make sure employees are trained to stamp out discrimination. And yet in the boardroom, the business owners are pretty much behaving however they see fit and with complete impunity.

I was interested to see that the SRA plans to clamp down on toxic working environments. I do wonder, however, how many people – particularly those with less than two years’ continuous employment – will be prepared to speak up. I suspect a more accurate picture will be gleaned by the SRA looking closely at firms with high turnover, and then speaking to the people who have either been dismissed without reason or have – as I have done over the years – voted with their feet.

Simon Bacchus

Bexhill-on-Sea

25 years of hurt

Your cover story (Insult to injury, 17 February) was a timely reminder of the many years that successive governments have spent trying – and failing – to successfully reform personal injury.

Twenty-five years on from the swingeing cuts to legal aid which paved the way for conditional fee agreements, the Official Injury Claim portal is just the latest example. Rather than delivering access to justice, it is failing the very people it is supposed to help – innocent road traffic accident victims.

Had it been properly executed with clear guidance on valuing all types of claims from the start, the current fiasco over mixed injuries could have been avoided. The Association of British Insurers’ move to challenge the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment has ruled out any hope of progress soon.

The Justice Committee’s inquiry into the whiplash reforms is urgently needed if they are ever to be effective, and certainly before the government embarks on any more.

Qamar Anwar

Managing director, First4Lawyers, Huddersfield